hello all

question about hard drives, I wanna get me a new big one (750 gig) to store MP3's and pictures, and cant decide whether to:

1) get an internal drive and put it in a caddie so i can take it around, meaning i can put it in a PC if i want and also use it as a portable

or 2) get a standard portable


the advantages of 1) are that i can put it in a PC if i want, and can get a higher spec drive (cache ect) for the money

the advantages of 2) are that its going to be custom made to be moved around, so maybe might last longer and be more reliable? also will it be cleverer so it stops spinning the drive when not in use? unlike a standard basic HD caddie?

anyone got any suggestions?

ta

phil

Option 1 is a cost saving plan and you may get a more storage. Not a bad idea.

One con would be that the drive will not be USB powered and you will need an outlet to power the drive.

The price difference for the amount of storage vs. portable should answer your question.

or 3) You have a eSATA connector on your motherboard and you buy an external harddrive which supports it, meaning you can carry it with you AND you can use the HD at full specs externally.

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I love lacie! http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11037

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The flaw with most internal + caddy combo's is that the caddies are prone to failing sooner than external drives. This is especially true of firewire connections. In fact even with normal firewire drive, including Lacie (which are very good drives) is that the firewire bridge burns out long before the drive fails. Also, internal drives are not designed to be lugged around, so unless the caddy is well designed it will also be more prone to physical damage.

Lacie drives are often normal internal drives (type you can buy anywhere) with a good caddy built around it.

You need to figure out if bus powered is important to you? If so, go the firewire route as it is generally more robust and more common for bus powered drives.

If not you can get a great deal on USB 2 drives - I know I'm in the states but I just got a seagate Freeagent external 500gb USB 2 drive for less than $90.

I've heard a lot of bad stories about esata external failing due to the esata bridge dying. I'm not sure the connection works so well as an external option.

Personally, if it's just for mp3's and photos etc, get a known brand (western digital, seagate, lacie etc.) and make it USB 2 or FW. Don't forget to make a regualar backup of your most treasured personal stuff on something like DVD's.

Thanks a lot everyone

I decided to go with option 2 and got a WD MyBook:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/137321

It's basically spending an extra £30 for the equivalent internal/caddie combo, yet has the benefit of firewire (only 400 and not eSATA tho)

I spoke to a few people who have these and cart them around a lot, and everyone thought they were very reliable which is my main aim.

Of course the added benefit is that until my music and picture collection does reach the dizzy heights of 750GB, everywhere I go I'll be able to take a shitload of german hardcore porn, which is always a bonus.