External Hard Drives.Which one?

[Unique Muslimah]

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu:D
So,the question is,which one?Any personal recommendations?There are way too many to choose from and I don't know which are most reliable.Preferably,about 500GB and something relatively simple to use like plug and play..
Jazak Allahu Khayran in advance:D

[Arsalan]

I recommend anything by Seagate. 500 GB is ALOT! lol.

People only need that if they are in Media, and Design.

[Unique Muslimah]

What'd be a good price to pay for 500GB..They're all pretty cheap to be honest:rubeyes:

[Joha]

To narrow it down, decide which ports you want on it.

USB, Firewire, or eSATA (rare).

If you have firewire on your laptop or computer, get a firewire (and USB) drive. Firewire is much much better than USB. Better still if you have eSATA (if you don't know what it is, you don't have it...), get a drive with eSATA.

I just bought a Western Digital...not so good. I suggest going on Apple's website (preferably from college - and choosing the Educational store for a discount), and choosing one of the Iomega or LaCie ones, they're good.

[Abu Muslim]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/136212

I recommend that, works for me. Plus I paid £100 and only got 300gb a few months back so you get a better deal too. Its plug and play, USB, looks good and its blooming huge.

[Unique Muslimah]

What on earth is eSATA?I just use the normal USB thingmjig..:outta:

[Joha]

What on earth is eSATA?I just use the normal USB thingmjig..:outta:

don't worry then...eSATA is really really fast - much more like the speed of the harddrive on your computer, talking of GB's per second.

But I really wouldn't recommend the one in the ebuyer link, look up reviews, lots of bad experiences. Much better to go for Iomega or LaCie.

[Arsalan]

www.mymemory.co.uk (http://www.mymemory.co.uk)

checkout seagates 320 GB one comes with 5 year warranty.

USB 2.0 Reasonably priced but ugly.

[Unique Muslimah]

Righty then..I shall reviews and whatnot and get back to yous soon.
:)

[(*_Hamzah]

Check the Decibels (DP) FIGURES for the HD, I wouldn’t get anything to loud it doesn’t help me concentrate and I might awake others , to get an ideo of DP, if you were listenning to your MP3 via headphones it will be around 70-80 DP, the lower the better, around 6-19 :confused:

[Unique Muslimah]

Check the Decibels (DP) FIGURES for the HD, I wouldn’t get anything to loud it doesn’t help me concentrate and I might awake others , to get an ideo of DP, if you were listenning to your MP3 via headphones it will be around 70-80 DP, the lower the better, around 6-19 :confused:

Ooh so truee..I can't sleep with the clock ticking,let alone anything else..JazakAllahu Khayran

[Suliman]

I got an email about this Maxtor 750GB (http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/638818/art/maxtor/one-touch-4-750-gb-usb-2.html?tag=mail_uk_uk_2008-01-05_20635&srcid=3690) today for £99

[(*_Hamzah]

Should I get external HD with it's own power supply?

Or opt for one that works with USB power, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this

AND WHAT IS SATA?

[belal1]

Should I get external HD with it's own power supply?

Or opt for one that works with USB power, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this

AND WHAT IS SATA?

SATA is faster than IDE. if u can get a USB 2.0 drive..go with that. its faster than SATA.

get a external HD with its own power supply. its better than one powered through USB because USB power is limited, and hence it can cause problems later on. for example, i have a usb cam which gets power through usb. after an hour or so, the camera stops working because the usb drains all the allowed power. so having a dedicated power definitely keeps things smooth.

besides...since it's a hard disk, i'd imagine u want it to have good source of power, i mean, all that spinning on the inside....that needs lots of power...

[Mace]

SATA is faster than IDE. if u can get a USB 2.0 drive..go with that. its faster than SATA.

I think I know what you meant, but just to be clear for everyone else USB 2.0 is the external interface, SATA is the internal interface to the drive itself.

So I don't think you meant to say that a USB 2.0 drive is faster than a SATA drive. Because most USB 2.0 external drives now use SATA drives internally.

[Mace]

Should I get external HD with it's own power supply?

Or opt for one that works with USB power, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this

AND WHAT IS SATA?

Kind of depends on the application. I use an external HD with it's own power at home as my backup drive.

But in my computer bag I carry an external USB-powered drive because it's a lot more convenient when using with a laptop.

SATA and SATA II are the serial interfaces used by hard drives. It is faster than the older IDE/EIDE/PATA interfaces. If you're buying an external HD, this refers to the connection of the hard drive inside the case.

The external connection (to your computer) will be either USB, USB 2.0, eSATA, or Firewire 400/800.

[belal1]

I think I know what you meant, but just to be clear for everyone else USB 2.0 is the external interface, SATA is the internal interface to the drive itself.

So I don't think you meant to say that a USB 2.0 drive is faster than a SATA drive. Because most USB 2.0 external drives now use SATA drives internally.

to be honest, i didn't even know that. I just assumed because it said "usb 2.0" on the box, that the standard is used internally aswell. But what I don't understand is, take for example, the ipods that use firewire and the ipods that use usb2.0. obviously/theoretically the usb2.0 interface would be faster than using the firewire interface. now if we assume that inside the ipod, which has a HD, they are using a SATA connection internally, then why would it make a difference if one is using the firewire interface or usb2.0? since the usb2.0 speed would only go as fast as the firewire...or rather, the SATA speed.

u see what i mean? or am i confused :confused: ?

[Mace]

to be honest, i didn't even know that. I just assumed because it said "usb 2.0" on the box, that the standard is used internally aswell. But what I don't understand is, take for example, the ipods that use firewire and the ipods that use usb2.0. obviously/theoretically the usb2.0 interface would be faster than using the firewire interface. now if we assume that inside the ipod, which has a HD, they are using a SATA connection internally, then why would it make a difference if one is using the firewire interface or usb2.0? since the usb2.0 speed would only go as fast as the firewire...or rather, the SATA speed.

u see what i mean? or am i confused :confused: ?

I understand what you're saying.

USB 2.0 has a max rate of 480Mbit/s. But remember that SATA is 1.5Gbit/s. So it's actually quite a bit faster. And SATA II is 3 Gbit/s.

So the internal connection is actually much faster than the external. But you have the limiting factor of how fast the actual drive can read off the disk anyway or how fast you can read from it's cache.

On my computer, Firewire 800 is noticeably faster than USB 2.0. That makes sense because Firewire 800 is rated up to 800Mbit/s. But in practice, it depends on the machine.

Sometimes even Firewire 400 can be on average faster than USB 2.0 on some boxes. But it depends.

EDIT: on my desktop I use a Firewire 800 external HD case with a SATA II 1TB drive inside. That's my backup drive. And on the road I use a bus-powered USB 2.0 drive with an internal SATA I drive as my backup/archive.

[belal1]

I understand what you're saying.

USB 2.0 has a max rate of 480Mbit/s. But remember that SATA is 1.5Gbit/s. So it's actually quite a bit faster. And SATA II is 3 Gbit/s.

So the internal connection is actually much faster than the external. But you have the limiting factor of how fast the actual drive can read off the disk anyway or how fast you can read from it's cache.

On my computer, Firewire 800 is noticeably faster than USB 2.0. That makes sense because Firewire 800 is rated up to 800Mbit/s. But in practice, it depends on the machine.

Sometimes even Firewire 400 can be on average faster than USB 2.0 on some boxes. But it depends.

EDIT: on my desktop I use a Firewire 800 external HD case with a SATA II 1TB drive inside. That's my backup drive. And on the road I use a bus-powered USB 2.0 drive with an internal SATA I drive as my backup/archive.

wow, thanks for the correction. so SATA is totally faster, bar none.

it's probably best for hamza to go with a internal drive then, considering the limiting factor of usb2.0 will not be present?

[Mace]

wow, thanks for the correction. so SATA is totally faster, bar none.

it's probably best for hamza to go with a internal drive then, considering the limiting factor of usb2.0 will not be present?

Well, yes, if he wants an internal drive, then internal SATA(II) drives are going to faster and cheaper of course.

But I thought he asked about external drives.

For external drives, as I think Joha already said, the fastest is eSATA, then Firewire 800, then Firewire 400 or USB 2.0, and last is USB 1.1

[belal1]

Well, yes, if he wants an internal drive, then internal SATA(II) drives are going to faster and cheaper of course.

But I thought he asked about external drives.

For external drives, as I think Joha already said, the fastest is eSATA, then Firewire 800, then Firewire 400 or USB 2.0, and last is USB 1.1

ur right, i read it wrong. i thought he meant should he get a external in general (as oppossed to internal).