New PS4 accessory adds support for bigger, cheaper 3.5" hard drives

[Hedon]

Yeah because they treated them as USB drives, not as HDDs, hence the limit.

 

Not in the same way this PS4 accessory or the X1 can use TBs for game installs.

Still, it supports external HDD's. It is a feature of the Xbox 360.

[chrisj1968]

I'm surprised that the PS4 wasn't designed to allow for SSD's as they are more prevalent these days. If we are talking about speeds. as for the OP states, its not a cost efficient option. Actually it might be in the long run. SSD's are lower in price now then ever. capacities are growing too.

[The Evil Overlord]

I don't recall it ever being a feature in the PS3 (legally).

If memory serves, gen 1 and gen 2 fatboys could use another os boot (Linux, if memory serves) the feature was removed due to homebrew and if memory serves, that wasn't entirely illegal

I could be wrong, I vaguely recall something along those lines

[MightyJordan]

If memory serves, gen 1 and gen 2 fatboys could use another os boot (Linux, if memory serves) the feature was removed due to homebrew and if memory serves, that wasn't entirely illegal

I could be wrong, I vaguely recall something along those lines

I never tried it on my first-gen fat one, but yeah, I remember that feature. Don't remember any mention of being able to install game data to external drives through that, though. Had a quick look on YouTube for examples and they're either tutorials that require you to jailbreak - thus losing access to PSN - or are simply fake.

[The Evil Overlord]

I never tried it on my first-gen fat one, but yeah, I remember that feature. Don't remember any mention of being able to install game data to external drives through that, though. Had a quick look on YouTube for examples and they're either tutorials that require you to jailbreak - thus losing access to PSN - or are simply fake.

Sorry, I forgot to elaborate, using the dual boot, allowed the game to be installed on an external, (it was a long winded approach, but doable) and once dual booted with homebrew one could one shot kill with a shotgun pointing at the wall, in the opposite direction, another player 35 miles away, headshot every time, while throwing the controller in the air, spinning 3 times, twirling a baton, on a trampoline with naked pole dancers....

Sorry, forgot to take my meds again, (One of the reasons Sony went after George Holtz, and anon after Sony)

But I'm going from memory and like I said earlier, I could have gotten my facts confused and could be wrong outright

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

I'm wondering where they're getting the 12V power to run a 3.5" drive from?  External power adapter or piggybacking from the power to the PS4?

 

I personally would much rather just using an internal drive as it would look much better than attaching a space station on top of your PS4, but I could see how it'd be very handy if you already have a large drive sitting around.  If you had to buy this $30 device and a 3.5" hard drive, you might as well just spend the $30 that you would on the device on getting a 2.5".

 

I think there will be large demand for this.

[The Evil Overlord]

Actually, a quick amazon search (UK) I might just buy a 7200 rpm 1 or 2 tb drive, if I went down the HDD option, as they're not hugely different in pricing to the 3.5 inch counterparts (ps4 $30 addon included)

[+Asmodai MVC]

I'm wondering where they're getting the 12V power to run a 3.5" drive from?  External power adapter or piggybacking from the power to the PS4?

Good question!

I personally would much rather just using an internal drive as it would look much better than attaching a space station on top of your PS4, but I could see how it'd be very handy if you already have a large drive sitting around.  If you had to buy this $30 device and a 3.5" hard drive, you might as well just spend the $30 that you would on the device on getting a 2.5".

I think the point is to get a drive larger than what is available in the 2.5" form factor. If you're getting a drive that's 2TB or less then sure you're probably better off just getting the 2.5" drive and ignoring this (unless, like you said, you already have the 3.5" drive laying around.) However, if you want > 2TB there is no option for 2.5" drives available to my knowledge. 7200rpm 4TB 3.5" drives aren't that much more expensive than 5400rpm 2TB 2.5" drives and if you have tons of money you can even go bigger than that on a 3.5" drive. Those larger 3.5" drives will likely come down in price much faster than 2.5" drives will add support for > 2TB so if you want a ton of storage this looks like a great option.

I'm already having to uninstall things to make room for new games I add so I'll likely upgrade this year. Thankfully they added that ability to just add games to your library with PS+ without having to actually download them so that helped some. I was going to do the 2TB 2.5" upgrade myself but depending on what this thing ends up costing and what independent reviews say of it's built quality, etc. I may consider going 4TB (or higher if some great deal comes along) with this instead. I REALLY don't want to have to reinstall everything again anytime soon and when the media stuff gets supported (movies, music, etc.) I can see my HDD filling up MUCH faster.