Looking for a portable external hard drive...

[zx5er]

I am new to the hard drive world, but would like to purchase a portable external hard drive to store music and video files. I will be on the road for long stretches (work related) and thought this would be the best way to take my entire cd collection with me.

I'm looking for about 250GB. I will be using a laptop PC.

I've noticed that you can buy a single unit or purchase the hard drive (insides) and then a case.

Can someone please explain the pro's and con's of each (single unit vs. drive and case)?

Can you please recommend some external hard drives that are very portable?

Thanks in advance.

[Toastyone]

Well, when you buy something already put together, it costs usually costs more for the size hard drive you will get?If you buy a hard drive and then buy an external case it is cheaper and you can always stick the drive in a computer if you ever needed to?.don?t really know of any very portable external hard drives since I just use my ;)od ;)

[shihchiun]

Well, when you buy something already put together, it costs usually costs more for the size hard drive you will get?If you buy a hard drive and then buy an external case it is cheaper and you can always stick the drive in a computer if you ever needed to?.don?t really know of any very portable external hard drives since I just use my ;)od ;)

Yeah. For the size you want, you'll have to go with a 3.5" drive, which is the same size as a regular drive. It inherently won't be that portable. If you do want to purchase a ready-made drive, just look for something from Maxtor/Seagate or Western Digital.

[Mr. Chronopoulos]

Keep in mind the majority of external hard drives require externall power input as well.

[CactusZac098]

I'd go with buying a 3.5" internal hard drive and then buying a case. It's much cheaper, and its portable enough. The case I got for mine isn't that much bigger than a 3.5" drive.

[zx5er]

I'd go with buying a 3.5" internal hard drive and then buying a case. It's much cheaper, and its portable enough. The case I got for mine isn't that much bigger than a 3.5" drive.

Is an internal hard drive in a case as durable as an external drive? The drive will be used while on ships and planes, so there could be a lot of movement. Do external hard drives run off AC power or are they powered from the USB 2.0?

[Colin-uk Veteran]

The two external hard drives ive got both get the power straight from USB

as to the Internal (with case) VS External, id say if you get a good case for the internal hard drive, it should be fine.. :)

[MrKuro]

^ can you post a link to these drives. I have not seen a 2.5 enclosure case that was powered by usb or firewire / only external power like my vantec enclosures.

[shihchiun]

Is an internal hard drive in a case as durable as an external drive? The drive will be used while on ships and planes, so there could be a lot of movement. Do external hard drives run off AC power or are they powered from the USB 2.0?

3.5" external hard drives are essentially regular internal hard drives inside enclosures. They don't have any features that make them any more durable, like a laptop (2.5") drive might. All 3.5" drives run off AC power, but most 2.5" drives can be run off USB power. If you're using a laptop on battery power this will drain the battery pretty quickly. Vantec's NexStar 3 2.5" enclosure is entirely bus-powered. You'd have to use two USB ports to power it. The only thing is that you can't find any 2.5" drives with the capacity you want, so you'd have to have two.

[zx5er]

Can you recommend any good Hard drives and enclosure's?

Is it fairly easy to assemble the HDD and the enclosure, if they are bought separately?

Any links to recommended products that can be purchased/shipped to Canada would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[zx5er]

Does it matter what type of connection the HDD has, if I am going to put it in an enclosure? Should I get SATA, IDE, etc...?

I was checking out products on ncix.com and noticed that they are all SATA or IDE. What type should I get?

[shihchiun]

Can you recommend any good Hard drives and enclosure's?

Is it fairly easy to assemble the HDD and the enclosure, if they are bought separately?

Any links to recommended products that can be purchased/shipped to Canada would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Does it matter what type of connection the HDD has, if I am going to put it in an enclosure? Should I get SATA, IDE, etc...?

I was checking out products on ncix.com and noticed that they are all SATA or IDE. What type should I get?

Your choice on hard drives. Just get something from a good brand (Maxtor/Seagate, Western Digital, maybe Hitachi). Typically enclosures have internal IDE connections, although there are some that do have internal SATA connections. It really doesn't matter which you choose, as long as the enclosure has the same connection as the hard drive. Any performance difference is negated by the slower connection between the enclosure and the computer. You can choose any connection that suits you, although USB 2.0 and Firewire are the most common ones. Firewire is slightly faster, but it's not as widely available, but if you're just going to be using the enclosure with one computer all the time that makes no difference.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

250GB running on a USB...

if your going to be traveling by car, i recommend a USB power cable, and at 250GB, it will drain your laptop.

if your planning on staying inside hotels and whatever, i suggest you get a normal power cable, and connect it either by firewire or usb.

[thomson]

I wonder if 2.5 hard drive is more portable due to the nature as laptop hdd?

I suppose they can sustain shock better than 3.5?

[zx5er]

The first part of my decision is made...I am going to go with a 300GB hard drive and enlosure, now to decide what manufacturer..

For Hard drives I was looking at Maxtor - DiamondMax 10 300GB 16MB 7200 RPM or the MaxLine III 300GB 16MB 7200RPM

Enclosure - PPA Int'l - Metal Gear Box - the one with the mesh sides. I figure that should help to keep the drive cool.

Which of the two Maxtor HDD (DiamondMax 10 or MaxLine III) is better?

Any other comparable HDD"s (300GB 16MB 7200 RPM) you can recommend?

Any comments on the Metal Gear Box enclosure?

[shihchiun]

The first part of my decision is made...I am going to go with a 300GB hard drive and enlosure, now to decide what manufacturer..

For Hard drives I was looking at Maxtor - DiamondMax 10 300GB 16MB 7200 RPM or the MaxLine III 300GB 16MB 7200RPM

Enclosure - PPA Int'l - Metal Gear Box - the one with the mesh sides. I figure that should help to keep the drive cool.

Which of the two Maxtor HDD (DiamondMax 10 or MaxLine III) is better?

Any other comparable HDD"s (300GB 16MB 7200 RPM) you can recommend?

Any comments on the Metal Gear Box enclosure?

Don't know about the enclosure, but just get the cheapest drive you can find with the specifications you want. Right now 250 GB drives are the cheapest drives (in terms of dollars per GB). There's really no difference among brands.

[lieb39]

Well, I was in your same situation a few months back, needed a external for my laptop. I went on eBay and got one of those 2.5" Cases, running entirely off the USB port. It was cheap, so nothing really lost. I was lucky enough to have a laptop then that wasn't being used with a 30GB hard drive, so I used that. But, then the laptop needed the hard drive back so I was left out in the cold. I could have just brought a laptop hard drive (2.5") but they're fairly expensive. So I just went for a 3.5" External hard drive with USB2, Firewire 400 & Firewire 800.

I got it, used the 800 port on my Powerbook, and it worked with no issues. Plugging in the power can be a pain, but I'm not too worried. Now, I managed to hook up two 3.5" to the single unit by using a power splitter and a proper IDE cable, and it works without issues! :) I had these 3.5" drives just floating around, so overall, the best bet.

FYI: The drive I brought: http://www.macpower.com.tw/products/hdd3/pleiades/pd_800plus - If you don't use the Firewire 800 it's not exactly useful, since it can be fairly expensive (I got it for 99$ AUS, eBay, new)

Cheers!

-lieb39