Help me pick an External Hard Drive please!

whs · 17 Feb 2010

I've heard the exact opposite about Iomega, actually

Hmm, the Iomega ratings I have seen were in Germany. Maybe the ones you refer to come from another plant - no idea.

terrorist96 · 17 Feb 2010

Well, after thinking about it for a while, I decided to go with the internal hdd + enclosure. The 5 year warranty is what won me over. I'd much rather feel secure about the drive than get a discounted external drive.

I got these, by the way:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RX-358-S BLK (Black) 3.5" SATA to USB & eSATA Ext. Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan - External Enclosures
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I like that Rosewill includes a lot of the wiring, but I wish I had not gone and bought an eSATA cable and a dual eSATA Bracket that plugs into my SATA ports. I guess I could probably try selling them.

noyb · 18 Feb 2010

I’ve read where many have had problems with Pre-Assembled’s .. Then the question …
Is it the HDD or the enclosure ??? .. And then what does one do ???
Breaking into the Pre-Assembled Box to get to the HDD voids the short warranty...
And you have to send it back with the HDD ... and all your personal Data.

My Main reason for a “BYO” .. I like to split my Data and my Operating System into different partitions.
I can partition the HDD in my external the same way.
Then .. I can have a backup system in the external .. And use it’s data partition for backup storage.

The system in my external is a fresh install, fully loaded, mostly updated and a master copy for my working system.
All I have to do is Swap HDDs .. perform a few updates .. make another Acronis Image .. And I’m brand new again.
Then Later .. I can replace the system partition in the external from my Acronis backup image .. And I’m ready for the next time.

Any data you don’t care about .. Is data you only have one copy of .. So I always get two .. And this also gives me hardware backup.
It's been my experience that the HDD (a good one) is more reliable than the box it's in
My third HDD used to be in an external … But I’ve recently moved it internal.

Most eSATA’s are not hot swappable .. So my externals are connected via USB .. Unless I want to boot from them.
Practically speaking .. I see very little speed difference between eSATA and USB for my normal data backup operations ... (Copy > Paste)

I think you're going to like this .. Once you figure out what all you can do with it

whs · 18 Feb 2010

Practically speaking .. I see very little speed difference between eSATA and USB for my normal data backup operations ... (Copy > Paste)

That's normal. One may think that 3Gb/sec data transfer rate will buy better data transfer speed. But a disk running at 600Mb/sec average transfer capapbility can do nearly as well on USB2 at 480Mb/sec. The limitations are with the disks, not with the attachments.

Stevy22 · 18 Feb 2010

Western Digital is Awesome-- 1 TB

NoN · 18 Feb 2010

Phase said:

I would personally stick with Western Digital - 1TB.

Western Digital WDBAAH0010CH My Book Elite External Hard Drive - 1TB, USB 2.0 at TigerDirect.com

Looks WD new Hdds (WD Ears) system are supposed writting faster by reducing sectors 512ko to 4ko, having some lite probs...I wouldn't recommand WD until they have fully tested on 1Tb Harddrive.

Mentionned it doesn't work on XP and earlier system

They also mention a "jumper" in case (not supply by them), to return to 514ko sectors.

Here in french the chronicle (use translator, please):
http://www.presence-pc.com/actualite...al-ears-38229/

noyb · 18 Feb 2010

One thing I like about those Rosewill Enclosures …
They look like they have adequate cooling for long term operations…
And the Black series of WD HDDs will run hotter.

On thing I Really don’t like .. The Power switch is “Conveniently” hidden on the back Panel.
If you would like to have the External turn On or Off automatically with the computer …
(Along with other Peripherals) … One nice accessory is one of These
Mine also controls my LED desk lamps .. And other Stuff.

Here’s another nice accessory to go with an External.

You got any more money I can spend ???

The WD Black Series will run a little faster … If you want to use it as a System drive ..
Here’s a comparison of the WD Black to the Blue series …

terrorist96 · 18 Feb 2010

Thanks guys, for all your responses. Noyb, the power switch doesn't really concern me. I'm probably just gonna leave it on most of the time so I don't forget to turn it on for the automatic backup every night. (I use the Windows tools to make a backup and a system image). And as for the power strip, I don't need that.

I have a UPS I got recently from APC (check my specs). :)

Zen00 · 18 Feb 2010

I'm using a 500gb SimpleTech Simpledrive. It works beautifully, just plug it in and Windows 7 recognizes it as an external mass storage device and assigns it a letter.