Ext. Hard Drive ... Help

[xyston]

Hi ...

I have a notebook (1 USB 2.0 port / no firewire port) ... and i'm running out of disk space. so i'm thinking of getting an external drive (60 - 120 GB) ... reading some of the posts - what i think i need is - a good (and more importantly CHEAP) hard drive and a case for it !!! here are some isssues that i'm hoping someone can help me out with :

1> Are all external hard drives powered by an adapter ??
2> Recommend a good site to pick up deals on both the case and the drive !!! which are the good companies making hard-drive ?
3> If i'm accessing the external hard-drive and the power goes off - how deep am i in sh*t ?
4> Are there any compatibility issues ? such as size of the drive etc
5> I'm assuming these drives are hot-pluggable / PnP ?
6> Any other advice u wanna give me regarding this stuff is most welcome !

thanx ...


edit: i forgot, shuld i be concerned abt ATA/100 ATA/66 .... etc etc

 

[addragyn]

1. Firewire can power a 2.5" drive. You'll need a adaptor for a drive on USB and any 3.5" drive.

2. Any contemporary hard drive is "good".

3. Try it and find out! Really it depends on specifics. If you're reading should be ok. If writing maybe you lose some data. This could also be shaped by what FS you are using.

4. Sure, read the description of what you buy.

5. you assume correctly.

6. I'm partial to Firewire over USB2. Besides being superior in many other ways it provides more power than USB which means you can power an external 2.5" Firewire drive with it. One cable!