External Hard drives

[Atty]

I'm looking for an external hard drive but have some questions.

I'm interested in the Western Digital My Passport line, the ones that don't require external power devices, in either 250/320GB size, does anyone have any these models? Have any experiences with them? Or maybe any other suggestions of brands? Any help is appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Old Hippie]

Do yourself a big favor, and roll yer own. That way, you can remove the drive from the case for troubleshooting without voiding the warranty.

Most pre-made externals have a one yr. warranty. By rolling your own you'll have the case warranty (1 yr.), a seperate HDD warranty (3 yrs), and can troubleshoot each piece without voiding anything.

Start with any flavor of 2.5" HDD, add a 2.5" external case, put the drive in the case and you're good to go!

Coupla things to watch out for....
1. Make sure the HDD interface matches the case's internal interface (IDE or SATA).
2. I'm not aware of any 2.5" cases with a fan. At least make sure the case is aluminum for cooling purposes.
3. Some USB ports, especially a laptop on battery power, may not have enough juice to power it without using a USB "Y" cable. That style cable uses two USB ports to power the external drive.
4. I've always bought cases that had an optional 110v power plug.....just because shit happens. :laugh:

Good Luck!

 

[BladeVenom]

I use to do that, but the external drives I've put together myself run all the time. The pre-assembled one I have spins down when not in use. Do any of the external cases do that automatically?

 

[Razorfist]

This is one thing to be aware of:

Serial Bus Transfer Rate (USB 2.0): 480 Mbits/s (Max)

I looked up your passport drives and they are indeed USB 2.0.

If you have any free sata ports, or even better and eSata port, you might want to look into that (faster speeds).

Firewire is another faster option (conditionally, needs to be newer firewire)

Pulled this table off of Wikipedia, looks correct to me:

FireWire (IEEE 1394) 100 98.304 Mbit/s 12.288 MB/s
FireWire (IEEE 1394) 200 196.608 Mbit/s 24.576 MB/s
FireWire (IEEE 1394) 400 393.216 Mbit/s 49.152 MB/s
USB Hi-Speed (USB 2.0) 480 Mbit/s 60 MB/s <------ This is you
FireWire (IEEE 1394b) 800[27] 786.432 Mbit/s 98.304 MB/s
Fibre Channel 1Gb SCSI 1062.5 Mbit/s 100 MB/s
FireWire (IEEE 1394b) 1600[27] 1573 Mbit/s 196.6 MB/s
Camera Link Base (single) 24bit 85 MHz[28] 2040 Mbit/s 261.12 MB/s
Fibre Channel 2Gb SCSI 2125 Mbit/s 200 MB/s
eSATA (SATA 300) 2400 Mbit/s 300 MB/s <------ This is you on drugs
FireWire (IEEE 1394b) 3200[27] 3145.7 Mbit/s 393.216 MB/s

 

[sutahz]

Originally posted by: Razorfist
USB Hi-Speed (USB 2.0) 480 Mbit/s 60 MB/s <------ This is you
FireWire (IEEE 1394b) 800[27] 786.432 Mbit/s 98.304 MB/s
Fibre Channel 1Gb SCSI 1062.5 Mbit/s 100 MB/s
FireWire (IEEE 1394b) 1600[27] 1573 Mbit/s 196.6 MB/s
Camera Link Base (single) 24bit 85 MHz[28] 2040 Mbit/s 261.12 MB/s
Fibre Channel 2Gb SCSI 2125 Mbit/s 200 MB/s
eSATA (SATA 300) 2400 Mbit/s 300 MB/s <------ This is you on drugs

Except no hdd can xfer at 300mb/s, and a laptop hdd even less so. USB2.0 is fine (and easiest).
As far as an aftermarket enclosure that spins the hdd down after x min's of inactivity, im sure there is but I dont know for sure nor am I going to research it.

 

[Old Hippie]

Do any of the external cases do that automatically?

Nope!

As far as an aftermarket enclosure that spins the hdd down after x min's of inactivity, im sure there is but I dont know for sure nor am I going to research it.

I've been playing with these a long time and have never seen an aftermarket unit do spindown. I'm always on the outlook for new things, so if you do run across it, please post a link.

And I promise, I'll remember you in my Will!

 

[TheDrake]

I am in a similar situation as the OP is. I am looking for an external Hard drive that does not require external power, just USB. It would be hooking up to a Head unit in a vehicle which shouldnt have much trouble powering a HD through the USB connection. But the hard drive would need to be able to withstand temperatures a vehicle will see. I live in NC so anywhere from 10 degree (rare occasion) to over 105 degrees on the very hot days. I was looking at Toshiba and WD's drives, but not sure if any of them will be applicible for my application. I apologize for thread jacking, but didnt think this question was worthy for a new thread.

Incase its relevant, the Head unit it will be used with is this one:
http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-e...uct.php?model=IVA-W505

 

[Old Hippie]

I am looking for an external Hard drive that does not require external power, just USB.

Just the same as any other power connection circumstance.

It depends on the power coming from the USB port.

You'd have a much better chance if you had two USB ports and used a USB "Y" cable.

In your situation, I'd be borrowing one first, to give it a "road test".

Even with a road test, there's so many external HD + case combinations anything could happen.

Good Luck!