External HDrive OR Internal Drive + Case?

[TazD]

I would just like to know what everyone's opinion is on portable harddrives. I was thinking of buying a Maxtor One Touch II 300 GB Triple Interface hard drive but I rang up my local PC store and the guy recommended an internal hard drive (I suppose a SATA drive) with a Case which only has USB 2.0 connection and is about AU$140 cheaper.

Is one more reliable than the other? What can handle the knocks and bumps better as to not damage the internal components? Which would you choose? As I need to carry it around with me everyday. Thanks for your reply!

 

[pkme2]

An external 3.5" HDD is an internal hdd with a external case and power unit, with USB or USB/Firewire connection. Large storage ability+

I use a pocket hdd with USB 2.0 connector that doesn't need an AC power connection. From 20GB to 120GB.
I also use a mobile hdd rack that switches between computers. A large capacity for use from home to work and vice-versa, a mobile allows you to slip it in, lock and start computer. The mobile racks run $31/39 (ideal if they have 2 slides)

Or you could carry an external with connector and AC power connector. Useful when connecting to various or different computers.

If you buy the HDDs and kit enclosures separately, you'll save a bundle. My students and I were buying separate laptop hdds and pocket enclosures when 256mb flash readers were $90. We were building 20GB/enclosure for less than $80. Now we can get 120GB/enclosure for around $150/200.

You don't have to be a rocket scientists to do this. Once you see it done, you'll do it in your sleep.
I like the USB pocket drives because of their compactness and the mobile racks, just lock and load, vice-versa.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, If you are comfortable with mounting the HD in the External box and formating it, then there is no difference between the two. I have set up two HDs in two enclosures with no proplems whatsoever. Good Luck, Jim

EDIT: Unless there is a need to move the external drive to another COMP I would always go for the internal. Jim

 

[LED]

Better of assembling it yourself IMO for a few reasons...
The HD 's will be interchangable so you can add a larger one when it's time.
Warranty on a Retail Hd can be as long as 5 yrs whereas most of the preassemble kits have only one year.
If you desire, you can get a 5 1/4 " Case and interchange it with a HD and Burner
Cases are becoming more versitale and now come combine in many flavors (ie.USB, Firewire,SATA)
Cost less and most importantly you can pick the design you like 😎

 

[TazD]

Okay, so I bought an internal 300GB Seagate SATAII drive with a Vantec Nexstar 3 case. My question is, does the external harddrives like Maxtor One Touch III 300GB have power cables like that supplied with the Nexstar 3 case? As I think its going to be a real hassle to carry these power cables around with me everyday with the USB cable as well.

Also, I am having problems getting the eSATA connection to work. I checked out my manual for the motherboard and it says "Hot Plug Support for Serial ATA drive and connections are not available on this motherboard". However, the eSATA connection only works when I boot up the computer and when I try to turn off the external hard drive my computer freezes! The drive also doesnt work when I switch it on while the computer is running.

 

[LED]

On the 3.5" Cases most have the Voltage adapter plug is outside of the Case...if you didn't want to carry a bulky one then opting for a 5 1/4 or a larger/longer 3.5 would be the choice to make (Plus the 5 1/4 usually have better cooling)...I'm not in the market for one so I can not point you to an exact Model # but I'm sure they are out there 😉

Now on making the eSATA part work, I do not know what Motherboard you are attempting to use it work with but the Case must hook up to a compatible chipset...The Nforce4 chipset was not SATA hot swapable until the release of the Ultra NForce4 and ULi was not e-SATA compatible until the release of the ULi M1695 and ULi M1697...Also I think Intel wasn't hot swapable until the 945PL...so as you can see the right config has to be in place including the drivers and OS...
Finally when I pick a Case out that I travel/assist others with I make sure it has one USB Hi-Speed connect included because many other folks only have USB... I also format the HD in FAT32 because if I'm transfering files to OP's and they have Win98SE their Machine cannot read NTFS

 

[TazD]

Thanks for your help LED. Well, my motherboard is the ASUS P4P800 Deluxe and the chipset is the Socket 478, so I think I have had it for a couple of years now.

I have also partitioned the drive into 3 partitions at about 93 gb each. What I also need to know is will these partitions be compatible with Mac computers. I know that it is compatible with Macs as that is what it says on the Vantec box but I dont know if it needs to be reformatted for a Mac. All the partitions are NTFS. I will only be using them with Macs and PC's with Windows XP.

 

[minofifa]

i don't think mac's can read NTFS can they?

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: TazD
Okay, so I bought an internal 300GB Seagate SATAII drive with a Vantec Nexstar 3 case. My question is, does the external harddrives like Maxtor One Touch III 300GB have power cables like that supplied with the Nexstar 3 case? As I think its going to be a real hassle to carry these power cables around with me everyday with the USB cable as well.

Also, I am having problems getting the eSATA connection to work. I checked out my manual for the motherboard and it says "Hot Plug Support for Serial ATA drive and connections are not available on this motherboard". However, the eSATA connection only works when I boot up the computer and when I try to turn off the external hard drive my computer freezes! The drive also doesnt work when I switch it on while the computer is running.

The eSATA port may be running from a contoller chip that needs a driver. It sounds to me like windows cannot recongize the SATA controller and you need to install the driver for it.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: LED
On the 3.5" Cases most have the Voltage adapter plug is outside of the Case...if you didn't want to carry a bulky one then opting for a 5 1/4 or a larger/longer 3.5 would be the choice to make (Plus the 5 1/4 usually have better cooling)...I'm not in the market for one so I can not point you to an exact Model # but I'm sure they are out there 😉

Now on making the eSATA part work, I do not know what Motherboard you are attempting to use it work with but the Case must hook up to a compatible chipset...The Nforce4 chipset was not SATA hot swapable until the release of the Ultra NForce4 and ULi was not e-SATA compatible until the release of the ULi M1695 and ULi M1697...Also I think Intel wasn't hot swapable until the 945PL...so as you can see the right config has to be in place including the drivers and OS...
Finally when I pick a Case out that I travel/assist others with I make sure it has one USB Hi-Speed connect included because many other folks only have USB... I also format the HD in FAT32 because if I'm transfering files to OP's and they have Win98SE their Machine cannot read NTFS

Originally posted by: minofifa
i don't think mac's can read NTFS can they?

I do know there is a 3rd party NTFS reader for DOS and Windows 98 has a DOS core so I suspect that you could some how intergrate it in to Windows 98 via DOS prompt or some other method I may not be thinking of.

EDIT: The last time I tried NTFS on a MAC, It did not work with OS9 or early verstions of OS10. I suspect that newer newer Intel Based Macs with Virtualization should be able to read NTFS and transfer files with out much trouble.

 

[TazD]

Well I have converted the first two partitions to FAT32, so I'll see how that goes next week when I try it on a Mac. But what about the SATA Controller Drivers? I have no idea where to get them, even on the ASUS website. I know that my BIOS is the latest version.

 

[gba]

If you cannot find the most recent drivers on the ASUS site, the ASUS CD ROM that came with the board should have the drivers for all of the onboard peripherals.

 

[TazD]

I probably have the drivers already installed then. Like I said before, the drive works with the eSATA connection when the computer boots up but not when trying to connect the eSATA connection when Windows XP is already loaded.

 

[gba]

ook, right... What I would do is 1) Back up your system however you prefer (I like Norton Ghost), 2) Boot up WinXP, 3) Plug the drive into the eSATA port, 4) Check Device Manager for yellow warnings signs, 5) Reinstall the SATA drivers from the ASUS CD, whether or not you have a warning, 6) Reboot,7) Plug drive into the eSATA port and see if WinXP recognizes it.

 

[LED]

Originally posted by: TazD
I probably have the drivers already installed then. Like I said before, the drive works with the eSATA connection when the computer boots up but not when trying to connect the eSATA connection when Windows XP is already loaded.

LOL...and like I wrote the chipset has to be e-SATA compatible which that one (865) is not...on the bright side it was the 1st chipset to run a native SATA Hard Drive and performs great whereas other Mobo's which used SATA emplyed a 3rd part chipset (ie.Promise, Highpoint, Marvell).

 

[gba]

Originally posted by: LED

Originally posted by: TazD
I probably have the drivers already installed then. Like I said before, the drive works with the eSATA connection when the computer boots up but not when trying to connect the eSATA connection when Windows XP is already loaded.

LOL...and like I wrote the chipset has to be e-SATA compatible which that one (865) is not...on the bright side it was the 1st chipset to run a native SATA Hard Drive and performs great whereas other Mobo's which used SATA emplyed a 3rd part chipset (ie.Promise, Highpoint, Marvell).

Wow, I had forgoten you had said that, otherwise I would not have taken the time to chime in...