Internal hard drives vs external?

[de8212]

Vista is giving me an error saying my old 250 GB SATA internal should be backed up because the drive is failing.

I bought an external seagate 500GB eSATA drive over a yr ago (because it was a good deal) and finally opened up the package to install it and back up my 250GB. Long story short, the seagate is very finicky. SOmetimes windows will not load with it connected and several other issues.

So, I figured I may as well get a new drive. Are externals not as dependable as internal due to extra parts or somehting? Is it just seagate (I've searched google and this one seems problematic)

Any specific recommendations?
I don't really need the portability but it's nice that it's there. I just want at least 500GB and eSata (or SATA if internal)

 

[sao123]

the drive where you install your OS should probably stay internal.
IIRC SATA is still a tad bit faster than ESATA due to their position on the bus...
BUT having both is a good idea... BC u can make backups of the internal and keep it offsite for disaster recovery.

 

[de8212]

thanks sao123

My OS drive is the raptor in my sig. I just have the 250 as backup. Since it's failing, that's waht I will replace. l

Guess I need to start looking for deals. I'm sure internal is cheaper than external but wahtever I find out is the best deal less than 100, I guess I should grab.

 

[RebateMonger]

eSATA connections can be troublesome because of issues with drivers. If all you need is a replacement SATA drive, you can pull the 500 GB drive from the external housing and use it to replace the failing drive. Or keep the external drive intact (hopefully fixing the connection issues at some point) and buy a new SATA drive. 250 GB drives start a $50 shipped from Newegg.com. A 1-Terabyte internal SATA drive is about $90.

 

[de8212]

Never considered pulling the drive out, rebatemonger. Thanks.

I believe all the issues I've read about are with the case/controller, not the drive itself.

I ran across this at newegg. Here. and could just put it in there if I still wanted externla and it seems to be more reliable than seagates own enclosure.

Anyone own this enclosure I linked or another type that is recommended?

 

[JackMDS]

I got a regular SATA back plate, connected it to one of the regular SATA jack on the Mobo and used a SATA to eSATA cable plugged into the External drive.