Portable externals for travelling?

tinpanalley

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Jul 13, 2011
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Hi there, I don't buy these often and need one for work. Can someone tell me what are considered the best quality portable externals these days? I need 500GB. Are Western Digital and Samsung drives good like with 3.5 internals??
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
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To connect to what? How big? A 32GB thumb drive can hold a lot of work data and be on your key ring.
 

tinpanalley

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What I'm asking about is those smaller 2.5, portable, made for travelling enclosed hdds. 32GB isn't enough for me. "a lot of work data" is subjective which is why I said that I needed 500GB. I already know I can use enclosures on 3.5s. My comments, which was improperly phrased should have been: As with 3.5s where WD and Samsung are considered the best, are they also considered the best in 2.5 hdds?
 

corkyg

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My fave 2.5-in drive is the WD Scorpio Black. I would put it in a good Vantec case and toss it in my laptop bag. But - I don't need to do that. With my Thinkpad, I just replace the optical drive with the Ultrabay adapter and slap the Scorpio in there. Makes for an internal travel disk that way. :)

T60bay.jpg
 
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corkyg

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Whoa!! Where do I get one of those? That's what I have, a Lenovo Thinkpad!

OK - what model? Ultrabay adapters are somewhat series specific. I have one for my T60 and another for my T510 - they are different and not interchangeable, although both are SATA. To illustrate:

UBIIvsIII.jpg
 
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zuffy

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Feb 28, 2000
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My fave 2.5-in drive is the WD Scorpio Black. I would put it in a good Vantec case and toss it in my laptop bag. But - I don't need to do that. With my Thinkpad, I just replace the optical drive with the Ultrabay adapter and slap the Scorpio in there. Makes for an internal travel disk that way. :)

T60bay.jpg

That's what I did with my XPS laptop. SSD for OS and the original 500GB for storage. Best of both world. If I really need optical, then I carry my Plextor portable DVD drive.
 

corkyg

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OK, for the T420 you need trhe Series 3(III) adapter. This is in the Lenovo store - but you can get it for less. Just remember the part number and series 3 or III.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...D77F5867D31462

Just google the part number (43N3412) and make sure it is it. It will take any 2.5-in SATA HDD up to 12mm thick. 9.5mm is ideal. That could be a WDC Scorpio 500GB. Much better than any USB external. You get internal SATA speeds.
 
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tinpanalley

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Jul 13, 2011
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I love the suggestions. And I love this Western Digital. It occurs to me though that I might want to just get a 2.5 drive and an enclosure that's tough for portability because I already have an all-in-one that I can't use and the fact that it's sealed stops me from being able to just buy a new drive. So I thought if I buy a tough enclosure and 2.5 hdd as separate pieces, I can always replace as necessary. Or even keep 2 hdds. One for work, one not. Any suggestions then on this idea? I'd still get a wd hdd but any ideas on an enclosure?
 

stargazr

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Jun 13, 2010
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I love the suggestions. And I love this Western Digital. It occurs to me though that I might want to just get a 2.5 drive and an enclosure that's tough for portability because I already have an all-in-one that I can't use and the fact that it's sealed stops me from being able to just buy a new drive. So I thought if I buy a tough enclosure and 2.5 hdd as separate pieces, I can always replace as necessary. Or even keep 2 hdds. One for work, one not. Any suggestions then on this idea? I'd still get a wd hdd but any ideas on an enclosure?

This one's nice because it has vents. Also has the carbon fiber look. USB 3.0

http://detonator.dynamitedata.com/c...com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256077
 

tinpanalley

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Jul 13, 2011
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Is there any difference really between a WD passport for example and a 2.5" drive inside a 2.5 enclosure? Is the passport any safer really shock-wise?