New HD, Internal or external... whats the differnece?

[Manthus_X]

Hey,

Im looking to buy another HD for my computer, Ive been lookin at external so I can move it around and unplug it.. use it for backup.. and take large files to other computers with ease... I know the price is higher for external but thats all I know.

Whats the quailty difference, if any... is there more a chance of a external crashing on me, or anything I should know about before making a purchase?

I also read a post on this site (from 2002) that I found trying to search to find the differences and a user "TennDevil" said this;

"You could save yourself a few dollars by getting the internal and getting a usb 2.0/firewire enclosure and making your own external. Look in your bible for them."

Im curious about this, I know enough about computers to survive but not enough to know what he means there.. I mainly deal with software and don't know too much about hardware, is what he said possible. I assume its a internal HD with somesort of plastic box I just put it and and connect to the pc via usb... where would I get the "enclosure" for this if I was to go this way?

Thanks in advance,

X

[tpoynton]

doing a google search on usb hard drive enclosure returns plenty of results. an internal drive is only more reliable because it doesnt move, which is the biggest benefit of an external HD. depending on how much storage you need, i would suggest getting a notebook hard drive/enclosure.

[IanS]

I assume its a internal HD with somesort of plastic box I just put it and and connect to the pc via usb... where would I get the "enclosure" for this if I was to go this way?

Thanks in advance,

XYou're perfectly correct. The boxes that support firewire are a little more expensive, but you can put in a massive hard disk (400Gb) and transport it around. Watch the temperature/ventilation on the fast big drives, a metal casing will be better than the plastic ones to get rid of the heat. Other than that, the price is about UK£25, which should be approx US$30 as we usually end up paying more here in the UK.

[mushiking]

Yeah rather buy the external enclosure , then the hdd separate this is a much cheaper option and you will get more for your buck .
Get a 2.5 inch drive (laptop hard drive) as this will be able to be powered off the usb , the normal hard drive needs main power .
I believe the laptop hdd takes travelling a lot better then the 3.5 Inch drives

[Manthus_X]

Awsome, Im not looking for a huge hrd drive, probably no more than 120gig. All I really need is between 60-80 but ill check price ranges and buy the best bargan.

Ive been looking at store websites, some big chains som smaller stores and I can't find anyone with one of the usb hard drive enclosure kits. Are they not usually sold in stores, would I have to order it via the net?

I live in western canada, I usually do all my shopping for pc parts at http://www.memoryexpress.com as they have the best prices here but they don't have the enclosure alough they will have the hard drive.

Are they seperate enclosures for a PC hard drive and a labtop HD, or is it a one size fits all thing? I assume the labtop HD wil be more expensive but if it will work better then it is worth it.

Oh yea, you said the laptop wil lbe able to be powered by the USB, does the other notebook require a AC adaptor to power it with the usb?

Thanks again for the quick replys, sorry if this stuff is common knowledge.

Oh I forgot to mention, im not going to be running anything of this HD... just using it for storing data, It wont b moved too much either, probably just between my two pcs at home and maybe to another one a 10min drive from here.

X

[mushiking]

No the notebook doesnt need ac power , even for a desktop a laptop drive works much better as you can just plug the usb in and go :)

[Manthus_X]

Ok, sorry to keep replying to myself so much.. haha but at that site that I usually shop at I found some of the enclosures.

Could you please check them over and let me know whats best, and if they will work with any notebook HD i buy... the one at the top is called;
"WELLAND ME-930U2 2.5in External Enclosure, USB 2.0" and it costs 30bucks

Here is the link;
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.php?PageTag=&page=cat&memx_menu=263&SID=

Or just go to the site, hit enclosures on the left, then 2.5.. thanks again, I hope this isn't too much to ask.

X

[mushiking]

Yip thats the one.
and seems like a fair price.

[IanS]

Seems like a fair price to me. Bear in mind, 2.5" drives have different connections to 3.5" drives so the enclosures are different. Also, 2.5" drives are generally more expensive per Gb and smaller number of Gb are usually available (I've not seen a 400Gb 2.5" drive, for example.)

If you're moving the external drive around, I agree, a 2.5" drive is probably the wise purchase. If you're only occassionally moving them from one computer to another, then go for the 3.5" drive and enclosure.

[mushiking]

I would still say the 2.5 :)
Iv had around 4-5 3.5" drives die on my clients from movin them around .
They dont take to Travling to well as the 2.5" imho