External 500gb hard drives

Leopard

"flossy_splodge". (Jesus! Even your User Name is illiterate. :rolleyes: )

I've no idea up which particular tree your daughter is pursuing a PhD "in a branch of Linguistics" (sic) but you, your daughter and anyone else who considers that the only thing grammatically wrong with this posting:

flossy_splodge wrote: »

There are two factors worthy of particular note.
1. There are 2 different types of external drives:a) 2.5 " and 3.5". The 2.5" are proper portable external drives in that they are powered through the 'bus' or usb port so you don't need a plug point ie mains power. The 3.5" ARE mains powered. So if for example you were going on a long train journey and the train did not have a power source but you wanted to back up your work as you travelled, then you need a 2.5" which you would plug into any USB port of your computer. If you are using it as a backup device eg in an office or at home and would not use it 'on the move' then get a 3.5". The reason I say this is that price per Gb is dearer for the 2.5" than the 3.5" irrespective of manufacturer.
2. There are two sorts of cooling systems inside. The older ones have a fan just like your computer so the whole device tends to be bigger and heavier oh yes, and noisier!!.The other system is cooled by conduction by being made of a material that conducts the heat away to the outside. I have it on good authority that the heat conducting system is better! You might like to get a range of opinions on this but the way I had it explained to me made sense.
If you go for a true 'portable' ie a 2.5" there is not that much variation in price but you can currently get 320Gb for about £60.
A downside to the 2.5" is that the maximum size available is less ie no 1Tb yet available in 2.5" but IS in 3.5".
Good luck!:rotfl:

is (as your daughter put it, with euphemism worthy of a Professorship) that it omits "two commas", loses, inherently, any right to lecture anybody else on grammar: far less to offer them lessons in English comprehension (sarcastically or otherwise).

It's an appalling piece of English, littered with grammatical errors, with which both Oxford University and any other educational establishment worth its salt would be thoroughly ashamed to be associated in any way.

(And anyone, moreover, who spells "ill-educated" without a hyphen, in their disputatious attempt to justify it, is clearly ignorant of their own educational inadequacy.)

What, also, and conspicuously, you fail to grasp is that educated people read and absorb information at speed. Much of it is done by recognising whole groups of words at a time. Punctuation and paragraphing is crucial to that process. Even sad Donnie the Deranged, for all his faults, understands that and hurls his abuse coherently. You do not.

It's extremely inconsiderate to everybody when you post an atrocity of butchered English on the scale that you did. There is much to wade through on this website. Educated people can scan past misspelt words at undiminished speed with merely a wince but anyone trying to read what you wrote has to slow down to a crawl and keep going back over it in order to try to decipher what on earth you are attempting to say. For the perpetrator of it then to offer lessons in English comprehension is the height of ignorant arrogance. It isn't amusing; it's irritating.

What you further fail to realise is that the compressed, stilted and uneducated manner in which you attempt to construct prose demonstrates to everybody confronted with it your own intellectual shortfall - it reveals your severe incapacity to assemble facts and present them in a lucid manner to other people.

But worse, far worse, than all of that is that facts you state, in a sub-forum billed as "Techie" on a site dedicated to money saving, are technically inaccurate and could result in people spending money (which might be tight) on the wrong products for their needs.

(And no; I'm not going to spell out for you again the most glaring error that you made. I've already done it and I'm not going to repeat it, just for you, because you are too lazy to look for it.)

The bottom line here is that I, and most others who visit this forum, would far rather read aliEnRIK's sometimes grammatically imperfect postings, packed full of wise technical advice, than the vain and repetitious ramblings of a tedious, ignorant, arrogant woman who expects people to wade through her illiterate, factually-inaccurate pronouncements. At least he uses paragraphs. (Usually. )

Nor, however much you might regard it as your right, am I under any obligation - moral or otherwise - to keep having to answer your persistent reiterations of your and your daughter's perceived grievances on matters of grammar in a Technical forum dedicated to money saving.

Nor, too, is anyone else. We have better things to do, assisting others needing technical help. So, go away and "chuckle" somewhere else.

Leopard

superjaggybunnet wrote: »

PC World were advertising a 1 TB drive on TV last night for £79 or thereabouts.

That is pretty cheap!

They're offering a Western Digital for £80 (plus shipping) online and another model for £90. (Not sure if these links will work - DSG puts Session IDs in them.) Unfortunately, they're only USB2, though.

The biggest problem with purchasing external hard drives (unless they've got an eSATA port) is that you never know with any reliability when you're buying them just what type of hard drive is actually inside them.

That's a major consideration if you're planning to do a drive swap with the one inside your computer.

The greatest issue is whether you'll discover that it's a PATA/IDE drive or a SATA drive.

It's a shame when you have to retire a perfectly good enclosure (particularly if it's got Firewire 800 ports) because the drive inside it has died or become untrustworthy and the connectors inside it are for a format that's no longer available or economic to buy.

aliEnRIK

My posts tend to be full of errors. But then, when ive been working nightshifts ive sometimes only been asleep 3 hours out of 24!
So my spelling takes a bit of a 'back seat' so to speak

tali

aliEnRIK wrote: »

In terms of what you put, your advice was to get the cheapest of whatever the OP chooses. BUT.....that could turn into 'false economy' if the drive breaks down if they chose cheap c*ap. My grandads into cheap as hell stuff and nearly ALWAYS gets bitten for doing so. I think he has 2 dead external hard drives upto now and he barely even uses them! (Ss I get hiim to buy a decnt one and I dont think hes EVER used it )


Anyways, its reet
I certainly aint going to lose sleep over it

Using your Grandad's example (maybe I'm comparing apples and pears) - but my brother buys top range goods(i'm into the cheapo stuff) and my cheapo(and intensively used) fridge /washing machine have been far more reliable than his expensive ones. My PC is a emachines (so a cheapo brand) in over 7 years of heavy useage i have had 1 PSU and 1 HD failiure.I'm not saying it's scientific but my experience cancels out your Grandad's one.

robpw2

i got a 640 from tesco 59.99 plus vat reduced too

aliEnRIK

tali wrote: »

Using your Grandad's example (maybe I'm comparing apples and pears) - but my brother buys top range goods(i'm into the cheapo stuff) and my cheapo(and intensively used) fridge /washing machine have been far more reliable than his expensive ones. My PC is a emachines (so a cheapo brand) in over 7 years of heavy useage i have had 1 PSU and 1 HD failiure.I'm not saying it's scientific but my experience cancels out your Grandad's one.

Youll have to elaborate further I think. What kind of 'top range goods' are we talking?

flossy_splodge

Could I trouble those of you not completely fed up with this thread to look at the following and tell me if there is any reason to doubt this being a 'good' buy?
Bear in mind that I WANT a 2.5", NOT a 3.5".
Thanks

Buffalo's DriveStation USB 2.0 Hard Drive lets you store, backup, or easily transport various files, including huge multimedia files too large to fit on a USB key. Just plug it into your computer and it installs automatically with Windows 2000, XP, or OS-X computers. Fanless Heat Sink Chassis design lets the DriveStation run cool and quietly. The unique chassis design may be placed vertically or horizontally. With auto installation, Memeo AutoBackup Software (Download Memeo AutoBackup) and SecureLockWare support, the DriveStation is a plug and play secure and reliable USB backup and storage solution.

Specifications

Bay Required

Type None
Cables (Details)

Form Factor Detachable Included Qty 1 Length 1 m Type USB cable Dimensions & Weight

Depth 15.6 cm Height 17.5 cm Weight 1 kg Width 4.5 cm Environmental Parameters

Humidity Range Operating 20 - 80% Max Operating Temperature 35 °C Min Operating Temperature 5 °C External Hard Drive

Interface Speed 480 Mbps Internal Drive Interface Serial ATA Power Source Included AC adapter Header

Compatibility PC Manufacturer Buffalo Technology Packaged Quantity 1 Product Line Buffalo DriveStation Interface Provided

Connector Type 4 PIN USB Type A Interface (Storage) Hi-Speed USB Qty 1 Miscellaneous

Compliant Standards AES-256 RoHS Power Device

Frequency Required 50/60 Hz Nominal Voltage AC 120 V Power Consumption Operational 24 Watt Type Power adapter Slot Required

Type None Software

Type Drivers & Utilities Memeo AutoBackup SecureLockWare Storage

Total Storage Capacity 500 GB Type Hard drive Storage Controller

Controller Interface Type Serial ATA-300 Interface Type Hi-Speed USB Type Serial ATA Storage Controller (2nd)

Type None Storage Hard Drive

Capacity 500 GB Compliant Standards 256-bit AES Features Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor Secure Lock Ware TurboUSB technology Form Factor 3.5" Hard Drive Type External hard drive Interface Type Hi-Speed USB Max Seek Time 11 ms Spindle Speed 7200 rpm System Requirements

OS Required Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows XP This is currently on dabs site at £55.20 inc VAT.

Thanks again:o

flossy_splodge

Sorry, I should have put this bit first in post above.

Buffalo 500GB Drivestation Turbo 7200RPM USB2 8MB
None in stock
quicklinx: 5C07PZ
mfr#: HD-CE500U2

£55.20 inc vat

I note the rpm is higher than many but I am not at all familiar with the make.:o

Leopard

It's a 3.5" mains-powered desktop drive, not a 2.5" laptop drive.

You stated specifically that you want a 2.5" drive.

flossy_splodge wrote: »

Could I trouble those of you not completely fed up with this thread to look at the following and tell me if there is any reason to doubt this being a 'good' buy?
Bear in mind that I WANT a 2.5", NOT a 3.5".

free4440273

Leopard wrote: »

It's a 3.5" mains-powered desktop drive, not a 2.5" laptop drive.

You stated specifically that you want a 2.5" drive.

You obviously cannot even read. Dimwit.:rotfl: