Daft question (sorry) -what does this bit mean

chiefgoobster

Hi Techie People out there

I'm looking at getting an external hard drive to plug into my
Hard disc recorder (which is connected to the telly)

I've seen deals around on H*tUKDeals etc, with a description of say ;

Hitachi 2TB Touro 3.5" Black USB 3.0 External Hard Drive

My question being......what does the 3.0 thingy mean ?

am I better off getting a higher number ,as opposed to
some external drives that say have 2.0 ??

sorry for what probably appears a real daft question
to you high Techies.Thanks to whoever replies.

jamespir

it goes by the usb slots on your pc (most nowdays are usb 2.0 ) and determines the power output to the drive

it means if you didnt have usb 3.0 it would not run as fast on you pc as it would not get enough power from the port

chiefgoobster

cheers for the reply fella.
does it then mean I have to see what number my usb port is on the hard disc recorder and (ideally) match it accordingly ?

I'm not that fussed about power and speed of transferring data.

jamespir

chiefgoobster wrote: »

cheers for the reply fella.
does it then mean I have to see what number my usb port is on the hard disc recorder and (ideally) match it accordingly ?

I'm not that fussed about power and speed of transferring data.

ideally yes but i know how to do it on a pc not on a tv or hd recorder best thing i suppose is check the manual for the device it may tell you
then yes match it up

Jeff_Bridges_hair

jamespir wrote: »

ideally yes but i know how to do it on a pc not on a tv or hd recorder best thing i suppose is check the manual for the device it may tell you
then yes match it up

USB 3.0 was created to be backwards compatible with 2.0 so it wont matter it will just transfer the data at 2.0 if thats what the port at the back of the telly is and not at its full speed.

Pikeyp

chiefgoobster wrote: »

I'm looking at getting an external hard drive to plug into my
Hard disc recorder (which is connected to the telly)

Before you buy one , best to double-check what your HDD recorder does via this USB connector!

I have an older Sony HDD recorder which has a USB port , but only has the functions of playing MP3's and playing a slideshow of photos through it ... no video support!

macman

Any other device older than about a year will almost certainly be USB 2.0-which has been around for the best part of a decade IIRC.

chiefgoobster

Thanks to all who replied. I am a bit more knowledgeable
knowing what advice you peeps gave.

BillTrac

As said above, check the use of the USB socket. My plasma has a USB socket, but if you read the manual itis purely for servicing use. There is no way if using it as a media connection