External Storage Options....

seanbrown86

Hi

I'm looking into getting myself a nice large 3.5" 500gb external hard-drive for music and movie storage as my laptop nearly full.

Now as I see it there are two options for external harddrives, i)buying an internal harddrive and slapping it in a disc caddy or ii)buying a 'dedicated external harddrive. Now which is better?

I see the advantages of buying an internal and slapping it in a caddy generally means you can buy a drive you trust like a seagate or maxtor. But is it cheaper to get a 'dedicated' external harddrive, if not why bother with a 'dedicated' external?

Also I assume with either type its possible to slip it out of the case and put it in a desktop computer in the future, without any problems? I do plan on possibly sorting a desktop out in a year or two.

Thanks for you time

Little_John

an internal caddy drive will be faster than a USB drive, but a USB drive is miles more flexable they are also designed better to be moved about where a caddy drive the cheaper cadys are crap you need to spend a bit more to get a decent shock absorbed caddy.

seanbrown86

I thought both options would have the same speeds, since don't caddies also have usb connections? And both internal and external drives are 7,200rpm unless you go for a 10,000rpm raptor....

When you say flexable, what exactly do you mean?

Skint1

I have 2 Hdd's Inside my computer. And an external Hdd which I use to back up stuff for when I get a new computer plus I bring it to my sisters and we swap stuff.

rockabilly_spike

why not invest in a HD Media drive like the sumvision aquaplus enclosure
it plugs into the TV's AV channel and can playback your movies and music via the tv and sound system
I have a 250gb one.
theres some good deals on them on ebay and aria.co.uk
just search for 3.5" media player

Little_John

An internal drive in a caddy will be connected to the systems internal drive controler either IDE (ATA) or SATA the speed of which is faster than USB

the fact that the drive spin at 7200rpm doesnt matter USB has a limit of which it can read/write just has IDE and SATA internal is faster.

As for the flexibility USB you can connect the drive to any pc with a USB port a drive in a caddy you also need the drive bay to put the caddy in for it to be useable.

After ready your post again the difference will be the external drive will have better shock protection than buying a DIY external drive.

Blacksheep1979

Little_John wrote: »

An internal drive in a caddy will be connected to the systems internal drive controler either IDE (ATA) or SATA the speed of which is faster than USB

the fact that the drive spin at 7200rpm doesnt matter USB has a limit of which it can read/write just has IDE and SATA internal is faster.

As for the flexibility USB you can connect the drive to any pc with a USB port a drive in a caddy you also need the drive bay to put the caddy in for it to be useable.

After ready your post again the difference will be the external drive will have better shock protection than buying a DIY external drive.

I don't see how the op is going to easily connect a drive to the inside of their laptop

albertross_2

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=118937&_LOC=UK

£94 with free delivery

I wouldn't rely on any one disk for your only means of storage, whatever the make , they don't last as long as they used to.

buster1967

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/123400/product_info/rb/27230807705

£92.99 inc VAT