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Solve : USB HDD or Enclosure with a HDD in it?? |
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Answer» Just as the title says, which one would be better in your opinion in terms of best value for money? Purchasing a USB HDD or a fast INTERNAL HDD and use it in a HDD enclosure? This will be used mainly for data backup/restoration purposes so my main concern is the speed and longer lasting product. I'm looking at 500 GB - 2 TB storage depending on what you guys recommend. I usually buy the enclosure 1st and put a little extra $$ into it then searvh for deals on a seperate HDD. My main concern is speed of copy/pasting stuff when I backup onto this HDD and I will usually be making backups from my laptop onto this HDD. So I'll have to use my laptops USB 2.0 PORTS for the backups, although I'm sure most of the current USB HDD and HDD enclosures are USB 3.0, so would this make a huge difference in speeds? So considering that, will I still be better off buying an Enclosure and finding a decent SATA HDD for it or would getting a USB HDD package be better? Would both of these perform the same way if the HDD specs are same like the read/write speeds, cache etc?USB 3.0 is a big difference in file transfer speeds... However since you are limited to 2.0 by the laptop it won't matter which way you decide to buy.Okay thanks 3.0 speed is not as great as I thought it would be, expect about 2X on a native 3.0 port. Add-in cards are slower. I have the WD My Passport Essential, 1TB. It doesn't need an external power supply & I use it for image backups. Speeds are almost as fast as the internal 7200rpm drive. The problem with most of the enclosures & separate drives is the laptop will not be able to supply enough power from the USB2.0 port. All external 2.5 drives do not need separate power supply. No guarantees if you buy a separate enclosure & drive, even if it is a laptop drive. Here's a 1TB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236189 2TB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236187 [year+ old attachment deleted by admin]I'll disagree...and maybe put the onus on the passport itself... I installed an addon card and the external is powered and is a Seagate 500G and i saw dramatic speed differences... 1) So are you saying it's better to choose a drive which has an external power source rather than the USB powered drives? Would this have an effect on it's performance and longevity? 2) Btw which addon card are you guys talking about? Is there any device which can convert a USB 2.0 into a USB 3.0? 3) My laptop also has a FIREWIRE 400 port, would that give me better read/write speeds than USB 2.0 port?Quote from: patio on September 24, 2012, 12:31:02 PM I'll disagree...and maybe put the onus on the passport itself...They have a thread going on over here about this same matter: http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/253736-usb-3-0-faster-than-usb-2-0-but-how-much-really.html All add on cards must be powered to conform to the USB3.0 spec. Quote from: unstopabl3 on September 24, 2012, 01:35:53 PM 1) So are you saying it's better to choose a drive which has an external power source rather than the USB powered drives? Would this have an effect on it's performance and longevity?1. External power has nothing to do with performance or longevity. 2. PCI-e add on card. No you can't convert 2.0 to 3.0. Does your laptop have an Express card slot? 3. FireWire 400 will be faster than 2.0, but not 3.0. How old is this laptop? If more than a few years, it will have a PC Card slot which is no longer available on laptops. No USB 3.0 for PC Card. |
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