External drive with only 1 USB port...

bigredshark · 26 Aug 2008 at 23:44

Just a quick one, I need a couple of external drives for a project I'm working on, portable is important it'll be 2.5" and capacity isn't too important (needs to be 120GB but thats not a stuggle. Thing is they need to be powered from one USB port, I know a lot of drives require two USB ports and an adaptor cable which is no good.

So can anybody confirm a 2.5" external drive which will reliably run off a single USB port. My preference would be western digital but I''m open to suggestions obviously...

clocka · 26 Aug 2008 at 23:46

that info will be pretty hard to find i would have thought. I think most drives use 1 usb port rather than 2 though.

bigredshark · 26 Aug 2008 at 23:53

I'm thinking personal experience really, somebody who has one and can confirm it works on one port...

Slackworth · 26 Aug 2008 at 23:58

You using a desktop PC or a laptop?

Are you plugging them in to a powered USB hub?

clocka · 26 Aug 2008 at 23:59

If i were you i'd send a webnote asking for ocuk to get a warehouse picker to open this and see whether it needs 1 or 2 ports: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-032-BT

If it uses 1 port then you just need to pick a 2.5" sata drive for it.

Slackworth · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:07

clocka said:
If i were you i'd send a webnote asking for ocuk to get a warehouse picker to open this and see whether it needs 1 or 2 ports: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-032-BT

If it uses 1 port then you just need to pick a 2.5" sata drive for it.

It's generally down to the drive as to whether it will power or not though as the caddy itself draws very little power.

bigredshark · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:08

Slackworth said:
You using a desktop PC or a laptop?

Are you plugging them in to a powered USB hub?

It'll be a macbook pro at my desk but primarily various HP servers in data-centers, rather annoyingly they only have one front facing USB port...

bigredshark · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:18

clocka said:
If i were you i'd send a webnote asking for ocuk to get a warehouse picker to open this and see whether it needs 1 or 2 ports: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-032-BT

If it uses 1 port then you just need to pick a 2.5" sata drive for it.

I have a USB caddy which I know uses two ports so I'm not keen on that route, I'd also be happier with a off the shelf drive...

Slackworth · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:19

Bit of a tough one for me as I don't have any HP servers to try and unfortunately every system is different.

Could give a Freecom XXS a go.

clocka · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:24

might be best going to the computer retail park stores, finding 1 that works then buying it from an online store cheaper, thats the good thing about national stores you can see products before you buy, obviously i cant name, so dont...

bigredshark · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:32

Slackworth said:
Bit of a tough one for me as I don't have any HP servers to try and unfortunately every system is different.

Could give a Freecom XXS a go.

Thats not a bad idea, it's one of the smallest about (which is handy too) so it *should* be low power you'd imagine.

*Chris · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:37

Does the WD Passport drive not do that?

If not I'll have to rethink what I'm going to get

Slackworth · 27 Aug 2008 at 08:54

They generally do work on one USB port as it's what they're designed to do. I don't think you would have any problems with a Mac or normal desktop PC but a HP server is a different matter as its probably only designed for something like a keyboard, mouse or USB stick.

The very safest way is to look at something like the Lacie 1.3"/1.8" drives but they only hold a maximum capacity of 60GB.

Clown · 27 Aug 2008 at 09:09

I can confirm that my 200GB WD Passport is powered fine over one USB port.
I think it does depend on the laptop you're running it from though because some don't provide enough power over USB - usually the older laptops, though, anyway.

bigredshark · 27 Aug 2008 at 11:44

Clown said:
I can confirm that my 200GB WD Passport is powered fine over one USB port.
I think it does depend on the laptop you're running it from though because some don't provide enough power over USB - usually the older laptops, though, anyway.

Can I ask what laptop it is?

Clown · 27 Aug 2008 at 12:19

Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21E

bigredshark · 27 Aug 2008 at 12:42

Well based on that and the recommendation of a colleague I think it'll be the WD Passport I go for...

Cheers for the all the help guys, I'll let you know if it works for the sake of completeness...

bledd · 27 Aug 2008 at 15:08

i've had 3 different external laptop readers, they all worked fine with certain cables on certain machines..

ie, with a poor looking usb cable, it'd need the power one connected too
with certain laptops / front usb ports, it'd need the power one connected too