Portable Hard Drives

Nefarious · 28 Aug 2008 at 13:37

I've looked at various reviews and they seem to differ wildly with many focusing on how the thing looks rather than performs.

I like the look of the WD Elite range but the write times are quite poor in real terms rather than benchmark analysis which is apparently quite misleading.

Iomega's offering seems much faster and cheaper so I'm guessing there's a catch somewhere.

Can anyone recommend a large =/>320Gb external drive, that works off one USB port and has good speeds and a warranty that doesn't expire on delivery.

Comments on appearance will be appreciated but it's function over form here.

Thanks

clocka · 28 Aug 2008 at 13:47

usb only powered = 2.5" drive. 2.5" drives with a usb connection are slow by definition as usb2.0 is slow. Esata on the otherhand is very fast, but im not sure if laptops have esata connections yet, if they do it will be on high end expensive laptops. Are you using the drive for your desktop or laptop?

Nefarious · 28 Aug 2008 at 14:32

My laptop has an eSATA but by definition they aren't powered by the eSATA connection - are these then powered by an further USB connection or....?

clocka · 28 Aug 2008 at 14:56

im not sure if the usb connection could be used for power and esata used for data connection, you MAY need a plug connected to a socket not too sure. This would be what you want: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-032-BT

It says usb bus powered but that may be if you want to use usb as the connection, not sure what happens for esata. Is it not possible for you to use a plug? If so you would be better getting a 3.5" drive + caddy as the harddrive will be a lot quicker and cheaper as shown in this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17913023

Nefarious · 28 Aug 2008 at 19:10

Hmm, but that wouldn't make it quite as portable if I had to take round the inverter with me. The advantage of the USB drives is that they are extremely portable.

The Icy Box looks great, does anyone know if it can be powered by USB when run in eSATA mode and whether it would be worth running a WD scorpion in it? (I think that's the name of their 2.5" version of the velociraptor)

Nefarious · 1 Sep 2008 at 03:24

Found this description:

In The Box: 1 x IB-290STUS-B case, 1x leatherette pocket, 1x USB data cable, 1x USB power cable, 1x eSATA cable, 1x key, 1x manual

So I'm guessing this is my baby, if it can support 300MBps (SATAII) then a WD Scorpio it is