Which external HDD

Soldato
Joined
23 Oct 2002
Posts
2,562
Location
Edinburgh/Southampton
Hi,

I need a new external HDD and I am not sure which of the ones on offer to choose. I know USB 2.0 is theoretically faster than firewire, but is it actually better?

I want about 500gb.

Cheers,

Sam
 
I think 320mbps/40MBps is the fastest you'll get from usb 2. You won't get constant 480mbps. Firewire 400 would be faster than usb 2.

(correct if i'm wrong)
 
I think i might latch onto this thread instead of making a new one.

I am in the same boat of deciding what to get for an external hard drive, however, is it better to get just a standalone external hard drive or is it better to buy an internal hard drive then a separate enclosure/caddy to go with it?

It's a tough decision!
 
I was going to get one of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-065-LC&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=911

They are eSATA II and were £70.49 a few days ago but are now £82.24.

It surprises me how quickly and by how much some of the prices fluctuate on OcUk.
I suspect it's still a good price though.

If it suits it may pay to keep tabs on it in case it drops again.

Definitely not going to be as low as the original price. They are already stupidly cheap and we only have 2 left at that price then they go up a further £10-20.

Does anyone know what drives are fitted in these LaCie's and whether they're ATA or SATA? -
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-048-LC

One of the reviews says it comes with a Samsung HJ501, which I think is a SATA drive with 16mb cache but the spec states 8mb cache. Thanks

They are SATA drives but the reason we list 8MB is because LaCie change the drives they use inside depending on the best deal available from the HDD Vendors. Although they may be using Samsung at the moment, within a month or two they could just be using an 8MB Seagate for example. Only way we could tell is if we opened every single cellophane box and then break warranty seals to look inside which I don't think customers would like.
 
Definitely not going to be as low as the original price. They are already stupidly cheap and we only have 2 left at that price then they go up a further £10-20.



They are SATA drives but the reason we list 8MB is because LaCie change the drives they use inside depending on the best deal available from the HDD Vendors. Although they may be using Samsung at the moment, within a month or two they could just be using an 8MB Seagate for example. Only way we could tell is if we opened every single cellophane box and then break warranty seals to look inside which I don't think customers would like.

I just got myself one of these from overclockers today. How do i tell if its the 8mb or the 16mb one?
 
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