Category: Geeks r Us
1. What brand of External Hard Drive do you recommend, and why?
2. Can you explain what 1", 2.5" 3.5" mean? I foolishly thought it meant the physical size of the case. Maybe it is the drive size?
3. Aside from potentually large storage, why would someone choose a external hard drive over a larger USB Flash Drive?
4. Any further advice before purchasing?
Thank you, I appreciate it.
1. What brand of External Hard Drive do you recommend, and why? Buffalo, cause I have 2 and it works flawlessly
2. Can you explain what 1", 2.5" 3.5" mean? I foolishly thought it meant the physical size of the case. Maybe it is the drive size? Drive size
3. Aside from potentually large storage, why would someone choose a external hard drive over a larger USB Flash Drive? r/w amount is much more then USB if prolonged on an external. External can hold an OS, USB is not recommended to do so with the amount of r/w an OS performs on a given session. As you mentioned, no USB drv can match and external in size at the moment. Externals are as high as 4tb, USB is maxed at 32 GB(correct me if I'm wrong)
4. Any further advice before purchasing?
Get a NAS instead. Or at least look for one with an E SATA not just a USB 2.0. If using as storage only for files/mp3/movies, get one with as much capacity as you can aford. No sense have 4 or 5 externals later on, when you can have it all in one. If you can, build your own.(I was simply too lazy to build, saw buffalo 500gb was like $100, so grabbed it).
Building my own 2.5 external atm, with an e sata, since most off-the-shelf don't provide external 2.5's with an e sata.
hi what is e sata and nas? I am looking at a western digital 500 gig, for $115 in the FAT format what ever that is. sorry to ask in your post number 1.
The file system is fat? WTF? you can't do that on an external can you?
Thank you so far...smile!
So, if the numbers 1", 2.5" 3.5" are the drive size, how do they matter? Performance or heating up?
Silly Q, but why in the world would someone want one of these tb sizes? That is ginormous! And what does the tb stand for?
tb is tarabyte which is a billion gig. I guess someone would be a download nut . and yes the FAT is on the drive at amanzon. and from the original post, what is a good transfer rate? maybe we can help all of us out.
Christ, are you running real-time artificial intelligence demos? A terabyte is a thousand gigabytes, not a billion. Perhaps you meant a billion kilobytes?
Also, when you ask about transfer rates, what is your primary need? If it's storing music files then the transfer rate is less important than if you're doing large backups or manipulating video etc.
I will answer the aa N.a.s is a network attached storage will will allow you to access all your files on a single hd from one or all of the computers, should have choose to have more than one.
e sata is an external sata, wich is a serial advanced technology attachment, a successor to pata that will enable hds to transfer data at up to 3gb/s from hd to hd or over a fast enough network. The sata is normall internal connection to the mb, but the e sata will allow an external connection from outside of the case.
What does an hd's default file system have to do with anything?
Yes, while most hds ship their hds as fat32, one can always format it in to ntfs; and it does not matter if its external or internal :P
The question about good transfer rate depends on what youa re doing. Downloading from over the net, or from hd to hd within one system, or over an internal network?
hahah, I re-read my post and realize that I shouldn't attempt to try and make sense while under the influence of red bull.
An NAS stands for network attached storage and is usually for those connecting multiple computers to a single external drive. This way, Many computers can access that drive without having to perform updates on separate drive. E.g. if a person was writing a program and/or script, such person could store it on that drive. From another computer, another person would be able to access that drive, modify that prog if desired and it would be available to everyone.
Most of these questions can be answered via wikipedia.com
Do a search on sata
nas
etc etc
Most manufactures ship their hds would be my correction for that sentence.
1, 1.8, 2.5, and 3.5, are sizes of hds as I previously mentioned. The matter simply for the uses youare putting them to. If you are upgrading an mp3 player(provided you know how), you are likely going to use a 1.8. Upgrading laptop requires 2.5 hds, and upgrading a desktop, one uses a 3.5. Of course this is just general usage, and the case determines the hd physical drive; again I am generalizing.
Heat is caused by the speed of the hd. When selecting the hd, if you are concerned about heat, choose one that is a slower rpm. Of course, slower rpm means slow hd so you pick your poison. Of course there are counter balances like a fan to divert the heat, but thats a whole subject all together.
I can write you a whole text book about all this stuff, but why do so when someone else already has, and for free!
www.wikipedia.com
Wow, thanks all! *Grin,* I love learning about this stuff, but my needs are pretty simple. I'm thinking a nice storage spot; a bit of back up; maybe a way to keep my laptop more tidy. It never occurred to me to have an os on there, or run programs.
I did, however, notice there is a cherry red option from Edge; that would match my laptop! *Grin!*
Thanks for all of everyones help. em learning a lot to!
Fun stuff!
Western Digital My Passport Drive, now available in 11 different colors!
black, brilliant orange, super sunny yellow, raindrop blue, arctic white, deep viola, cherry red, ultra mint, real red, intense blue, and vibrant pink.
Hey all I am using a my book 1 tb and it is full. When I go to check it though it says 931 gigs available and I have used 928 with 3 left. Is there a reason why I am at 0 percent if I have three gigs left to use? Thanks a lot.
the reason why you are full with seemingly three gigs left is because those three gigs are taken up by the discs info which it needs to work. Right. I have a five hundred gb western digital book external hd, the stats of which read as as follows:
My Book (E:) Properties
My Book
Type: Local Disk
File system: NTFS
Used space: 49,334,276,096 bytes 45.9 GB
Free space: 450,770,939,904 bytes 419 GB
Capacity: 500,105,216,000 bytes 465 GB
this diffrence between the stated coapacity, 500 gb and the actual capacity is due to the formatting info the hd needs. this becomes greater the larger the disc capacity. and btw, my wd book is great as it powers down if not in use, even when plugged into a working and switched on pc. dam good this, and western's passport drives for laptops kick serious ass too!
thanks a lot.