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08-02-2006, 05:41 PM
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#1 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,373
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external vs. internal hdd's
hey everyone, so what is the big difference between these two type of drives? i want a drive that hold about 300GB and to be very reliable. should i just go with a maxtor external hdd? are external drives more reliable than internal drives? i just like the fact that you can move them to any computer. but does that computer have to have usb 2.0 to hook up external drive to it? thanks for any help.
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08-02-2006, 06:12 PM
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#2 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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They are pretty much the same thing usually. I think most external HDDs are just INTERNAL HDDs installed in a external enclosure.
Normally the external HDDs connect to your PC via USB or Firewire. |
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08-02-2006, 07:08 PM
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#3 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,373
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how durable and reliable are they?
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08-02-2006, 07:55 PM
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#4 |
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V12
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Houston, T.E.X.A.S
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Usually used for backups or storage, where you cannot fit a normal hd into your comp. Theyre decent. And if you get a good enclosure theyre pretty safe. Apricon's are good.
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08-02-2006, 07:55 PM
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#5 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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Just go with a reputable brand and your fine. The part the really matters is the INTERNAL HDD they actually put inside the EXTERNAL enclosure.
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08-02-2006, 09:11 PM
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#6 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
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was thinking about getting a maxtor 300gb 16mb buffer external hdd. so what exactly is the diff. between 8mb buffer and 16mb? also, since it's usb 2.0, will it work on my old computer that only has usb 1.1? thanks guys!
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08-02-2006, 09:38 PM
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#7 |
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Member (12 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,509
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The 16Mb buffer gives you a little better performance than the 8Mb one. The drive should work on the USB 1.1, 2.0 is backwards compatible with 1.1.
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08-02-2006, 10:49 PM
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#8 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,373
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what exactly is a buffer anyways? i know they have dvd players that can play .avi files but do any dvd players have the ability to hook up an external hdd to it, so files can be played right off the hdd? thanks!
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08-02-2006, 11:01 PM
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#9 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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I'm going to try to explain what a "Buffer" is to the best of my knowledge.
It is basically a temporary storeage area. The purpose of buffers is to act as a sort of holding area, enabling the HDD to manipulate data before transferring it to to the platters. The more buffer space there is, the better because the HDD can manipulate more data which will result in less time spent doing it. |
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08-03-2006, 04:12 AM
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#10 |
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Forum Administrator
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External drives on USB 1.1 are VERY slow.
Here is the housing I recommend: http://www.apricorn.com/product_details.php?ID=332 Buffer size on an external is not important at all. Just go with a quality drive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144392 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148139 |
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08-03-2006, 09:53 AM
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#11 |
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Member (11 bit)
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so if i understand this correctly glc, if i buy that housing for $50 then i can buy a internal hdd drive from new egg and put it in the housing? is it hard to put the drive into the housing? thanks!
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08-03-2006, 10:02 AM
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#12 |
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Forum Administrator
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That's correct. It's simple - power and IDE connectors and 4 screws.
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08-03-2006, 10:05 AM
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#13 | |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Quote:
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08-03-2006, 11:51 AM
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#14 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
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glc, so why do you recommend that enclosure? is it better than a maxtor or western digital enclosure? do they have dvd players out yet that you can attach an external hdd too, so i can play mp3s, avi files right from my hdd? that would be really nice if they had that! thanks guys!
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08-03-2006, 12:19 PM
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#15 | ||
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Shiro Usagi
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Quote:
Quote:
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08-03-2006, 12:28 PM
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#16 |
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Member (10 bit)
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Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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GLC, so is the 7200.10's perpendicular recording better?
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08-03-2006, 12:45 PM
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#17 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
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i mean connecting the hdd to a standalone dvd player i have next to my tv. that would be nice if they had one of those so i could just hook it up to dvd player beceause my dvd player plays .avi files and .mp3s. i get tired of burning them onto cd's all the time to play on dvd player.
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08-03-2006, 01:55 PM
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#18 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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Thats why you should build yourself a nice little HTPC (Home Theater PC) like I did!
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08-03-2006, 06:09 PM
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#19 |
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If you notice, the premade drives from Maxtor and WD only have a 1 year warranty - which is void if you open up the case. The Apricorn housing itself only has a 1 year warranty, but you can swap drives in and out all you want, and the drives themselves that you buy will most likely have a 3 or 5 year warranty.
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08-14-2006, 09:05 PM
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#20 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,373
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sorry for bumping up an old topic guys, but was curious about something... so what exactly are you connecting the IDE cable and power to? on internal drives you have the thick IDE cable and power and they connect to the motherboard. are there connectors or something in the enclosure? the SATA drive on newegg is the same price, is it worth it to go SATA? never have had a SATA drive. thanks guys for the help!
Last edited by bhome83; 08-14-2006 at 09:14 PM. |
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08-14-2006, 09:16 PM
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#21 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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Yes the connectors are inside of the enclosure.
I'm not quite sure if an external drive with SATA has an advantage over just ATA. I would think there wouldn't be much of a difference since the drives are bottle-necked by the fact that you access the drive through either the USB or Firewire ports on the system itself. I could be wrong though. |
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08-14-2006, 10:01 PM
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#22 |
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Member (5 bit)
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Location: Montana
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If you're only using the USB you wouldn't be gaining anything by going to the SATA drive, but later down the road if you decide to install into your computer the SATA drive could be more advantagious. More motherboards are going that route because of their speed (up to 3 Gb/s) So in that regard they could be better, but it comes down to what u need it for, and which computer/computers it will be used with.
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08-14-2006, 10:03 PM
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#23 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
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can a SATA hdd, be used for ATA as well? i want to get a SATA if it is the same price as ATA, but not sure if my current mobo can handle SATA
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08-14-2006, 10:09 PM
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#24 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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What motherboard do you have?
Even if you don't have native support of SATA. You can always upgrade the motherboard or just pop in a SATA PCI adapter card. |
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08-14-2006, 10:09 PM
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#25 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Montana
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If you're only using the USB you wouldn't be gaining anything by going to the SATA drive, but later down the road if you decide to install into your computer the SATA drive could be more advantagious. More motherboards are going that route because of their speed (up to 3 Gb/s) So in that regard they could be better, but it comes down to what u need it for, and which computer/computers it will be used with.
O_Negative |
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08-14-2006, 11:28 PM
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#26 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,373
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the motherboard I might eventually hook up a SATA hdd to is called a :
ABIT NF7-S V2 Socket A (Socket 462) NVIDIA nForce2 SPP ATX AMD Motherboard i bought it off of newegg, and looks like it supports SATA 150. so if i get a SATA hdd, can i use it as an ATA drive and if i want to later hook it up with SATA, or is it not compatible this way? thanks! Last edited by bhome83; 08-14-2006 at 11:35 PM. |
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08-14-2006, 11:36 PM
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#27 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
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That board has support for Serial ATA 150.
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08-14-2006, 11:42 PM
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#28 |
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Forum Administrator
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The Apricorn SATA housing requires a PCI SATA card with an external port - it does not use a SATA to USB bridge chip like some other brands. So, if you want to buy an Apricorn housing, you will want to buy an IDE hard drive for it. I do NOT recommend you try to adapt a SATA drive to an IDE controller.
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08-14-2006, 11:43 PM
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#29 |
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brewer, mostly...
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A little common-sense advice here...
Take it from one hwo has had this experience; remember if you are buying an external hard drive that dropping it on the floor or banging it against anything may lose your data. Just because it's an external hard drive does not mean it's any more durable then an internally mounted drive. Handle it with extreme caution and delicacy. -Kev
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08-14-2006, 11:52 PM
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#30 |
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9mm wins.
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Behind my Glock 34.
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Good advice kev7555.
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