External Hard Drive Pros & Cons: Buyer's Guide

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the pros and cons of external hard drives compared to internal ones, focusing on aspects such as performance, cost, portability, and space requirements. Participants explore various factors influencing the decision to choose one type over the other.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that external hard drives are generally slower and require their own power sources, while being portable and convenient for transport.
  • Others mention specific brands like Western Digital and Seagate, highlighting personal experiences with reliability and performance.
  • There are discussions about the speed differences between connection types, with Firewire being noted as faster than USB 2.0.
  • One participant points out that internal drives may be cheaper and offer more storage space compared to external drives, which can be significantly more expensive.
  • Desk space is mentioned as a consideration for external drives, with some participants preferring internal drives due to limited desk space.
  • Price per gigabyte is discussed, with participants noting that internal drives tend to offer better value compared to external drives.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the advantages and disadvantages of external versus internal hard drives, with no consensus reached on which is definitively better. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the best choice based on individual needs and circumstances.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference specific connection types and their implications on speed, while others highlight the importance of personal needs and space considerations. The discussion does not resolve the varying opinions on pricing and performance metrics.

quasi426
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I am thinking about getting an external hard drive, (just buying a harddrive and case). Can you guys give me some pros and cons of an external hard drive compared to an internal one.
 
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Well if your "just buying a hard drive and a case", i assume you mean SCSI or SATA which is probably the same thing as getting an internal drive.

If you get an actual external hard drive, it'll be USB or Firewire. The disadvantages are that it is a bit slower and doesn't access as quickly, it also needs its own power cords :(. Pro: they are portable obviously, some have media readers installed on them... and well, they are huge chunks of memory you can take with you hehe.
 
I recommend Western Digital and Seagate. I've had my WD for 5 years now. And firewire is faster than USB 2.0 soo if you have both ports go for firewire.
 
I got this 250gb western digital media center ext. It is incredible...
 
... been using external Firewire drives for a couple of years as temp data storages, the latest for example Firewire 800 interfaces provide the necessary speed to utilize the drive capacities well, currently have one 500 Gb and one 1 Tb drive which occationally carry around. Been very satisfied with them.
 
quasi426 said:
I am thinking about getting an external hard drive, (just buying a harddrive and case). Can you guys give me some pros and cons of an external hard drive compared to an internal one.
Internal: Need room in your computer. If you have an open drive bay, free power connector and IDE/SATA/SCSI port free in your computer, you're fine.
External: Need space on your desk, a free SCSI, USB or IEEE-1394 (Firewire) port and an open outlet on your power bar. Only a little bit slower if it's attached to a USB 2 port (a lot slower if it's only on a USB 1 port), but usually not significantly noticable.

Desk space for me is usually at a premium, so my first choice is to go for internal drives.
 
I think price is to be considered. Internal hard drives are considerably cheaper (with more storage space). I've looked at the 1Tb external hardrives but last time i checked they were going at about $900, i guess it depends on what your needs are.
 
Oh yah, price/space is a big difference as well. I've seen 2.5gb/$1 internal 7200rpm sata drives while I am probably only getting 1.5gb/$1 7200 external at the most (as of about 6 months ago).
 

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