looking for portable harddisk thingy...

[VJ]

Hello,

I'm looking for a portable harddisk to transfer data from one computer to another, and to use as external harddisk (so performance does matter). The interface should USB2.0 and preferably also firewire; and if possible powered through the interface.

Any suggestions ?

I have been looking at Lacie, but some minor things might bother me; an alternative might be some simple external enclosure with a regular 3.5" harddisk (portable is relative, this would still be portable enough).


Jörg

[spadnos]

Hi there.

I've been looking at these things for a while (haven't bought one yet, though).

Check out www.fwdepot.com - they have a pretty large selection of cases.

If you don't find anything you like, you can google for "firewire usb 3.5 enclosure", also search EBay and possibly PriceWatch.

The hardest feature to find is an integrated power supply (using a standard IEC cord). I hate having proprietary power connectors, which force me to find the same company (if they still exist) if/when it fries. This isn't too hard to find in larger enclosures - the 5.25" ones that can also handle CD-RW/DVD drives, but in a 3.5" or 2.5" form factor, it's hard.

Note that both USB and FireWire provide power, but if you plan to use a high speed/high capacity drive, you should probably still use an external supply (especially if you want to connect to a laptop).

[Jammrock]

USB 2.0 IS EVIL!!!!!!!!!

Get Firewire. They have dual firewire/USB external drives, which would be the best. Then you could have the universal adapter of USB with the speed and reliability of firewire.

And just because USB 2.0 has a higher theoretical throughput, does not mean it's better than firewire. Trust me. USB 2.0 is extremely inefficient and during large data transfers your system will screech to a halt. I know, I have a USB 2.0 drive at work. It's horrible.

If you want raw speed get firewire 2, or IEEE 1394b. It's faster than anything, and drive tests I've seen have placed the data transfer rates on par with ATA 133 drives. They also have dual firewire 2/usb 2.0 drives if you need USB.

Jammrock

[VJ]

Originally posted by Jammrock
They also have dual firewire 2/usb 2.0 drives if you need USB.

This is what I'm looking for... Firewire 800 (should have mentioned that... ) for use on my computer, USB2 for connectivity on most other computers.

Still (I have checked fwdepot and others), there don't seem to be many "big" players in this market, all unknown brands (which I'm unlikely to find here)... I'd prefer the drive to be a user swappable 3.5" drive (an empty enclosure would allow me to use the drive I like).


Jörg

[agallag]

I've never used one of these myself, but the Kingwin units look pretty snazzy.

http://www.kingwin.com/pdut_Cat.asp?CateID=27

Check page two for the USB2/FW unit. It doesn't specify, but I'd bet it's only FW400.

Jammrock, I have a USB2 burner at work (Yamaha), and I've never had any issues with it. My brother also has a USB2 external hard disk (2.5" sealed unit) and he claims the performance is awesome. Are you sure it's a USB issue, or could it just be a problem with your device?

[Gurm]

There isn't that much FW800 stuff out there. You're gonna pay a pretty penny because there are only a couple chipsets out for FW800 and they're very pricey.

Besides which - do you have FW2 on your motherboard? Virtually nobody does. And the fastest hard drives on the planet right now can't swamp a FW400 connection yet.

- Gurm

[az]

OK, this one's got only firewire, but it sure is portable

But probably not what you want.

AZ

[Jammrock]

http://www.2ndchancepc.co.uk/ex-hdd.html

http://www.firewiredirect.com/

http://www.google.com/search?q=firewire+800+external+drive&sourceid=opera&num=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

USB 2.0 is a giant crock poo. It's USB 1.1 with a higher bit rate. No protocol optimization was done to make large, sustained data transfers efficient. Sure if you're transfering a bunch of small files, or are using a slower hard drive it won't seem bad. But try transfering a 500+ MB file from a USB 2.0 adapter with a good WD 100 GB, 7200 RPM drive in it and it's slow as molasses in a siberian winter.

CD-R/RW's don't push the bandwidth needed to bring USB 2.0 to it's knees. I have a CD-RW and a HDD attached via USB 2.0, on WIndows XP SP1 with all patches and driver updates. It sucks. And I use a NEC built adapter.

FireWire 800 is the only way to go if you want truly fast, reliable external storage for a devent price. The newer versions of SCSI are better, and there are some externel SATA options as well. SCSI is way more expensive, external SATA may be a good way to go, but I don't know if they have USB backwards compatibility.

Jammrock

[Marshmallowman]

check this out

http://www.dansdata.com/drivedocks.htm

Or just get some cheap SATA controllers and a sata drive...very cheap controller= si image non raid pci card

[UtwigMU]

Just get mobile IDE rack such as those from Databridge (high installed base here) and put IDE HDD in it.

[VJ]

UtwigMU: unfortunutaly, that is not an option... (I still have such driveracks... ) Main use is to port data between three computers, one of which is in my office; but it isn't limited to these 3 computers.

MMM: I'm adding a firewire host anyway, so and adding a SATA controller would mean my system would be stuffed with storage controllers (there now is: onboard ide, onboard dual U320, Adaptec 2940UW, Firewire800), and I wouldn't be able to connect to all the computers required.

Az & MMM : that sure is portable... But as you said, it is not exactly what I need...

Gurm: I'm adding a Firewire800 card anyway, independant of the portable harddisk.


Hmm, most those 3.5" hdd enclosures are meant for desktop use (less rugged perhaps ?)...


Jörg

[KvHagedorn]

Someone I know has used a flash memory card for this.. you can get them up to 2GB now, and they are tiny so you can pop it in your pocket. These are used for digital cameras, but data will write and transfer just fine. A cheap card reader will plug into USB or firewire ports..

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=68&manufactory=1394&DEPA=7&sortby=14&order=1

[VJ]

Some history:

My first idea was to get a USB2 cardreader which would allow me to use the compactflash cards from my digital camera (have 3x512 MB, any additional cards would serve a double purpose). However, it seems to much of a hassle (have tried a USB2 reader and it just was *bad* - didn't work properly on 3 different computers).

My second idea was to buy an iPod, which I could use in my car. Now as it turns out, Blaupunkt has falsely advertised the radio/navigation I have (it has no cd-playback when a navigation cd is inserted), claiming that it has an AUX-in; but it is only to be used with either their changer or their MP3 player.

So, now I'm checking my third alternative: a plain external harddisk, with proper perfomance; when I'm not moving data from one side to another, I'd get additional storage (and with photo and video editing, this is always welcome).


Jörg

[Kurt]

most USB2/FW drives out there are overpriced and generally not very good... also, most do _NOT_ work without the power adapter. I've got a series of them from various brands. Sometimes they will work without the AC/DC adapter but it depends on the computers and the alignment of various planets. If it's a possibility, get a DVD burner. LiteOn has got a DVD+R/RW model than you can find anywhere in Belgium from about 120€ BTW in. There's also their portable DVD+/-R/RW starting around 400€ w/o BTW...

[agallag]

I have a Sandisk USB2 6-in-1 reader, and it's been flawless so far. Plug it in, and just go. Never had a read or write error, and it's quite fast. Weird.