external HDD

avichandana20000 said:

pls clear my doubts


What is the difference between

1) self powered EXTERNAL HDD i.e. USB POWER
2) EXTERNAL HDD which require an external power from wall socket?

Click to expand...

Self powered external HDDs are basically 2.5" 5400 rpm low powered harddisks, mainly used in laptop, enclosed inside a 2,5" USB harddisk casing.These HDDs are powerefficient HDDS and can run from the power coming from USB drives.
Due to their small form factor and low power requirement they are perfect for carrying but also costlier.

The external powered HDDs are nothing but Dektop 3.5" HDDs enclosed inside a 3.5" USB Harddisk casing. They are normally 7200 RPM HDDs (there are 5400 rpm Versions too), offers better read/write speed and cheaper but requires higher power to run. So they can't run on the power delivered from USB and requires external power source.They are ideal as large storage device but not at all portable because of the external power source and bulkier size.

@Avichandana Dude the answer is in ur question itself

But a more detailed explanation by cilus ofcourse.

@ cilus. thanks mate for the clear explanation.

@ Jripper. I actually want to know the performance difference between the two.

obviously dude the 7200 rpm drives i.e. the externally powered drives have slightly more performance than the portable ones..

if the difference is "slightly" then it is worth buying portable one.

can i have a link of the two types?
is second one easily available?

it depends on your usage..
7200RPM Hard drive will at most allow the OS/Programs/Game maps etc to load faster then the 5400RPM drive will.

Rpm is linked to the seek time (the time it takes to find a file on the drive)
Average seek time:
5400rpm = 5.55ms
7200rpm = 4.17ms
10,000rpm = 3.0ms

Generally a good rule of thumb to apply when looking for a hard drive:
higher RPM + larger Buffer + the faster interface = Faster Data Transfer.

will you install your os on it or use it mainly for storage?
do you need to move around your data a lot or need the drive as a data dump?

avichandana20000, I think you relying upon wrong factors for making the decision. Nobody buys an external HDD for performance. Obviously you won't be using them as your OS drive or installing software...they will be used as your storage. And the performance difference between a 7200 RPM HDD and 5400 RPM HDD is really small in real world scenario.

You have to think why you need it:
You have huge amount of data and you need more space for storing them. You don't need to carry them all the time, but sometimes. So here the most important factor is its storage capacity. In this case a large amount, say 1 TB 3.5" external HDD will be ideal solution.

You need a device you can carry as you need to share data with others for some purposes. Also you want to be connected with your data on the go...while traveling and using your Laptop. Storage is required but not that much. In that case a 2.5" portable one with capacity of 30 GB or 500 GB is a very good choice.

See, the choice should be based on your type of usage, not by the performance of external disks.

I think choice will depend more on the amount of budget you have for the external HDD, as performance wise both type of HDDs are almost same.

Again, 2.5'' HDDs are more portable than the 3.5'' ones because to use them, you need to carry that hdd, usb cable & the power adapter.

@ ritvij and cilus.

Thanks for the detailed analysis.

Mainly it will be used for storage purpose. Storing the photos of various tours and occasions specially. And it will increase in due course of time. Also i want to take it to my friend's or relatives house to show them. So both storage and portability is required and data transfer should be smooth both in case of Lappy and Desk.

Now suggest a good blend of portability+storage.

a rumour heard that ADAPTER POWERED HDD has more longevity than only USB POWERED.(T/F)

avichandana20000 said:

a rumour heard that ADAPTER POWERED HDD has more longevity than only USB POWERED.(T/F)

Click to expand...

Only exist as myth. Although I heard the opposite version.

Mainly it will be used for storage purpose. Storing the photos of various tours and occasions specially. And it will increase in due course of time. Also i want to take it to my friend's or relatives house to show them. So both storage and portability is required and data transfer should be smooth both in case of Lappy and Desk.

Click to expand...

Then you will need 2.5'' USB 3.0 external HDD.

Your budget please.

budget is 5.5k

What is

1) this ?
and

2)This
and

3)THIS

i mean which of them is self powered and which one is adapter powered?

avichandana20000 said:

budget is 5.5k

What is

1) this ?
and

2)This
and

3)THIS

Click to expand...

1 st one is externally powered..
2nd and 3rd are portable

go for this:

Flipkart.com: IOmega eGo SuperSpeed 2.5 inch 1 TB: External Hard Drive

The best one @5.5K is: WD My Passport Essential SE 2.5 Inch 1 TB External Hard Disk
Link: Click Here

Its out of stock at flipkart. Go to local market and buy from there or wait for it to be back in stock.

thanks mate. so none of you are suggesting SEAGATE. Does that suck?

Avoid Seagate.
Reasons:

1.Recently, Seagate have decreased their warranty period from 5 years to 3 years.
2. RMA service of WD is lot better than Seagate.