adding external drive

[Tippi]

Hi, I want to add an external drive to my PC for mostly archiving
purposes (and to transfer files between computers). The 2 choices are
- a 320GB external portable hard drive
- a 500 GB IDE hard drive to put into my external hard disk enclosure
which is several years old (connects by USB 2.0).

Is either one a clear winner over the other? thanks

 

[Tippi]

I would try to find specs on your enclosure, as some of them had weird
drive capacity limits -- something above the notorious 128GB limit, but
far below the upper limit for LBA-48.  I never really understood why,
but I wouldn't go against the manufacturer's recommendation.

Good suggestion. It's an Acomdata 2163. From their website, they say
"Yes, the 2163 does support 48-bit LBA. ... The original design
specification for the ATA interface only provided 28-bit addressing,
limiting drive capacity to 137.4 GB. 48-bit LBA extends the capacity
of IDE ATA/ATAPI devices beyond this limit." so I guess I'm clear on
that front.

 

[Paul]

Good suggestion. It's an Acomdata 2163. From their website, they say
"Yes, the 2163 does support 48-bit LBA. ... The original design
specification for the ATA interface only provided 28-bit addressing,
limiting drive capacity to 137.4 GB. 48-bit LBA extends the capacity
of IDE ATA/ATAPI devices beyond this limit." so I guess I'm clear on
that front.

Wouldn't they both have an upper limit of 30MB/sec due to USB 2.0 ?

Some adapter chips may have a lower limit than that, but if the
chip used in the external adapter is relatively modern, you'll
be seeing the USB2 being the limiting part of the connection.

You'll have to find user reviews, to see if there is something
which is less than perfect with the products. This is for the
Acomdata 2163 USB/Firewire. There is only one review here, and
it doesn't appear the reviewer tested USB.

acomdata HDEXXU2FE3 (2163)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16817202005

Amazon has a few more reviews for the Acomdata.

http://www.amazon.com/Acomdata-3-5-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260960086&sr=8-1

Paul

 

[buggsy2]

Amazon has a few more reviews for the Acomdata.

I had two Acomdata external drives, USB2.0/IEEE1394. Both failed after one
or two years, but not the drive, rather the electronics in the
enclosure. So I will never use them again. At least I could take out
the drive and use it again in another enclosure.

 

[Tippi]

I had two Acomdata external drives, USB2.0/IEEE1394.  Both failed afterone
or two years, but not the drive, rather the electronics in the
enclosure.  So I will never use them again. At least I could take out
the drive and use it again in another enclosure.

Mine is 4+ years old and still working fine, though it's used very
infrequently. I'm leaning towards just getting a drive because as you
said if the enclosure dies just get another one, but if a portable one
dies I don't know how easy to get the data out from it.

 

[Bryce]

Mine is 4+ years old and still working fine, though it's
used very infrequently. I'm leaning towards just getting a
drive because as you said if the enclosure dies just get
another one, but if a portable one dies I don't know how
easy to get the data out from it.

By "portable one", I guess you mean a factory-made external
drive. These use a standard hard drive inside, just like
you would find in a desktop computer. If/when it dies, you
open it up and move the hard drive to either a new enclosure
or a desktop pc, hold your breathe and hope it was the
electronics in the portable that went bad ... and that the
HD is OK.

Get a drive and use the enclosure you already have. Save
money. Live better. etc.

 

[Mickel]

Hi, I want to add an external drive to my PC for mostly archiving
purposes (and to transfer files between computers). The 2 choices are
- a 320GB external portable hard drive
- a 500 GB IDE hard drive to put into my external hard disk enclosure
which is several years old (connects by USB 2.0).

Is either one a clear winner over the other? thanks

I would recommend getting a 320GB or 500GB portable drive as a complete
unit. If you purchase a seperate case and drive then you are more likely to
have problems. The seagate 2.5" external drives work off a single USB port
where some others can have trouble.

If you go with the existing external case you will need to consider SATA vs
IDE connector and you might have trouble getting IDE now.

Michael

 

[~misfit~]

I would recommend getting a 320GB or 500GB portable drive as a
complete unit. If you purchase a seperate case and drive then you are
more likely to have problems.

Could you please explain why? The earlier Seagate externals had a huge
failure rate as they ran much too hot. I've heard of other cheap to
mid-priced 'external HDDs' that also overheat.

The seagate 2.5" external drives work
off a single USB port where some others can have trouble.

Depends on the USB port. I have one (Seagate 2.5") that will work off a USB
port on the mobo (at the rear of the case) but won't work off one of the
front (remote) ports. On three different desktops.

If you go with the existing external case you will need to consider
SATA vs IDE connector and you might have trouble getting IDE now.

Ya think? Perhaps that's why he said "a 500 GB *IDE* hard drive to put into
my external hard disk enclosure" (my emphasis). Just guessing here, you're
the guy who gets paid to do this sort of stuff.

 

[~misfit~]

Unless the price difference is quite large I'd rather buy
separate drive and enclosure, even if it does mean having to
buy a new enclosure instead of using one I already had.

I agree. That way you're not at the mercy of the stylistas who go for form
over function. You can pick the best enclosure and the best drive. I like
Vantec enclosures (amongst others).

 

[Joel]

Hi, I want to add an external drive to my PC for mostly archiving
purposes (and to transfer files between computers). The 2 choices are
- a 320GB external portable hard drive
- a 500 GB IDE hard drive to put into my external hard disk enclosure
which is several years old (connects by USB 2.0).

Is either one a clear winner over the other? thanks

Well, since hard drive is dirt cheap these days. How about 1TB USB hard
drive for a change?

Lets see, my system has 3 internal 1TB SATA (3TB total), and extrenal I
have (2) 1TB hard drive and (2) 500GB hard drives. So the system has 6TB of
disk space.

And if you shop around, you should be able to get 1TB external hard drive
for under $100. I don't remember exactly how much I paid for my external
hard drives (besides the 500GB 2.5 external I just bough for the Wii I paid
$75 for it). The internal 1TB SATA I paid $84 a pop from www.newegg.com

About your enclosure, if you already have your own enclosure then you may
save few bucks, if not just get the external hard drive.

 

[Joel]

I had two Acomdata external drives, USB2.0/IEEE1394. Both failed after one
or two years, but not the drive, rather the electronics in the
enclosure. So I will never use them again. At least I could take out
the drive and use it again in another enclosure.

I have never owned any Acomdata to know anything about it. But about your
problem, it's very possible that the AC Adapter gone bad. Cuz I don't think
there is much inside the case besides a simple connector and some wires to
get messed up that easily.

 

[Joel]

Mine is 4+ years old and still working fine, though it's used very
infrequently. I'm leaning towards just getting a drive because as you
said if the enclosure dies just get another one, but if a portable one
dies I don't know how easy to get the data out from it.

Well *IF* (big IF) the hard drive has all standard connectors instead of
special design or soldered to the connector, then you can turn it into
internal hard drive.

I haven't opened any of my Western Digirtal external hard drive to know if
they have all standard connection or not, but I read someone mention his/her
external hard drive doesn't have the standard connection.

 

[Joel]

Seagate externals are all over the map: from 2 to 5 years.

I have never scared of Seagate until they bought the Maxtor some years
ago. And I am very nervous about the Maxtor as way way to somewhere around
early 80's when I bought my first Maxtor which failed within 3-4 months, got
replacement and it failed few months later. And I had 3-4 failed Maxtor
then.

And I never touched Maxtor until few years ago I said to myself that I may
be too hard on Maxtor, or over 2 decades they may have the problem
solved/improved. So I gave it a try, 100GB was pretty large at the time (I
guess 250 was the largest?) so I gave Maxtor a try, it failed within 5-6
months and Maxtor replaced with the remanufactured, and it too failed within
a month later. By that time hard drive is getting cheaper, and I don't care
for another Maxtor problem so I never replaced that broken 100GB Maxtor.