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General discussion

Portable External HDD Dilemma

by shobhitb Sep 24, 2007 6:14PM PDT

I am planning to buy an 2.5", 120 GB, Portable Ext HDD for my laptop (Sony Vaio C25,Vista Home Premium, with S400 Firewire(4 pin) interface and 2 USB ports).

Here are some points/perceptions I have gathered from my research:

1. I understand that most 2.5" require 2 USB connections to power up--This is a problem for me as I have only 2 and would prefer to have one USB slot free

2. Most ext drives which provide firewire S400 interface have 6 pin slots and not 4 pin slots. Apparently using an adapter cable (6 pin male to 4 pin male) will eliminate the power supply from firewire port and hence we are back to using (at least one) USB slot

3. Ext hard disk drives which have firewire interfaces (Lacie) are more suitable for Macs and not Window PCs

These points my be true/ false and that?s why I need some help.

My questions are -

A. Whether point # 2 above is true. If yes then can I work with a firewire adapter cable and a (single) USB cable for power. Is this advisable/possible?

B. Is there a 120 GB exteral HDD which can powerup through only one USB slot?

C. Is point #3 true? Hence should I stick to USB only drives (Maxtor, Seagate)--and thus resign to having both USB slots taken?

I am considering the following drives till now:

1. Lacie Rugged All Terrain 120 GB, triple interface
2. Lacie Rugged All Terrain 120 GB, USB
3. Maxtor Onetouch 4 Mini 120 GB
4. Maxtor Onetouch Mini III 120 GB
4. Seagate Freeagent Go 120 GB
5. Lacie Small Disk designed by Sam Hecht

Lacie drives are rated highest by CNET, followed by Maxtor and Seagate

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Firewire on the PC.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Sep 25, 2007 12:30AM PDT

Sorry, unless you run Linux, a bad idea. If you saw the number of wipeouts I have then you would never try it.

As to spare USB ports, since you only need such a drive occasionally why not live with it. I have such a drive (Seagate model) and it's fine. On my new laptop it works with just one port so you may get lucky.

You are right about the 4 to 6 pin firewire. That's the spec so no big issues there. But since Windows seems to trash the drive for some I can't say I'd try that again. Why duplicate that?

Bob

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Do some reading in STORAGE....might change your mind about
by VAPCMD Sep 25, 2007 2:32PM PDT

LaCie and Maxtor.

Why the 2.5" drive ? They're expensive, fragile and usually only work off 2 USB ports ? Even if you buy the HDD and enclosure separately you get your choice of hard drives (usually with longer warranties and possibly higher rotation speeds) and enclosures. You can get a 400-500GB 3.5" HDD for about $100 bucks.

Good Luck

VAPCMD

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Thanks
by shobhitb Sep 25, 2007 5:03PM PDT

Bob, VAPCMD - Thanks for taking time to answer my post. Makes things a lot more clearer.

Guess Lacie goes out of the window - was a bit hesitant myself considering its pricing.

Did not consider Hard Disk + Enclosure option - Thanks for letting me know. I shall do some more digging on it.

Cheers!
shobhitb

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