External Disks

rgrebby

rgrebby

Messages
2,835
Name
Richard
Edit My Images
Yes
As ive just bought a laptop Im after an external disk to run my video and photo work on so I can work both at home and away.

I know speed is an issue and a normal disk might not be as fast as an internal SATA drive im used to but what should I look for where external disks are concerned. Firewire or USB?
 
A USB hard drive is more than adaquate for most things, unless you are moving lots of data (say tens of GB frequently), then perhaps a Firewire 400 (or even 800) or eSata would suit you better.

So, find out what your laptop has available and work it from there.
 
funnily enough although firewire is superior and faster, sometimes by a long way, the USB drives come out on top in real world speed tests.
not sure why.
however, a decent brand of HDD will do you nicely.
one thing to think about is that a wall powered HDD will be cheaper and faster.
SSD drives are nice at the moment by pricey.
 
If you are stream vidoe from the storage device then a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device will be better than USB or Firewire.

If it just a case of storing the video there then a USB or Firewire unit will be adequate. They are all pretty much the same.

As you have a Laptop make sure you get a 3.5" external drive as opposed to the 2.5" laptop\mobile external drives. A 3.5" drive will come with a separate PSU (power supply) while a 2.5" unit will come with two USB leads, one for data and one for power, which will put extra load on your laptop.

Tim
 
Its all a case of portability. NAS are not particularly portable, and the OP states "work both at home and away". eSata would perform easily as fast as a NAS if not better.

I would disagree with the comment about 3.5" drives... If you want portability then 2.5" is what you want - the biggest you can currently get is 500GB. Depending on what caddy you use depends on what connections it has - USB, Firewire or eSata.

And for the record, USB 2.5" drives do not need an additional power source, just connect the single USB connector and it does data & power.
 
There seems to be a load of info on this thread not really relevent to the OP!

For portability, 2.5" drives are easily the best, they are smaller and you can get ones that don't need an external power supply.

Does your laptop have a FW connector? If so is it FW400 or FW800? (I am assuming that as you haven't mentioned eSata your laptop doesn't support this.)

FW800 is the fastest out of the currently available FW/USB versions, if it is supported by your laptop I would go for this, especially for video work.

Out of USB2 and FW400 USB2 has a faster headline speed, but it is a burst speed, whereas FW400 is the average speed, so a little bit faster, especially if you are accessing big files, which if you are editing video I guess you will be.

One last little thing to consider is what you already have plugged into your laptop, if you are using all of one type of port and not the other it makes sense to go for the one that is empty.
 
-RV- said:
Its all a case of portability. NAS are not particularly portable, and the OP states "work both at home and away". eSata would perform easily as fast as a NAS if not better.
Click to expand...

A nas drive is just as portable as a USB\Firewire drive, once setup (which granted would be a little more protracted), it just a case of shut it down uplug to cables and carry it away

I would disagree with the comment about 3.5" drives... If you want portability then 2.5" is what you want - the biggest you can currently get is 500GB. Depending on what caddy you use depends on what connections it has - USB, Firewire or eSata.

And for the record, USB 2.5" drives do not need an additional power source, just connect the single USB connector and it does data & power.
Click to expand...

Well I have two 2.5" drive and both have two USB plugs and one drives will not work unless both USB are plugged in to a computer (in my case I am plugging into a modern Lenovo laptop).

Tim
 
NAS isnt really any good out on location though is it?

most HD vendors offer drives that only need 1 USB socket. seagate freeagent mobile for example.

and unless you have gigabit interfaces on the NAS and the laptop and connecting via a x-over id say the USB/Firewire would be faster in theory.
 
The original posted stated to work at work and home, so I assumed (assumptions are the mother of all c*ckups I know) that he has a setup at work and a setup home. So once the nas is configured at both locations there no more worked required to plugin and go than there is with a USB\Firewire device.

Gigabit is pretty standard on most laptops nowaday, and an option on most NAS drive. Probably have more chance getting a gigabit NAS than a Firewire external drive.

Also a NAS does not rely on the processor as much as a USB driven devices does. I can't comment on Firewire as I don't know.

The twin USB plugs on some 2.5" external devices has nothing to do with drivers, it more to do with the available power being delivered through the USB socket (or un-powered USB hubs). I can't see manufacturer fitting twin plugs for the hell of it and as I stated I have a 2.5" Nasco USB drive which will not work on my Lenovo laptop with only one USB plug connected to the laptop.

Tim
 
xendistar said:
The twin USB plugs on some 2.5" external devices has nothing to do with drivers, it more to do with the available power being delivered through the USB socket (or un-powered USB hubs). I can't see manufacturer fitting twin plugs for the hell of it and as I stated I have a 2.5" Nasco USB drive which will not work on my Lenovo laptop with only one USB plug connected to the laptop.

Tim
Click to expand...

who mentioned drivers? :thinking:
 
Sorry Neil I stand corrected, I wrote that last night after a long drive home.

Tim
 
e-sata gets my vote. if your laptop has the port of course! (y)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top