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External Hard Drive ?

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by dojharris

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Hi i was looking at this External Hard Drive > http://computers.pricegrabber.co.uk/hard-drives/m/34859774/details/st=product_tab/ But i am not sure about the eSATA, if my motherboard supports it (my Board) > http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/motherboards/asus/k8ned/index.htm and would i need one of these cables to wire it up > http://www.lindy.co.uk/esata-cable-2m/33481.html
I want an external Hard Drive that will be on 24/7 and can transfer files fast,, would like at least 500GB if any one has any other alternatives
Thanks for you time DOJ

5 replies

by dr dij

but reliable if you put a UPS on them, and don't turn them off while system running like any other removable drive.

I tried seagate free-agent 750 gig drive with dual USB and eSata. Couldn't use the e-Sata option as the only slot my PC had was PCI and this was PCI-Xpress which won't go in a PCI slot.

The free-agent had other probs:

1) it got quite hot underneath, and I had it on a wood shelf, I was getting worried.

2) the power off switch would not work. was one of those d@#$% touch switch, not a real switch. would not go off no matter how long I held it. It would go ON tho. (this was eve with the computer system it was attached too off).

3) my PC would not even get to BIOS password prompt if the drive was attached while booting. (This is with my bios setting to boot off internal hard drive only). Yet if I turned the drive on after PC booted would recognize OK.

I used two earlier 300 gig models as backups and never had a problem except once when power went out when I was backing up, and the drive was not on a UPS, which I changed immediately. For some odd reason they transfer large files real quickly reading from the USB drive but takes much longer writing to them on my desktop.

I used one of the drives for quite a while as primary storage (and editing) of very large powerpoint presentations. 200-500 megs each. WOrked great but slow saving the files. Even slow now (but not as slow) with these huge files on my 1T SATA drive saving huge files.

by oh smeg

The answer here is the 24/7 as external Enclosures are not full time On units. They allow a HDD to get too hot and this shortens the life of the drive considerably.

So if you want to bung something in an external enclosure and leave it running 24/7 it's firstly going to fail fairly often need another Backup option so you are not loosing Valuable Data several times a year when the drive dies and to be fast it needs to be Firewire.

So the Enclosure needs to be at least a All Metal Construction with Active Cooling and a Firewire Interface for speed in transferring Data.

I'm sure that you can bolt enough Heatsinks to the Enclosure and with enough Fans on the Heatsinks it may be possible to almost have a HDD running as cool as they do when mounted in a computer with all that Metal of the case used to cool it. [b]Get the idea?[/b] A HDD has to be looked at in conjunction with the Heatsink it is attached to to move the heat away and keep it alive.

Col

by dojharris

Good information on both replies thanks, Given me somthing to think about.
Just to let you know I have had a Maxtor OneTouch II 300 GB ,, HERE > http://www.ciao.co.uk/Maxtor_OneTouch_II_FireWire_and_USB_300_GB__5804480 For 2 years now Dont know whar these prices are but i paid ?150 for mine which was a lot for an external hard drive for it time.
I have had mine on for almost the full 2 years as i have shared files on it, Ok its not always running as i shut the PC down quit a lot but the drive is left on. I dont use the software or the back up button it comes with. I think i will see if i can get another one. Also i think i will get a fan for it as i do think it is quit hot when the PC has been on for a few days and the drive get alot of use.
Any one know of a good External drive that would be a good choice of me
Thanks again for your time DOJ

by oh smeg

That you fit your own drive to The MX1 has these Specs

[i]Antec MX-1 3.5" SATA HDD External Enclosure, Actively cooled. USB2.0 and eSATA interfaces, Supports up to 1TB SATA HDD
Antec MX-1 3.5" SATA HDD External Enclosure, Actively cooled. USB2.0 and eSATA interfaces, Supports up to 1TB SATA HDD, Includes USB cable, eSATA cable and eSATA bracket, Stand included, Supports Windows 2000/XP/ME/Vista[/i]

if you want to have a look try here but this is only a suggestion

http://tinyurl.com/yurkt4

They are solid easy to use and reliable all you could ask for and much better than everything else that I've used yet. They also take standard HDD's so I use Seagate Drives with a 5 Year Warranty. These seem to work quite well though as mentioned previously they do die a lot sooner than they need to. I get about 4 to 5 years out of a HDD in one of these enclosures if they don't get moved and about 3 years max out of a transported one.

As for the Maxtor that company has been swilled up by Seagate and now is used to produce Budget Drives. I don't think you would be as happy with a new Maxtor as you are with your current one, however I know a lot of people who have had these drives fail and been replaced several times before they wanted their money back because they where unreliable.

I think the trick with these is [b]Do Not Move[/b] the thing and they might last till the Guarantee is over at least. But move them and you can piratically guarantee they they will not work at the other end of the move, trip whatever.

Col

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