External HDD for Backups - Technical Questions

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craige4u

Weaksauce
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Sep 3, 2010
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I wana buy 500GB/750GB External HDD for my backups and the brands i selected are Seagate and Transcend. Request not to specify any ther brands.

Now i had noticed tht all HDD are sadly USB 2.0 only and some transcend new HDD are USB 3.0.

I have a eSATA port on my thermlatake case, and so obviously i wanted to go with eSATA external because of increased transfer speed, but none of the above manufacturer has it - Whys tht?

1] Is eSATA a fail or there are issues using eSATA ?

2] Whts difference is i get a laptop HD and slip it into external case and if i go with branded externals one like above? Can i buy laptop HDD & eSATA + USB2.0 enclosure?

3] Which one seems to be better? only diff. i can see is transcend has 3.0USB which is useless to me as i dont have hardware tht supports it.

Seagate:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/freeagent/freeagent_go/#tTabContentOverview

Transcend:
http://www.transcendusa.com/products/ModDetail.asp?ModNo=284&LangNo=0&Func1No=&Func2No
 
craige4u said:
I have a eSATA port on my thermlatake case, and so obviously i wanted to go with eSATA external because of increased transfer speed, but none of the above manufacturer has it - Whys tht?

1] Is eSATA a fail or there are issues using eSATA ?
Click to expand...

You can't hot-plug w/ eSATA unless AHCI is enabled in the BIOS. That is the only negative about eSATA, because most configs will still be in IDE mode. And switching to AHCI is beyond most users. (the drive will still work in IDE mode, you just need to restart the system)

craige4u said:
2] Whts difference is i get a laptop HD and slip it into external case and if i go with branded externals one like above? Can i buy laptop HDD & eSATA + USB2.0 enclosure?
Click to expand...

The biggest advantage to running a 2.5 HDD w/enclosure is running w/o an AC adapter. It'll run off USB bus power using two ports if you have a special cable (usually comes with the enclosure)

I have Antec's MX-25. It has eSATA & USB 2.0. But if you use eSATA, you have to use an AC adapter and it doesn't come with one. It won't run off USB bus power w/o trying to use the port for data instead. I've never been able to get eSATA on this enclosure to work reliably- and I've got four other eSATA enclosures and a cradle that work just fine.
 
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Why not get a 3.5 external enclosure with eSATA and just buy an internal drive to put in it? Cheaper than the laptop alternative unless you are space constrained. Or get something like the BlackX, which allows you to swap drives in and out (including 3.5 and 2.5) and supports eSATA.
 
Okay,

There is a slight change in my selection of HD, it will be the New Seagate GoFlex 500GB:
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeA...500100/dp/B003HLZENM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Now, can anybody confirm tht if i can use this drive to get backup by using it internally via sata?
When the connection dock is removed, this drive appears to have standard SATA and Power connectors.... But am not sure if i can plug it internally.
 
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