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3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:02 PM
since getting broadband a while ago, i've noticed a strange phenomena of my hard drive space disappearing rather quickly
i thought buying an extra 120GB internal drive would solve this problem, but alas, a few months down the road, i'm there again :(
i was talking to spider the other day on soulseek about external hard drives and wanted to know what the rest of the members opinions and/or experiences on external hard drives are.
this (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=49299) is the model i'm currently thinking of, it seems pretty good and very spacious.
i'd be using it in the usb2.0 configuration, though i do have firewire capability

thanks in advance for any replies :)

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:15 PM
why not buy another internal drive? if u already have another smaller drive swap it with a bigger one.

also if u have SATA can u not have 3 drives? on on SATA and 2 on ide?

3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:16 PM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:15
why not buy another internal drive? if u already have another smaller drive swap it with a bigger one.

also if u have SATA can u not have 3 drives? on on SATA and 2 on ide?
well, i could change my 80 gig internal for a 120 gig internal (but i don't want to pay 100 quid again to end up with only 40 gig more space)

i could go s-ata but i don't have a lot of room left in the case (and the heat might get too much inside)

:)

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:20 PM
would the performance of the S-ata not be better if u used it as your main drive, and it will free up you current system drive, and im sure u wouldnt have any probs selling the 80gb, up until a little while ago i only had a 20gb and a 4gb in my pc. and i now changed the 20 for an 80 only cause it broke

3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:25 PM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:20
would the performance of the S-ata not be better if u used it as your main drive, and it will free up you current system drive, and im sure u wouldnt have any probs selling the 80gb, up until a little while ago i only had a 20gb and a 4gb in my pc. and i now changed the 20 for an 80 only cause it broke
yeah, a s-ata main drive would give better performance than my current main drive, though i don't really play enough games to sacrifice space for performance.
my secondary drive is fast enough anyway (120GB 8MB cache Western Digital)
i'm basically just looking for a lot of relatively cheap space with the least amount of bother involved :)

bigdawgfoxx
11-30-2003, 11:28 PM
I like external...you can unplug them and take them too a friend without having to open up ur case and all that shit! Niceee

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:31 PM
another idea would be, buy another internal drive, buy another 120gig internal drive, swap it with your current 80gb, and buy a usb 3.5" enclosure for it. see what that would be for price compared to the usb drive itself

3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:40 PM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:31
another idea would be, buy another internal drive, buy another 120gig internal drive, swap it with your current 80gb, and buy a usb 3.5" enclosure for it. see what that would be for price compared to the usb drive itself
yeah, i had considered doing this, but i'm worried about the heat as much as the space issues :(

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:46 PM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+30 November 2003 - 23:40--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob &#064; 30 November 2003 - 23:40)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:31
another idea would be, buy another internal drive, buy another 120gig internal drive, swap it with your current 80gb, and buy a usb 3.5" enclosure for it. see what that would be for price compared to the usb drive itself
yeah, i had considered doing this, but i&#39;m worried about the heat as much as the space issues :( [/b][/quote]
the heat should be any more of an issue as it is now, as you are only swapping the 2 drives, so the heat so basically be the same. it may be worth looking into as it will be cheaper, keeps your 2 main drives inside, and use the 3rd as the overflow and taking to mates as already pointed out, and its easy to change the drive in it if anything does happen

edit: the only problem may be gettign the enclosure, as they seem quite rare ish.

3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:49 PM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:46
the heat should be any more of an issue as it is now, as you are only swapping the 2 drives, so the heat so basically be the same. it may be worth looking into as it will be cheaper, keeps your 2 main drives inside, and use the 3rd as the overflow and taking to mates as already pointed out, and its easy to change the drive in it if anything does happen

edit: the only problem may be gettign the enclosure, as they seem quite rare ish.
is there any problems with the transfer rates on a usb caddy?

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:51 PM
it would be the same as the current usb 2.0 you are looking at, as you would have a choice of what caddy u were looking at, you could either go for usb, usb 2.0 or firwire. so the transfer would be the same if u went for a usb 2.0 caddy

edit: quick search on ebuyer. http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=44999 (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=44999)

3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:53 PM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:51
it would be the same as the current usb 2.0 you are looking at, as you would have a choice of what caddy u were looking at, you could either go for usb, usb 2.0 or firwire. so the transfer would be the same if u went for a usb 2.0 caddy
sounds like a good idea :)
the only problem left now is noise...

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:55 PM
the noise of your conputer, or the external drive?

edit: external case http://www.dabs.com/uk/productView.htm?quicklinx=2CB3

plus either cable.

firewire http://www.dabs.com/uk/productView.htm?quicklinx=2CBC

usb 2 http://www.dabs.com/uk/productView.htm?quicklinx=2CBG

3rd gen noob
11-30-2003, 11:57 PM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:55
the noise of your conputer, or the external drive?
the drive

Livy
11-30-2003, 11:58 PM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+30 November 2003 - 23:57--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob @ 30 November 2003 - 23:57)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:55
the noise of your conputer, or the external drive?
the drive [/b][/quote]
put it under your desk or something. like if u have a set of drawers on your desk, theres usually psace underneath them.

3rd gen noob
12-01-2003, 12:00 AM
Originally posted by Livy@30 November 2003 - 22:58
put it under your desk or something. like if u have a set of drawers on your desk, theres usually psace underneath them.
sounds like a good idea
i&#39;ll definitely keep it in mind for when "Santa" comes :)

FuNkY CaPrIcOrN
12-01-2003, 02:10 AM
:D Love my External. :D

3rd gen noob
12-01-2003, 03:54 AM
Originally posted by FuNkY CaPrIcOrN@1 December 2003 - 01:10
:D Love my External. :D
what make/model/size is it and have you had any problems? :)

Livy
12-01-2003, 03:55 AM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+1 December 2003 - 03:54--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob @ 1 December 2003 - 03:54)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-FuNkY CaPrIcOrN@1 December 2003 - 01:10
:D Love my External. :D
what make/model/size is it and have you had any problems? :) [/b][/quote]
im sure youll find his specs somewhere on the board, i remember seeing it posted a few times. :D :P

3rd gen noob
12-01-2003, 03:58 AM
Originally posted by Livy@1 December 2003 - 02:55
im sure youll find his specs somewhere on the board, i remember seeing it posted a few times. :D :P
http://klboard.ath.cx/index.php?showtopic=57060 :)

FuNkY CaPrIcOrN
12-01-2003, 04:00 AM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+30 November 2003 - 22:58--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob @ 30 November 2003 - 22:58)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Livy@1 December 2003 - 02:55
im sure youll find his specs somewhere on the board, i remember seeing it posted a few times.&nbsp; :D&nbsp; :P
http://klboard.ath.cx/index.php?showtopic=57060 :) [/b][/quote]
:D Yeah.I have only unplugged it 2 times since I have had it.Not one Problem. :D

3rd gen noob
12-01-2003, 04:04 AM
i&#39;m not sure which to go with now...the external 160GB drive (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=49299) or another 120GB internal and a usb 2.0 caddy

if i go for the external, it&#39;s quite a bit more expensive, and quite a bit slower, however, it is bigger and more portable

if i go for internal, it should be faster, cheaper, but it&#39;s less portable and the caddy will lead to more noise

:blink:

john54321
12-01-2003, 04:41 AM
Buy a DVD-Writer to back up your data, its more cost effective than another hard drive, because cost of each 4.7 Gb space is less than a pound.

You will find that however big the hard drive is you will eventually run out of space, so its better to put your data on dvd-r disks.

Evil Gemini
12-01-2003, 04:54 AM
I have a usb 2.0 caddy and you can connect an internal hdd and use it as an external. The only problem with it is that you need an external power source.

Another cool thing with the hdd caddies is that you can connect any ide device to it. :)

I bought a hdd caddy and asked the guy if i can use it with a cd rom and he said no but i tried anyways and it worked.

Im thinking of using it for my DVD burner.

The caddy cost me AU&#036;100.

Like i said the only bad thing is the external power supply. If i put my mind to it i could make a battery power supply for it and then it would kick ass. :D

If you want a bigger hdd just for extra storage i think it would be better to get the dvd burner because fkn hdd&#39;s get corrupt and i hate that.

3rd gen noob
12-01-2003, 04:55 AM
Originally posted by john54321@1 December 2003 - 03:41
Buy a DVD-Writer to back up your data, its more cost effective than another hard drive, because cost of each 4.7 Gb space is less than a pound.

You will find that however big the hard drive is you will eventually run out of space, so its better to put your data on dvd-r disks.
i&#39;ve kind of ruled out a dvd-rw already...i don&#39;t like having masses of discs lying about the house, it takes too long to find things. i&#39;d like to keep the choice between internal and external hard drives (even if that does make the least logical choice :rolleyes: ).
thanks for the input though :)

abu_has_the_power
12-01-2003, 05:43 AM
i personally think they overheat a lot, and isn&#39;t any better than having one in ur pc. now, some of those hd enclosure thingies r pretty nice, especially if u leave the top off and let ur hd cool down. it&#39;s still portable. 4 me, either get an enclosure or don&#39;t bother. those external hd&#39;s are just too damn expensive

3rd gen noob
12-01-2003, 06:06 AM
Originally posted by abu_has_the_power@1 December 2003 - 04:43
i personally think they overheat a lot, and isn&#39;t any better than having one in ur pc. now, some of those hd enclosure thingies r pretty nice, especially if u leave the top off and let ur hd cool down. it&#39;s still portable. 4 me, either get an enclosure or don&#39;t bother. those external hd&#39;s are just too damn expensive
the reviews i&#39;ve read haven&#39;t mentioned any overheating problems, and the cost isn&#39;t really an issue, but thanks for the input :)

abu_has_the_power
12-01-2003, 01:39 PM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+1 December 2003 - 01:06--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob @ 1 December 2003 - 01:06)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-abu_has_the_power@1 December 2003 - 04:43
i personally think they overheat a lot, and isn&#39;t any better than having one in ur pc. now, some of those hd enclosure thingies r pretty nice, especially if u leave the top off and let ur hd cool down. it&#39;s still portable. 4 me, either get an enclosure or don&#39;t bother. those external hd&#39;s are just too damn expensive
the reviews i&#39;ve read haven&#39;t mentioned any overheating problems, and the cost isn&#39;t really an issue, but thanks for the input :) [/b][/quote]
well, ur putting a hd in a plastic box. i mean, i my rig, i got a hd cooler chilling my 120gb, which makes it last longer. u can&#39;t do that with an external hd

Livy
12-01-2003, 02:22 PM
some caddies come will fans built in to them im sure.

Livy
12-04-2003, 04:25 AM
i got another idea about cooling if your worried, you could maybe buy the 5.25" version and it will give your more room for cooling and you could hook up a mount system, or im sure you will be able to but a 3.5-5.25 mount, or something along that line

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:08 AM
ok, bumpity bump time...

i&#39;m basically decided on getting an external drive now, i don&#39;t want to be faffing around with internal drives in caddies externally or internal drives mounted in 5.25" bays or anything

so i&#39;m taking the easy (and more expensive) way out and going external

i&#39;ve narrowed it down to 2 contenders:

Maxtor A14A250 250GB 7200rpm 8MB cache external drive (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=51923) or the Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm 8MB cache external drive (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=47658)

there&#39;s not really a price difference here so basically it comes down to the brand name

i&#39;ve already got a western digital drive and am very pleased with it. i&#39;ve never had a maxtor drive, but from word of mouth around here, i&#39;ve heard they&#39;re a little dodgy.

can anyone offer any advice on either of them?

p.s. sorry Livy for you spending time thinking about getting an internal drive, only for me to say no to that idea

Livy
12-17-2003, 02:16 AM
ive had a maxtor 80gig for a few months now and its seemed fine, its alright about the caddy idea, i was kinda looking into it for a pcmcia caddy for a writer for ma laptop, but its a bit dearer than i wanted to spend.

but simply lookign at the 2 you posted i would go for the maxtor that wd looks pretty ugly. and it has a better reviwe.

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:18 AM
Originally posted by Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:16
ive had a maxtor 80gig for a few months now and its seemed fine, its alright about the caddy idea, i was kinda looking into it for a pcmcia caddy for a writer for ma laptop, but its a bit dearer than i wanted to spend.

but simply lookign at the 2 you posted i would go for the maxtor that wd looks pretty ugly. and it has a better reviwe.
yeah, i&#39;ve been swaying towards the maxtor aswell.
it&#39;d look a lot better next to my aluminium case, and apart from the names, the only difference i can see is the 2 year warranty on the western digital

Livy
12-17-2003, 02:24 AM
but you always know the bugger is gonna break when its outta warranty anyway, no matter how long it is, sods law.

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:24 AM
Originally posted by Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:24
but you always know the bugger is gonna break when its outta warranty anyway, no matter how long it is, sods law.
:lol:

Livy
12-17-2003, 02:25 AM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+17 December 2003 - 02:24--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob @ 17 December 2003 - 02:24)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:24
but you always know the bugger is gonna break when its outta warranty anyway, no matter how long it is, sods law.
:lol: [/b][/quote]
also you can save a few quid if you go for the firewire only maxtor. unless it has to be usb

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:30 AM
just had a look again at this (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=50033) and now i want that again

:lol:

i&#39;m torn once again
i spent a while thinking about which to go for and now i&#39;m back at the start, only more confused :&#39;(

Livy
12-17-2003, 02:33 AM
if i were you i would go for the internal sata, unless u really need the portability of a external drive. and its save u money. which is always a good thing.

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:35 AM
Originally posted by Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:33
if i were you i would go for the internal sata, unless u really need the portability of a external drive. and its save u money. which is always a good thing.
yeah, the scotsman in me is saying that i&#39;m crazy for not wanting to save money and gain performance and the lazy person in me is saying that i&#39;m stupid for wanting more hassle

at the end of the day, the sane choice is for the s-ata drive and the crazy one is for the external, but i still can&#39;t decide :lol:

Livy
12-17-2003, 02:39 AM
come on show your true colours.
S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA :D

i mean if u dont need the portability go for s-ata drive, should be a bit quicker aswell. also its internal so u dont have a drive sitting on your desk. and less chance of it breaking if its internal aswell.

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:40 AM
Originally posted by Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:39
come on show your true colours.
S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA :D

i mean if u dont need the portability go for s-ata drive, should be a bit quicker aswell. also its internal so u dont have a drive sitting on your desk. and less chance of it breaking if its internal aswell.
i&#39;m just checking to see if my s-ata cables stretch far enough (because i&#39;d be mounting the drive in a 5.25" slot)

Livy
12-17-2003, 02:46 AM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob+17 December 2003 - 02:40--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3rd gen noob @ 17 December 2003 - 02:40)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:39
come on show your true colours.
S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA S-ATA&nbsp; :D

i mean if u dont need the portability go for s-ata drive, should be a bit quicker aswell. also its internal so u dont have a drive sitting on your desk. and less chance of it breaking if its internal aswell.
i&#39;m just checking to see if my s-ata cables stretch far enough (because i&#39;d be mounting the drive in a 5.25" slot) [/b][/quote]
if not could you not put one of your ide drives in there, and put it in place of the ide drive.

or is it from a cooling point on view?

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 02:55 AM
Originally posted by Livy@17 December 2003 - 01:46
if not could you not put one of your ide drives in there, and put it in place of the ide drive.

or is it from a cooling point on view?
well, it&#39;s both cooling and ide cable point of view

if i moved my primary drive up into the possible 5.25" bay for the s-ata, it would be stretching the ide cable pretty badly (if it would fit at all)

i might just get longer ide cables though

Livy
12-17-2003, 03:00 AM
yeah, and the cables are pretty cheap anyway. i got my 60cm rounded ide ata133 cables from ebuyer for about £2 each

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=36347 (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=36347)

3rd gen noob
12-17-2003, 03:02 AM
i&#39;m getting really close to ordering this s-ata drive just now...i just can&#39;t commit to it :(

Livy
12-17-2003, 03:05 AM
Originally posted by 3rd gen noob@17 December 2003 - 03:02
i&#39;m getting really close to ordering this s-ata drive just now...i just can&#39;t commit to it :(
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=52438 (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52438)

look heres some long ide cables, :D and there snazzy blue, the yellow ones are out of stock. <_<