Topic: Internal vs. External HD's?

[herrmann2burn]

Hey all,
We are thinking about adding more storage to our pc, and i wanted to know everyone's thoughts on adding a larger Internal Hard Drive or adding an External Hard Drive.
What are the pro and cons to each that youve come across?
If our pc were to crash, would we lose the data on the additional internal drive?  I dont think so becuase it would just be a storage drive, and the drive itself would need to fail, but my wife tends to think so.  Wouldnt i be able to pull out the new internal HD and install it into a different pc and all of the data would still be there?

The only benefit i see as to buying an external HD is that it is portable, and we would be able to plug it into any USB.  Other than that, i would think it would be slower for transfers.

I would think both the internal and external drive have the same amount of reliability.

Thanks for your advice.

[Gordon]

I prefer buying internals and putting them in a external enclosure.  the last one I got is a esata external and transfers are very fast (way faster than usb).  I also just bought a esata external and the speeds on it are not nearly as reliable.   I prefer internals in enclosures for a few reasons.  one is that I can buy a nice case with fan etc so I trust the drive to be cooler (they are) and there for maybe last longer.  also it makes it very easy to remove the drive if need be.  if a externals case goes out it's a pain in the ass to get the actual drive out.  not so with a enclosure.  I also like that the drive is only on when I need/want it on instead of running all the time.     

[Ed.]

newegg is having a harddrive blowout - 750gb internal for $120 and 500gb external for $100.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2008/Promo052208in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052208&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052208-_-email-_-E0A-_-SeagateHD

Personally, I say fill up the case first unless you want to take it with you.  internals have less chance of falling on the floor too, and they're faster.

[herrmann2burn]

newegg is having a harddrive blowout - 750gb internal for $120 and 500gb external for $100.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2008/Promo052208in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052208&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052208-_-email-_-E0A-_-SeagateHD

Personally, I say fill up the case first unless you want to take it with you.  internals have less chance of falling on the floor too, and they're faster.

YEah, we Newegg email too, that's the reason for my thread.

Gordon. Will any (Gig)size HD fit into the external enclosures?  Or do you have to match the enclosure with the gig size?

Thanks for your guys responses. +T to ya both.

[Gordon]

newegg is having a harddrive blowout - 750gb internal for $120 and 500gb external for $100.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2008/Promo052208in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052208&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052208-_-email-_-E0A-_-SeagateHD

Personally, I say fill up the case first unless you want to take it with you.  internals have less chance of falling on the floor too, and they're faster.

YEah, we Newegg email too, that's the reason for my thread.

Gordon. Will any (Gig)size HD fit into the external enclosures?  Or do you have to match the enclosure with the gig size?

Thanks for your guys responses. +T to ya both.

most now a days will handle any size drive.  the specs should tell ya.


I have the black version of this esata and am very happy with it.  it supports up to 1 tb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052008&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052008-_-ComputerCases-_-L5A-_-17173043

if you do get the emails from new egg the latest (mem day sale) has this for $35 w/ free shipping.

[herrmann2burn]

newegg is having a harddrive blowout - 750gb internal for $120 and 500gb external for $100.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2008/Promo052208in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052208&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052208-_-email-_-E0A-_-SeagateHD

Personally, I say fill up the case first unless you want to take it with you.  internals have less chance of falling on the floor too, and they're faster.

YEah, we Newegg email too, that's the reason for my thread.

Gordon. Will any (Gig)size HD fit into the external enclosures?  Or do you have to match the enclosure with the gig size?

Thanks for your guys responses. +T to ya both.

most now a days will handle any size drive.  the specs should tell ya.


I have the black version of this esata and am very happy with it.  it supports up to 1 tb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052008&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052008-_-ComputerCases-_-L5A-_-17173043

if you do get the emails from new egg the latest (mem day sale) has this for $35 w/ free shipping.

Gordon,
Mine has the RX-358-S at $45 not $35. do they give different deals to different peeps or am i missing something?

[Gordon]

newegg is having a harddrive blowout - 750gb internal for $120 and 500gb external for $100.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2008/Promo052208in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052208&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052208-_-email-_-E0A-_-SeagateHD

Personally, I say fill up the case first unless you want to take it with you.  internals have less chance of falling on the floor too, and they're faster.

YEah, we Newegg email too, that's the reason for my thread.

Gordon. Will any (Gig)size HD fit into the external enclosures?  Or do you have to match the enclosure with the gig size?

Thanks for your guys responses. +T to ya both.

most now a days will handle any size drive.  the specs should tell ya.


I have the black version of this esata and am very happy with it.  it supports up to 1 tb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052008&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052008-_-ComputerCases-_-L5A-_-17173043

if you do get the emails from new egg the latest (mem day sale) has this for $35 w/ free shipping.

Gordon,
Mine has the RX-358-S at $45 not $35. do they give different deals to different peeps or am i missing something?

mine has a promo code.  shouldn't be different than others.  pm with it on the way.

[herrmann2burn]

newegg is having a harddrive blowout - 750gb internal for $120 and 500gb external for $100.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2008/Promo052208in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052208&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052208-_-email-_-E0A-_-SeagateHD

Personally, I say fill up the case first unless you want to take it with you.  internals have less chance of falling on the floor too, and they're faster.

YEah, we Newegg email too, that's the reason for my thread.

Gordon. Will any (Gig)size HD fit into the external enclosures?  Or do you have to match the enclosure with the gig size?

Thanks for your guys responses. +T to ya both.

most now a days will handle any size drive.  the specs should tell ya.


I have the black version of this esata and am very happy with it.  it supports up to 1 tb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052008&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052008-_-ComputerCases-_-L5A-_-17173043

if you do get the emails from new egg the latest (mem day sale) has this for $35 w/ free shipping.

Gordon,
Mine has the RX-358-S at $45 not $35. do they give different deals to different peeps or am i missing something?

mine has a promo code.  shouldn't be different than others.  pm with it on the way.

Thanks!

[herrmann2burn]

Thanks again Gordon...just ordered the external enclosure and the 750G Seagate.

[morst]

Thanks for the link to the SATA case. My desktop Mac is already full with 4 drives, and the SATA drives seem to have taken over. By the way, I should point out that Seagate has a 5 year warranty, which is better than the other major companies'. (I did have a 2-month old Seagate 500GB fail recently, but it warned me that it was failing in time for me to get all the data off, AND they sent me a 750GB drive back when they replaced it!!)