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Re: [LUG] External hard drive

 

Julian Hall wrote:
>>   
> Hi Neil,
> 
> I would suggest building your own, by which I mean buying a USB caddy 
> and HD separately.  With the pre-built ones you have no real guarantee 
> what make of drive is inside them, and we all know some makes are better 
> than others.  A friend of mine had one for Christmas and it packed up 
> within 48 hours.  He then bought separate components and it is still 
> going strong.  Also depending how much data you are concerned with, you 
> could buy a 2.5" caddy and laptop drive.  This is much more portable as 
> they commonly power from the USB and don't require a separate power 
> supply.  And of course they are a *lot* smaller.
> 
> My recommendation would be a Seagate drive of suitable capacity, and a 
> look on Ebuyer for caddies (sometimes referred to as hard disk 
> enclosures).  Try and get an aluminium one as the heat dissipation will 
> be much better than the el cheapo plastics.
> 
> One other point to consider; SATA or PATA.  With an external caddy 
> bought yourself you can make that choice.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Julian
> 
Thanks for the very quick answer. In fact my local shop did recommend 
the 'caddy and choose your HD separately' system. I will go back to them 
and ask some more questions, especially with reference to your 
suggestions. And I will check the SATA or PATA differences so that I can 
ask intelligent questions!!

Thanks

Neil

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