Need help 2TB HDD External or Internal??

[suikodan123]

Shout to all the Experts here in Tech2 Forum 1.Budget Max 7K- 7.5K. 2.Any brand. 3.Whether to go for internal HDD or external HDD (easy to take the data anywhere). 4.Is there any speed / data transfer difference in either for the same price range? 5.If external - (i) USB (ii) Power ? Regards suiko

[anand]

Hi Suiko,
First let me clarify the speed/data transfer difference part: With USB 2.0 interface, both 2.5-inch portable hard drives and 3.5-inch external hard drives or even external hard drive docks with an internal hard drive inserted would deliver the same speed, around 35 MB/s read and 25 MB/s write speed. On the other hand, in case of USB 3.0 or eSATA: 3.5-inch external hard drives will be faster, but they are slightly bulky and they need a power adaptor. 2.5-inch portable hard drives are slightly slow, but they can easily fit in your pocket and they don't need an external power source.

Now for the prices:
Western Digital Elements Portable USB 3.0 - 2.5-inch - 1 TB - Rs 6,600
Western Digital My Passport Essential USB 3.0 - 2.5-inch - 1 TB - Rs 7,600
Buffalo Ministation USB 3.0 - 2.5-inch - 1 TB - Rs 7,000
Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 - 2.5-inch - 1 TB - Rs 7,700 (Review here: Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive Review)

Seagate Free Agent Go Flex USB 2.0 - 3.5-inch - 1 TB - Rs 6,200

[The Sorcerer]

^^ Not all 2.5" drives are slow. Some of them are single platter drives so they have a quicker access time and they take lesser time in larger and uncompressed file transfers. USB 2.0.... depending on which drive you're using. Older ones use a SATA-to- USB converter so it depends more on the converter if its good enough whereas newer USB 2.0s have a mini USB on the PCB of the drive itself. All USB 3.0 external drives have the connector on the PCB and have vibration absorbers on four corners between the drive and the casing, atleast the ones I've seen so far.

[suikodan123]

Thank you @anand for your much needed suggestion. After your thoughts i have decided to go for USB 2 - 3.5 inch -2 TB. As my only work is to play games and store few videos and movies.So power adapter is not a big deal. I can compromise in the adapter and size against the performance and speed.IF that 1 TB is 6.2K then i suppose i cant get 2 TB within my budget?

Thanks to you Sorcerer for your information.

[anand]

WD My Book Essential 3.5 Inch 2 TB External - USB 3.0 = approx Rs 7,400 --> very much within your budget. Currently 2 TB hard drives offer the best price/GB ratio.

[suikodan123]

@anand Thanks a ton again brother. I think i will go for the said model. Have a great day.