Are All External Hard Drives Created Equal?
I have two WD external hard drives...dinosaur's by today's standards...they're large...like a big book...I notice that many of the newer ones are not much larger than a pack of cigarettes and run stri...
Forum Discussion
No, not all external drives are the same. There are 3.5" typically used in desktops and 2.5" typically used in notebooks and small form factor computers (like the Mac Mini). The 2.5" drives are further divided by drive height measured in MM. They can be 9MM or 12MM if I remember correctly. When replacing a laptop drive you need to get the one that fits.
Also the interfaces are different. The really old 3.5" drives were most likely PATA (parallel) interfaced; the newer ones are most likely SATA (serial) or eSATA. They're not interchangable. And if you're looking at drives used in old Sun and Mac systems they were most likely SCSI.
Then there are factors like drive speed, usually measured by spindle RPM. Cheaper ones will turn at 5,400 RPM; most will turn at 7,200 RPM and high end will go at about 10,000 RPM.
There are also buffer size differences in the drives.
For home use the RPM and buffer size are not really all that important, just pick a drive that fits in the space available at a price you're comfortable with. When adding an external just find one that has the right interface - USB (2 or 3), 1394 (Firewire), SATA or eSATA. It's usually best to just pick up a drive with an enclosure but that will cost a bit more. If you know what you're doing and have an old external enclosure you can find a drive that matches your enclosure.
Also the interfaces are different. The really old 3.5" drives were most likely PATA (parallel) interfaced; the newer ones are most likely SATA (serial) or eSATA. They're not interchangable. And if you're looking at drives used in old Sun and Mac systems they were most likely SCSI.
Then there are factors like drive speed, usually measured by spindle RPM. Cheaper ones will turn at 5,400 RPM; most will turn at 7,200 RPM and high end will go at about 10,000 RPM.
There are also buffer size differences in the drives.
For home use the RPM and buffer size are not really all that important, just pick a drive that fits in the space available at a price you're comfortable with. When adding an external just find one that has the right interface - USB (2 or 3), 1394 (Firewire), SATA or eSATA. It's usually best to just pick up a drive with an enclosure but that will cost a bit more. If you know what you're doing and have an old external enclosure you can find a drive that matches your enclosure.
