You're welcome, basically shop for a good deal and get the biggest bang for your buck that you feel you need. David Ferrin Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the ones that mind don't matter. ----- Original Message ----- From: "dgcnc" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 10:44 PM Subject: [Blind-Computing] USB Re: need recommandation on external harddrives
Thank you for this good explanation. So, now I really don't have to worry that my drive is going to become obsolete and if I find a great price on a 2.0 USB, I'm safe to buy it. For what I use an external drive for, speed is not critical. My goal is to insure that I have multiple copies of some very important files so only a true tragedy would destroy all of them. And, they are not huge complicated files. Thanks for being the first computer teacher I've ever had being this group. Greg -----Original Message----- From: David Ferrin Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 10:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives One good thing about USB is that it is cross compatible. What that means is you can plug a 3.0 drive in to any USB port and it will work but only to the maximum speed of the given port in question. Conversely you can plug a 1.1 drive in to a 3.0 port and it will work but only at the 1.1 speed. The only way to obtain the maximum speed for let's say a 3.0 drive is to plug it in to a 3.0 port. The rule of thumb is it will always default to the slowest link in the chain. Another example is if you have a 3.0 drive and a 3.0 port but use a 1.1 cable then it will perform at the 1.1 level. Off hand I don't recall how to determine what the drive speed is without checking the specifications. Also although 3.0 is the hottest interface right now 2.0 isn't going to be bumped out completely as many devices do not need that level of performance and it would be expensive to equip a system with more than a couple of 3.0 ports. Keyboards, mice are a couple of examples of devices that operate at a slow speed, probably at the 1.1 level if memory serves. David Ferrin Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the ones that mind don't matter. ----- Original Message ----- From: "dgcnc" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 8:24 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives I have seen external drives running USB 2.0 and 3.0. If I buy a 2.0 does that mean that it is going out and soon won't be useful? How can I tell what my current external drive is 2.0 or 3.0? Greg -----Original Message----- From: David Ferrin Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 8:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives The majority of drives at this time are NTFS as that is a more efficient format. Drive speed ETC depends on how much you wish to spend along with the size of the drive. External drives are normally used for backup purposes and as such speed is not always a factor most of the time. David Ferrin Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the ones that mind don't matter. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Madison Espinoza" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 7:53 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives Oh yes, I see that now regarding the subject line request for information on an external drive. There is still more than just buy "USB." the person's needs have to be explored a bit more. There are other options such as drive speed as I mentioned and file system NTFS or Fat32 though this can be done after the fact. Let's see what Melissa wants. -M W7HPe32bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Ferrin" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 4:39 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives > The subject line indicates an external hard drive, you're discussing > internal drives. There are many things to consider about internal drives I > agree but that is not what it seemed to me based on the subject. > > External drives are almost totally USB to the computer so it doesn't > matter > what their actual interface needs might be. > David Ferrin > Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the ones > that mind don't matter. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Madison Espinoza" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 7:10 PM > Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives > > > Hi David, > > I'm very sorry to disagree, but I think you are very wrong on this point. > > A hard drive has many factors to consider. Do you want to accidentally > purchase a Parallel ATA100 IDE hard drive when your computer motherboard > only supports sata? Most newer computers only support SATA drives. > > Do you want to end up purchasing a 5400 RPM hard drive if your computer > can > support a 7200 RPM much faster hard drive? > > What if your computer is running Windows XP and cannot support the larger > 500GB or 1 TB drives? > > The other factor to consider is whether the hard drive will be used for > internal or external use. Since Melisa stated that she is going to use > this > hard drive for external use, I would read the specs before making this > purchase. You want a 7200 RPM external H/D though the 5400 are less > expensive but will take longer to copy files. I would also look into > western > digital as the manufacturer of the external drive. Do you have an external > hard drive enclosure already, or do you want the external with the > enclosure > as one unit? Do you want USB 2.0 or can your computer use USB 3.0? Most > importantly, how long can you wait because right now hard drives are > extremely expensive. There have been very serious rain storms in the > Philippines where Western Digital manufactures their hard drives, and this > has caused the price of hard drives to explode. Typically, one can find a > 5400 RPM 2 TB external drive for about $150. A 1TB for about $120 if you > shop around. > > In short, please specify what you want and I'll run a quick search for > you. > > -M > W7HP32bit > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "David Ferrin" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 3:37 PM > Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives > > >> The fact is a hard drive is a hard drive, they're all pretty good and >> makes >> no never mind as to your version of windows. >> David Ferrin >> Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the >> ones >> that mind don't matter. >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Melissa Tucker" <[email protected]> >> To: <[email protected]> >> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 6:29 PM >> Subject: [Blind-Computing] need recommandation on external hard drives >> >> >> I could use a 1tb or 2tb external hard drive and Not surw what are better >> ones and which ones work better with winxp. thanks for any suggestions. >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >> >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
