External HD's & Sound Cards

When I get a laptop (not sure what model yet) i was thinking of getting an external hard drive to store MP3's movies, etc.

I was wondering if this would be fine for using for mp3 storage, ISO, etc. So I would access this drive a lot.

Would a External HD be fine for this, also my laptop would be on a lot would this affect the laptop at all, or even the external hd (ie break either of them)

Also has anyone heard anything good about a certain product?

Also I would like better quality sound as I would play a lot of music, so I am looking for a decent (but nice priced) external sound card. Any Idea's?


Thanks

 

I use an external hard drive to store my movies and other stuff. I also keep my computer on all the time, and only turn it off or hibernate it when transporting it.

So far everything has been fine.

 

Which drive you got m8, would u reccommend it?

 

If you would like to be a little more portable, you can put a laptop hard drive into a case, but its storage is limited to 120GB in size.

 

I've got a Maxtor Personal Storage 3100 80gb

Got it at Best Buy for not the best price, becuase I needed something in a pinch. If you look around, you'll probably find a way better price per gb than what I paid and probably a better HDD. I was really considering getting on of the Lacie porsche models because they are really sexy.

 

anyone got an external soundcard?

I've seen the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook which connect via PCMCIA, i dont think i would use this port for anything else, i have read a few reviews and it seems good, anyone come acroos this before?

 

if you are not moving ur external hdd around much, i would recommand desktop internal hdd instead of notebook hdd. u can get 3.5' external alot cheaper than 2.5' external hdd.

 

I have a Philips Aurilium USB sound card and it does pretty well. I've heard the Audigy 2 and it compares pretty closely. It's pretty inexpensive too, I got mines off eBay for $30+shipping

Review: http://www.techspot.com/reviews/hardware/philips_aurilium/index.shtml

 

audigy for $30?? how did u do that coriolis?? u lucky dawg u!!!! i got mine for $70...i have issues with it all the time though. every time i use it, the lappie goes into the blue screen of death for some error. i have latest drivers and all that good stuff. any help??

 

I mean the Aurilium.

The Audigy 2 would be my 1st choice but for $32 CDN the Aurilium had a better price and works pretty well. The Audigy 2 would set me back $110+

 

thanks for the input, i just read that review on the Philips Aurilium, is being powered by the USB port a good thing, i wouldnt really be moving this soundcard around much, would it be best to get one with a plug? just wanting to know if it will affect the laptop at all.

Thanks, otherwise looks like i want one of them for sure.

 

Plug?

Yea, I also bought it because, I didn't want to carry it around, and an USB powered one was good enough

 

i got mine for $70. who da lucky dawg now??

 

Canadian, which is about 95~ usd

The Audigy 2 was on sale for $59 a few weeks ago...

Too bad it was US only!

 

http://www.netgear.com/products/details/SC101.php

I am going to get something like that to place in another room to isolate the noise.

 

I need something portable so I was looking at Vantec's Nexstar3 2.5" external enclosure. Comes with a neat little case for it as well, so very portable.

Only thing now is to choose which harddrive to put in it. I was thinking WD800VE 80gig harddrive for it, as western digital doesn't have 100GB drives yet. Kinda pricey for the drive, but better than paying an extra 60-70 bucks for 100gb seagate.

Cheers,
Mike

 

I have a Vantec enclosure with a 2.5" Western Digital 80GB Scorpio in it. Works beautifully.

WD makes the best hard drives, I have yet to come across a better one.

 

ever heard of Hitachi?

 

I meant to say is there any advantages over having a PCMCIA sound card or a usb one.

thanks

 

Besides using a USB port?

Well, the USB powered one is usually bigger and less mobile, if thats a factor.

The sound quality of the Aurilim may not be as good as the PCMCIA AUdigy 2 ZS. But the price difference, see for yourself.

Overall, I'm very satisfied, as I only need the sound card for my X-530's, and thats on my desk, and I only use it then. No point in having one to travel around if I'm just gonna use my laptop speakers!