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Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Akari, Jul 28, 2010.

Akari Notebook Evangelist

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Is the eSata port on the m17x powered?

I am looking for an external eSata hard drive that does not need a power supply. Can anyone recommend one?

Akari, Jul 28, 2010

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nzgeek Notebook Evangelist

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The eSata port on the M17x is a combo USB/eSata port. It's possible to get special eSata cables which draw power from the USB side of the connection and use that to power the drive. I haven't looked much further than this yet.

The one limitation with this method is that the USB port only supplies a certain amount of current (around 200mA, I think). This means that you'll be able to power a 2.5" (laptop-sized) external drive, but not a 3.5" (desktop-sized) drive. Any 3.5" case would need to have its own power source, usually a power brick.

nzgeek, Jul 28, 2010

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