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    Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 - USB Powered?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Tawnos, Jan 5, 2008.

  1. Tawnos

    Tawnos Notebook Consultant

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    Interesting workaround by Hitachi to win the race to the 500gb mark for a 2.5" HDD. My initial impressions were negative, as this is a 5400rpm drive, and won't fit in a standard HDD bay, but that is not to say this drive is not useful. My external 500gb enclosure is a smaller one, but I am quite fed up with hauling around its power brick. I'd been thinking lately of getting one of those 320gb WD Passport drives, but I'd certianly trade 3mm of height for 180gb. Surely there will be an enclosure made specifically for this drive, I would be shocked if there isn't one made available by the time the drive is released in February.

    Which brings us to the $32000 question... is this drive USB Powered, or does it need a power brick?
     
    Tawnos, Jan 5, 2008
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  2. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Hitachi claim that this 3 platter HDD takes no more power than the normal 2 platter HDDs so it should be possible to run it from USB. However, it would be best to look for an enclosure which has an extra cable to draw power from a second USB port if necessary.

    I don't know if anyone is currently producing enclosures with capacity for a 1/2" high drive. A work-around would be to get an enclosure where the top and bottom screw together (many enclosures have a slot-in casing) and then refix the top with some tape or elastic bands.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 5, 2008
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  3. Tawnos

    Tawnos Notebook Consultant

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    This HDD will only be made available to manufacturers, not to the general public. I assume this is to prevent a million people from buying this drive and then attempting to return it when it does not fit their notebooks. I'm not really worried about getting an enclosure, as if I were an external HDD vendor I would already be ordering a case to fit this drive, assuming the thing powers off of USB. Requiring 2 cables is not a good thing either, it would have to run off a single USB port to be an improvement.
     
    Tawnos, Jan 5, 2008
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  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    This UK supplier has already listed these HDDs. Based on past practice, when they get a price they will also highlight the thickness and potential incompatibility in big bold letters. The thickness is nothing new - a year ago this was the way to get a 200GB HDD.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 5, 2008
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