Need help choosing External Hard-Drive

Over at best buy right now there's a deal (which I think is great!)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1142290230595&type=product

Western Digital Mybook 500GB USB 2.0 for $119.99. It's 7200 rpm. Then thing is that I'm not so sure I want to buy it because it's USB 2.0. The other one that I'm eyeing is here

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1172277308792&type=product

Seagate FreeAgent Pro 320GB External USB 2.0 and eSATA Hard Drive for $129.99. What really catches my eye on this one is the eSATA connection (and usb 2.0 for all I care) for its speed. What would you guys recommend? If only the WD came with eSATA I would purchase it in an instant but unfortunately it doesnt. Would you recommend better HDD's at this price rance? Would the 120GB sacrifice be worth the eSATA connection?

 

As of now, eSATA does not perform up to their advertised speeds. Nevertheless, they are still faster than USB 2.0. It will really depend if you will need all that 500gb of space immediately. If so, get the USB one. If not, better go with the eSATA since it will provide better performance (I'm sure new drivers will come out to fix the speed problem).

 

I was kind of planning on installing some games on the external hard drive and run them there because Ihave a slow 4200 rpm HDD on my Toshiba. What are the "real world" speeds that eSATA achieves now?

Edit: I just checked newegg and they cannot beat this 500GB WD deal because they have it for $169.99.

Edit 2: Here's my HDTUNE

 

Yes, SATA is faster but we use our WD for restore backup image and music files. Who cares if it is slower that SATA? Faster is better only if it matters in what you are using it for.

 

That WD drive is a great deal.

I agree. USB 2.0 is perfectly fine for most uses. I have always used USB 2.0 connections with external hard drives.

@OP: What are you planning to use the external drive for? Realize that you'll need an eSATA port if you want to use eSATA.

 

Yeah, I know I'll need an eSATA port and I was willing to buy an express cardslot (it feels so empty with nothing in there) but after seeing SATA is notup to snuff I guess I'll just get the USB 2.0 WD for $120. I guess it's too late right now so I'll head out tomorrow and buy it. One more thing, how long does it take to transfer approx 1GB of data between the computer to an external drive through USB? I play on moving GB's of files, approx 150GB (yes, my HDD is almost full)

 

Seagate FreeAgent 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
$119.99
http://www.officemax.com/max/soluti...ansionOID=-1610652697&prodBlockOID=1611567827

 

anyone hear that theres a limit of gigs you can transfer at one time with the WD drives? thats the only reason why i don't want to get it....anyone know how to get around it? (why do they even have that block there?)

 

Wait, i this true? Can someone confirm this?

 

Someone may be confused with the FAT 32 limit which is what my Mybook 500 came formatted..which I just quick formatted to NTFS.

It took 7 hours and change to copy 400gig between drives, around 50 gigs an hour using USB2.0

5 months ago I paid $159 for mine...

 

Oh, alright. That's cool. I've been lagging today but I guess I'll go out and buy it. Thanks for the info guys. Most likely I'll change it to NTFS. I am aware of the FAT 32 4GB file limit I just didnt know the HDD came Fat 32 formatted.