Question Hard Drive Upgrade Possibilities

Hello,

I am planning on getting an new hard drive for my laptop which currently has an internal 80gb 5,400rpm SATA HDD.

I have considered three options as to how and what I will upgrade to.

Here is a rundown of my three choices:

1. Buy 160gb 5,400rpm Internal HDD + Enclosure for current one.

2. External Hard Drive USB 2.0 (Concerned about transfer speeds)

3. ExpressCard E-Sata Card + SATA 3.0gbps 3.5" HDD + eSATA Enclosure

How much will the ExpressCard E-Sata option give me in terms of a speed increase versus USB 2.0?

I can actually get the E-Sata card option and 3.5" HDD for about $10 less than the Internal HDD + enclosure.

Thank you

 

eSATA, running at 2400 MBit/s is very much faster than USB II, runnning at 460 MBit/s. The Express Card can transfer data at 132 MB/s (1,056 MBit/s). So eSATA will theoretically run at 1056Mbit/s.

Still it is faster than USB, and I think it's worth paying the $40 or so for the eSATA Express Card. Most enclosures have both eSATA and USB interfaces, and eSATA enclosures at pretty much the same price as USB only enclosures.

If you just occassionally backup, then eSATA is not worth it, go for a pre built external HDD. If you regularly access files of your hard drive to work with, then it is definitely worth the extra money. I wouldn't however a build a USB only enclosure myself. Pre Built ones are more reliable, and are usually cheaper than buying a HDD and an enclosure separately. Only build an enclosure with a HDD for the sake of eSATA.

You'll get an increase in data transfer speed of about 600Mbit/s using eSATA which is quite a lot.

 

Alright thanks!

 

I like option 1. It removes the USB/transfer bottleneck between the external and the laptop by putting a very fast drive into the computer, and keeping the slower drive out of the computer. All you need to do is 15 minutes' worth of work replacing the hard drives, and then an hour to reinstall Windows onto the new hard drive. It's also the same price as buying an external hard drive!

Of course, there are warranty questions, but since you're keeping the old 80 GB hard drive, if you ever need to send in a repair, just take the new HDD out and put the old one in, then ship it off.

 

Thing is with either the external or or eSATA option I can get 250gb HDD's.

Between the eSATA and USB options which one would be faster?

 

eSATA will be faster. But if you're just backing up, then there's no point paying extra for eSATA. Just leave your PC on overnight, and files will pop over to the HDD via USB II.

 

No, I am not backing up I want to use it to supplement my on board 80gb HDD and possibly even have games installed on the external.

 

yeah best bet would be either 1 or 3. For 1 you will gain 160GB but lose 80GB as storage in a USB case but with 3 you get to keep the 80GB and gain access to the cheaper 3.5" drives with eSATA speed. so option 3 gives u the best in terms of value and space with a good amount of speed. option 1 gives u speed but you lose 1/3 of your space to a USB drive (unless u wanna spend more and get eSATA though not sure if there is available for 2.5"). Option 2 gives u less speed but less cost though probably not better value.

option 3 sounds right.