What to choose for DIY portable Hard Drive?

Hello all,

Well I'm on my third laptop now (first one was stolen and second was defective) and since it seems I am prone to computer problems. I am a unbearably busy university student and my files are extremeley important to me. So, I decided I would make my own external pocket sized hard drive to back up my important files as well as for storage of my videos and mp3 music. I got the idea form an article posted here a few months back. So here's my question: I plan to use this a great deal, would these two components from newegg be sufficient?

Fujitsu MHV2100AT 100GB 4200 RPM 8MB Cache High Shock Tolerance Notebook Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822149030

KINGWIN KH-200U-S Aluminum 2.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817121005

What concerns me is that the 4200 rpm hard drive might be to slow when I access and play videos or mp3s directly from the drive, should I be concerened? What do you guys think of these components?

Also, do these itemes seem fairly priced or can I get similar items on the net cheaper?

Thanks

 

Go ahead and get a 5400rpm drive at least (you can get 100 or 120 or even 160GB HD's in 5400RPM speeds from Hitachi and Seagate and Western Digital).

 

My 4200 RPM hard drive seems to play MP3s and videos as well as DVDs fine.

 

I'm sure it does, no-one is saying they can't. But for constant access and reading and writing, a faster HD will be beneficial.

 

i think you'll be fine with those. i have both a 4200rpm drive and a 5400 rpm drive (both 2.5") in enclosure and i honestly can't really tell a difference in speed when xfering or viewing docs/mp3s/vids via usb2

in terms of file backup, i would suggest uploading offline (i'm sure you're university gives you an email account and server space) or emailing to your gmail account or something.

i can't help but get the feeling that the 2.5" enclosures are fragile and i actually don't like to use them that much. the enclosure for my 5400rpm drive is very touchy and i have to keep it on it's side or it doesn't like to work.

YMMV.

 

I don't know, I still don't understand why you'd pay $89 for the 100GB Fujitsu when you could pay $90 for the 100GB Toshiba 5400RPM HD, for example. Same price but a faster HD seems like a no-brainer to me.

I could understand if you were saving a lot of money or something, but it's essentially the same price.

 

oops, the link above leads to the wrong hd to which I was referring to. The FUjitsu 100gb 4200 drive WAS 49.99 last night, but now it is sold out.