External Hardrive

Does anyone know if the HP Media Drives are eSATA compatible? I spoke with a rep and they said yes, but the description states that it merely uses the USB 2.0 and not the SATA port. Would I just need to buy a SATA cable to make this work?

Description from HP: Compatibility: USB-enabled PCs, HP Pavilion PCs with HP Pocket Media Drive bay; USB 2.0 is backward-compatible with PCs that have USB 1.1
USB 2.0 B-type to A-type cable

 

I don't own one personally, but just from looking at one on their site, I don't see an eSATA port on it anywhere, just USB, so you're stuck with using USB, which isn't that bad. The rep you talked to must have been drugged or something, or maybe talking about the internal port. Also, eSATA cables differ from regular SATA cables.

 

Thanks, does anyone have a reccomendation for a Portable eSATA External Hardrive 320GB or bigger that will preferrably be under $100?

I'm curious if This would be a good option?

 

I normally just buy my external enclosures and hard drives separately, so I can't really comment on a complete deal, but the one you linked to seems like a good choice. If you're willing to spend a little more, there's a terabyte one here: Newegg.com - SAMSUNG STORY Station Plus 1TB USB 2.0 / eSATA External Hard Drive HX-DE010EB.

 

That looks like a nice drive, the only problem is that I am looking for a portable (2.5") drive that can draw power from the USB/eSATA combo port. Ill look around on newegg to see if they have some other variations of the Samsung one, I tend to like their products even though they tend to have issues

Is there a big difference between brands on the Hardrives when the specs are equal? I keep hearing to go WD or Seagate cause they are better quality... does this hold true?

 

Sorry, I guess I skipped where you said "Portable." The only real difference, in my opinion, would be reliability. I've had some duds with both Western Digital and Seagate, but the Seagate drives, usually, lasted a little longer for me. Since I don't want to point you in the wrong direction, try comparing on Newegg and check out the reviews.

 

I too have been looking for a portable eSATA external hard drive and I stumbled across this:

Newegg.com - acomdata Samurai 500GB USB 2.0 / eSATA Black External Hard Drive SD500USE

There is also a 320GB variant of it as well (I think) and should be cheaper than the 500GB one. I haven't bought it yet, so I can't really say how it performs and whatnot.