External hard drive vs. Internal hard drives?

I just use my external hard drive to store a copy of my C drive twice a month, I also use it for JPEGs because I have about 7K digital pictures...(The jpegs are backed up onto DVD about every 3 months. As for decryption, shrinking, burning, etc., it is just too slow for my internal burners

Last summer I bought a pocket sized 40gig external as backup. It was powered by the USB bus. Nothing could be easier. Having a external made backing up files easier than backing them up to DVD... which was easier than backing them up to CDs. The intent was to keep the drive at a different location as I did with the disks. The best laid plans.

Since then I've gotten use to the external as a second storage drive defeating my own intentions. But I love having it. So I'm looking for a bigger one... maybe 250gigs.... and Firewire NOT USB2. In my case I don't intend to keep my PC much longer so I don't feel like going internal. Why invest in ATA when my next PC will be SATA?

Lately I have noticed that most of the computer stores in out area seem to have more external hard drives then internal hard drives.
What is the big deal with the external, if the internal are supposed to be better why are they becoming hard to find, with out going online to buy one?
:toast:

I have 2 internal hard drives I am just wondering. Thanks:toast:

Mobility could be one reason.

So basically they are good for backing up stull you have on the internal hard drive to free up space, or in the even of a major crash.

there's a new player on the external block, it is strong with the force, it just waits for enough of you to get on the serial bus. It will keep up with any burner/reader and then some

So basically they are good for backing up stull you have on the internal hard drive to free up space, or in the even of a major crash.

Or one's house burns down! LOL

Seriously... when I bought my small SmartDisk external... I was looking for something that could fit in a safety deposit box. My DVD back-up files could not.

I still like the internal one, I have to buy new external because I can move from one to another, but I think the internal are more reliable then the external, less vibration. That is just my 2 cents :-)

internal wins with price/performance/specs

external wins with mobility/durability/user-friendlyness-- i'd only ever use one for backup; for moving files i use my trusty 1GB usb drive

if the internal are supposed to be better why are they becoming hard to find, with out going online to buy one?

looks like you've been looking in the wrong places! :)

internal wins just by price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817155903

internal wins with price/performance/specs

external wins with mobility/durability/user-friendlyness-- i'd only ever use one for backup; for moving files i use my trusty 1GB usb drive



looks like you've been looking in the wrong places! :)

What I mean by that is a lot of computer parts are getting hard to find in a phsyical store close to home.
Just about everything is getting to the point of having to go on line now to buy. When my DVD rom went out not a store in this city has one in stock I had to go online to buy one. 2 years ago they were in stores. When looking for a new hard drive the internal hard drives were hard to find in the local stores too I again had to go online for that as well.
Whats up with that?

external cases are crap in many cases and i wouldnt use any such thing if it was only a cheap external drive because:

- they are often slower (than internal drives)
- they often have poor/no cooling which is very important to me



the only good reason for a (hq and therefor expensive) external case will be:

- it is serving/storing data for more than one pc/user
- it must have its own operating system / should be able to run sort of an ftp server

everything else is useless to me and a waste of money and most importantly a potential data nirvana in case the hdd overheats in this external drive


if you dont use more than one pc never go for a cheap external solutions

i have an aluminium IDE to USB case with a built in fan which can be used for a HDD or DVD/CD rom drive. I work in a computer shop so it is extremely handy for taking work home or for doing backups of peoples data incase a fresh install is needed or corruption occurs. I dont like the cheap external hard drives with plastic cases, i have seen too many which have literally melted right through. The aluminium case is strong, good at cancelling vibration, and the heat does not stay in the case. You can also choose which hard drive to put in it so you dont have to use the rubbish in the ready made ones. I am very happy with mine and if you feel you need an external HDD than it is a good way to go. It will not be as fast as internal for a while tho, especially with SATA and Western Digital Raptor drives 10,000rpm!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this topic.:toast: