Which of these 2 hard drives would you buy?

B

banditcosmo

1
QPS 60GB external 7200rpm firewire
or
QPS 80GB external 5400rpm USB2.0
Either way I'm going to have to buy a card for this drive and both cards are the same price. I could use the extra 20GB's but will there be a noticable difference between 7200rpm and 5400rpm?
Thanks for your opinions
 
N

NetLion

1
The preformance of any 7200 rpm HD is better than a 5400 rpm HD.

You needs choose between performance and 20 GB extra space.

Good choose !!!

:D
 
B

banditcosmo

1
Is it a noticeable difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm? Basically I want to use this drive to back up my data and also store all my mp3's on it and be able to play my mp3's at work using the drive.
 
civilus

civilus

1
For the intended use you mention, a 5400 will do just fine. They also run cooler usually, which might be an atvantage in an external drive enclosure.

Add to that the usb2 interface itself is faster than firewire and that you'll be getting 33% more capacity for the same price, I'd go for the 5400 myself.
 
S

shadoe_phantom

1
yes for the use you mentioned, the 80Gig 5400rpm will do better, as capacity is what you're looking more for. USB2 & Firewire have comparable times (not a huge margin-- though there is one), so that shouldn't be too big an issue, but the big factor here is space.
That would be my choice in this instance.
 
S

stevarzo

1
I would also go for the USB one. The other points that have been made are valid. In addition, I have noticed that USB 2.0 has been taking over shelf space from firewire. For example, if you wanted a fast external cdrw, there are a whole lot more usb 2.0 ones on the shelf.
 
dx

dx

1
I would go with the USB 2.0 version.

The connection speed is not much of as issue. Firewire is at maximum 400 megabits per second (50 megabytes) and USB 2.0 is 480 megabits per second (60 megabytes). In real world tests however, they are not quite that fast.

If you were ever to use this drive for video or gaming the 7200rpm will make a difference. But for mp3, the 5400rpm is plenty of speed. 80 Gigs is a lot of mp3's! ;)

The main advantage is USB 2.0 is backward compatability with USB 1.1 which is on most computers out there. Its slower on a USB 1.1 connection (1.5 megabytes per sec.) but it works if you have Win98SE, ME, 2k, or XP (or Mac OS 8.6 or above). You'll need a USB 2.0 controller to benefit from the higher speed (and you will want it, trust me ;) ).

I've used both and now own a mini (laptop) USB 2.0 hard drive. Its smaller than a portable ZIP drive (that mini blue one) with 20mb of storage. It's slightly larger than a packet of cigs. Its bus powered (no power chords!), extreemly portable, and great fun.
 
dx

dx

1
shadoe_phantom said:
stop that dxkim, you're making me drool =Þ
Click to expand...
I built it myself too (purchased the IBM HD and enclosure seperate and put it together). Very inexpensive...about $180 US.

Sorry...can I offer you a napkin (to catch the drool), or would a bib be required! ;)
 
B

banditcosmo

1
Thanks everybody for your help, I ended up buying the QUE USB2 drive. Now my problem is I don't know if it backwards compatible with USB1. I opened the box and it says you must use USB2. I need it to be compatible with usb1 so I can take it to work. I thought all usb2.0 devices would be compatible with usb1. I'm going to call QUE today to verify before I take it back. I might have to get the firewire drive since I have a firewire card in my work pc. I don't want to have to buy 2 usb controller cards. I went with the usb drive because of the backward compatability.
 
Blane

Blane

1
Hey banditcosmo, Check out these by Iomega, I think I'm going to get the 120GB firewire. h**p://www.iomega.com/hdd/hdd_comp_chart.html---------------Right now they only have 20 and 30GB usb and firewire available, The larger drives are coming soon
 
dx

dx

1
banditcosmo said:
Thanks everybody for your help, I ended up buying the QUE USB2 drive. Now my problem is I don't know if it backwards compatible with USB1. I opened the box and it says you must use USB2. I need it to be compatible with usb1 so I can take it to work. I thought all usb2.0 devices would be compatible with usb1. I'm going to call QUE today to verify before I take it back. I might have to get the firewire drive since I have a firewire card in my work pc. I don't want to have to buy 2 usb controller cards. I went with the usb drive because of the backward compatability.
Click to expand...
As both Bertieg and I pointed out...it SHOULD be compatable. Why there are saying its not is suprising because most USB devices are automatically designed for it. It a marketing/selling point of USB 2.0. Have you tried to plug it in to a USB 1.1 connection?

Getting a USB 2.0 card is not a bad idea though as 1.5 megabytes a second (USB 1.1's speed) will get old very fast. Your mp3's will take what seems like an eternity to transfer back and forth. USB 2.0 at 60 megabytes a second is soooo much nicer! ;)

Nevertheless, the Firewire drive is still a fine choice! I use them at work as well all the time.
 
B

banditcosmo

1
What I wanted to do at work was play my mp3's files off of the external drive though the usb1.1 port. Is that possible? Or will the usb1.1 be too slow?
I don't want to transfer the files to my work pc. I am going to use the usb2 to backup my files from my home pc though.
 
dx

dx

1
banditcosmo said:
What I wanted to do at work was play my mp3's files off of the external drive though the usb1.1 port. Is that possible? Or will the usb1.1 be too slow?
I don't want to transfer the files to my work pc. I am going to use the usb2 to backup my files from my home pc though.
Click to expand...
For just playing mp3 files off this HD you will be fine. I do this all the time with my laptop, which only has USB1.1, The load time is slightly slower. But since most mp3's are so small...its hardly noticable. Windows will warn you (system tray popup) that your USB 2.0 device will be slower on a USB 1.1 device. Still works though.

Where USB 1.1 connection is going to hurt your USB 2.0 hard drive is uploading/downloading files. 1.5mb/sec is slow if you have a Gig's worth of mp3 files. It still works though and the data integrity is fine...its just so doggedly slow.

But, if I understand you correctly, this won't be an issue. :cool:
 
B

banditcosmo

1
Well I emailed QPS about usb1.1 and this was their response:

"We do not support the USB 2.0 hard drive on USB 1.1 ports because of the relatively slow speed of the USB 1.1 bus. If you attach the drive to a USB 1.1 port you may be able to move small files but if the files are too large or there are too many folders that system will usually freeze."

So I think I'm just going to get firewire drive. At least I already have a firewire card at work so I'll just have to buy a firewire card for my home pc.
Thanks for everyone's help.
 
dx

dx

1
banditcosmo said:
Well I emailed QPS about usb1.1 and this was their response:

"We do not support the USB 2.0 hard drive on USB 1.1 ports because of the relatively slow speed of the USB 1.1 bus. If you attach the drive to a USB 1.1 port you may be able to move small files but if the files are too large or there are too many folders that system will usually freeze."

So I think I'm just going to get firewire drive. At least I already have a firewire card at work so I'll just have to buy a firewire card for my home pc.
Thanks for everyone's help.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they are just covering their asses so you don't complain later. The Firewire is still a great choice though.

Depending on where you shop, you should find a Firewire controller for about $50-60. If you don't mind spending a little extra ($30-40)...you can get a card that does both Firewire and USB 2.0. The main advantage is more hardware is being produced for USB 2.0. If you don't have any USB 2.0 devices...you will eventually, as it will be the new standard for Printers, Scanners, External CDR and Hard Drives, etc. So you'll have the best of both worlds! ;)
 
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