External hard drive advice

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xlinknz

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#214835 30-May-2017 19:52

We're looking at getting a 2.5" external drive for misc use including our 9 year old who is tech savvy

Should we bother with a rugged/shock resistant one if only used at home [note child use] ?

I see most appear to have a 'propierty?' usb [Y?] cable that presumably to allow power. Is this an issue i.e. one looses the cable ?

That said I see some allow the use of a 'normal' usb cab too ?

Any advice appreciated

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#1791979 30-May-2017 20:19

TBH: I'd just get a few USB sticks for that kind of stuff. For example: 16GB of music is quite a lot of music. Or is the "music" actually.....videos? Maybe we need to know the size of data you're thinking.

USB sticks are gonna be way more sturdy than external hard drives.

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#1792002 30-May-2017 20:55

nzkc: USB sticks are gonna be way more sturdy than external hard drives.

Agreed, but they are prone to failure, so ensure any important files on USB sticks are backed up elsewhere.

Transcend rugged USB hard drives are pretty good. We have some clients using them for backups and the prices are pretty reasonable in my opinion.

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Behodar

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#1792011 30-May-2017 20:58

nzkc: 16GB of music is quite a lot of music. Or is the "music" actually.....videos?

The OP didn't mention music; you misread "misc" :)

xlinknz

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#1792013 30-May-2017 21:02

Behodar:

nzkc: 16GB of music is quite a lot of music. Or is the "music" actually.....videos?

The OP didn't mention music; you misread "misc" :)

correct :)

nzkc:

TBH: I'd just get a few USB sticks for that kind of stuff. For example: 16GB of music is quite a lot of music. Or is the "music" actually.....videos? Maybe we need to know the size of data you're thinking.

USB sticks are gonna be way more sturdy than external hard drives.

thank you for the reply

not music mainly miscellaneous video and iso's

doesn't need to be study i.e. won't be posted or used in the field so my question is more around what usb cables they use and how unique they are

gzt

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#1792031 30-May-2017 21:34

A Y cable is needed if the machine the drive is plugged into cannot supply enough power. If you are plugging a 2.5 into a computer you don't need a Y cable.

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#1792049 30-May-2017 22:28

....and the Y cables have an industry-standard connection (usb-mini or usb micro or USB3 micro) at the drive end.

In my experience, some laptops, particularly when running on battery power, could not supply enough power for these drives via one USB connector, and as someone else stated, or devices like a TV or a car stereo may not supply enough power from its USB port to power a spinning drive, so the second connector at the Y end is there so you can plug the drive into a second USB port for some extra power. I've never tried plugging one into a computer or TV and the second one into an external USB power supply, but that should in theory work as well.

If the Y cable is lost/damaged a standard USB cable (a short one to limit power loss in the cable) should work fine, or Y cables can be purchased separately though they are not super-common.

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#1792056 30-May-2017 22:42

Is the bottom right standard usb micro b or something different?

Edit: that connection is common on 2.5 portable drives.

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#1792066 30-May-2017 23:17

That's micro USB 3.0

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xlinknz

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#1792099 31-May-2017 07:38

thank you all again for your replies :)

i am looking at getting a 2TB Seagate expansion portable [2.5} drive currently $108

as you can see in the pic below it has the usb y interface on it

if i ever lost the y cable that comes with it can i simply use a regular usb cable ?

Stu

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#1792110 31-May-2017 08:08

That's not a 'Y' interface, it's a stock standard micro USB 3.0 socket.

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smalltrader

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#1792113 31-May-2017 08:26

IMHO. I would not suggest USB sticks/pen drives for important backup. They are too prone to failures even with the name brand ones like Sandisk.

HDD are much better suited for archival/backup purposes. The usual backup rule still apply - Robust backup needs 3 copies with one copy off site ...

Stu

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#1792118 31-May-2017 08:43

I think perhaps the OP may be confused as to what a Y cable is and the socket on the drive itself.

External drives all tend to have stock standard ports/sockets.

The 'Y' cable is only a requirement for some drives and when used with some computers that don't supply enough power to spin the drive from one USB port on the computer, and you would then plug a second USB lead into another USB port on the computer that is solely used to supply extra juice to the drive.

Example of a 'Y' cable for external drives. Note that none of the 2.5" external drives I have that have a micro USB 3.0 interface were supplied with a 'Y' cable, and they all run fine.

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#1792120 31-May-2017 08:48

xlinknz:

thank you all again for your replies :)

i am looking at getting a 2TB Seagate expansion portable [2.5} drive currently $108

as you can see in the pic below it has the usb y interface on it

if i ever lost the y cable that comes with it can i simply use a regular usb cable ?

An 2.5" portable HDD shouldn't require an y cable whether it's USB2.0 or 3.0 only an USB2.0 3.5" HDD needs one as a single port doesn't offer enough power or current

timmmay

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#1792155 31-May-2017 09:30

I have a little WD My Passport that's worked fine for occasional use for a couple of years. If you really want rugged, buy an SSD and put it in an enclosure.

I assume this is for general use, moving files around, etc. If this is for any kind of backups you might get a different answer. For general use I really would just buy a USB stick, unless you need to move strangely large files.

MikeAqua

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#1792236 31-May-2017 11:34

Stu:

That's not a 'Y' interface, it's a stock standard micro USB 3.0 socket.

My WD drive has this too. I thought (incorrectly) it was something proprietary ... turns out it's USB 3.0, Micro-B

Mike

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