Choose to buy a portable hard drive

The current hard drive has been designed in a variety of designs and capacities, more suitable for many purposes of consumers.

With the increasing demand for data storage and migration, portable hard drives have gradually become an indispensable device for users in the digital age. Here are some notes when buying a mobile hard drive to help users choose the product that they like.

Classification of portable hard drives

External hard drive, basically divided into two categories. The first type includes a 3.5-inch hard drive (desktop type) that requires a separate power cord and a USB cord to exchange data. This is a large size, bulky, due to the use of a separate power source should not really convenient for business trips away. This type is " pleasant " with a large capacity up to TB. In addition, users can buy the box to take advantage of the old hard drive that is not used as a portable hard drive (the box is now sold with many types, good use types cost about 300 thousand VND).

The 2.5-inch portable hard drive has a more compact design and does not require a separate power source.
(Photo: Tuan Hung) .

The second type is more compact, using the same hard drive as the 2.5-inch or 1.8-inch laptops. This type has the advantage of using only a single USB cable to both exchange data and power. In addition, due to its compact size, it is easy to put into a pocket or pocket, very convenient to carry. However, this type of hard drive is usually more expensive with the same capacity as a 3.5-inch hard drive. In addition, this type of hard drive is currently not as large as many TB.

SSD hard drives have also begun to appear, but are mostly embedded in laptops because their capacity is limited and costs are high.

Speed ​​and connection

External hard drives can connect to a computer through a variety of different communication ports. The most common is the USB 2.0 port with a theoretical data transfer rate of 480 MB / sec. For users who want to exchange large amounts of data for a while, the USB 2.0 port obviously proved too slow. In this case, eSata is a thought that communicates at a theoretical rate of 3 GB per second. However, the cost of using eSata port is usually quite expensive compared to other types. For example, the hard drive with the capacity of 1 TB of SeaGate with and without eSata has a price difference of over 400 thousand VND in Vietnam market.

Models that support eSata connectivity will give a much faster data exchange rate than USB 2.0.

Meanwhile, the speed of the hard drive is also worth considering. Obviously, a hard drive with a speed of 7,200 rpm will be faster and better support connections like eSata quite a lot compared to just 5,400 rpm.

Design, price and warranty.

2.5-inch hard drives are usually smaller in size and more attention is paid to the design by manufacturers because users often carry this type with them. In Vietnam, Western Digital brand is quite popular with many people because of its sleek, colorful style with the price of about 1.9 million VND for 320 GB type and 2.5 million VND for 500 GB type. Trancend is also the next notable choice with a lower price of about 100-200 thousand VND for products with the same capacity as Western Digital.

In addition, SeaGate is a well-known brand for about VND 3 million for a 3.5-inch 1TB hard drive with eSata, IEEE1394 and VND 2.5 million for similar payloads but only with connectivity. USB 2.0.

Buying products from reputable brands is also a matter of concern for users. Because these companies will usually have better warranty or after sales service, while hard drives are often used to store or back up important data.