Western Digital WD 120GB external passport harddrive

[Darksat]

Well I got myself a new slimline 120GB hard drive for keeping all my files on the go.
This slim line laptop hard drive weighs about 200G and is as easy as a mobile to carry around.
120GB of storage on the go and powered directly from USB.
This thing is more essential than a passport when trouring, hence the name I guess.
I love it.

[Defcon 5]

ooww where you going touring

i carry my passport in my back pocket guess you can't do this with the harddrvie .

[Darksat]

Actually you can, like I said, it weighs the same as a mobile, and is a lot slimmer.
I can fit it in any pocket easily.

As for where I am going, I will let you know when I get there.

[Defcon 5]

would it not snap when you sit down?

[Darksat]

Nah, its about half an inch thick so its fairly robust and tough.
They even have  a250GB version out now.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=317
Might want to get one of them.

[solidghost]

I believe that the casing and the hdd can be removed right? If need time you need a bigger storage, you can always just change the hdd. I think they are using notebook 3.5" hdd.

[Darksat]

Desktop is 3.5 inch, notebook is 2.5"
And only some of them can come appart, this one wont.
Saying that, there is almost nothing in the price difference, and actually sometimes its cheaper to buy one inside a case.

[solidghost]

Ya, sorry. NB hdds.
Hey, could it even be cheaper than buying a HDD itself? But are the specs for such usb hdd much slower than the retail ones?

[Defcon 5]

usb 2.0 is 480Mbps but depends on the hdd itself not always that fast.
I believe that regular harddrives are much faster but haven't looked into it before.

They don't last as long either do they?
are they not similar to flash memory, and as some people know they don't last nearly as long as a regular disk drive if put under the same load.

[Darksat]

USB has a maximum burst speed of 480Mbps, Firewire has a constant 480Mbps.
Regular harddrives (3.5") run at 7200RPM and the Notebook ones (2.5") run at 5400RPM
The laptop ones can also run from USB power only, where as the desktop ones require more power (and are about 5 times heavier)
In practice the 2.5 inch ones are the best balance and are only slightly slower than desktop ones (10-20%).
Flash is to expensive, and isnt that much faster in a lot of cases.
Desktop hard drives are to big and power hungry.

[Defcon 5]

can you use laptop harddrives in desktop computers, like having a ide cable for one?

the harddrives are getting faster 3.5 are 10krpm now and laptop can run at 7200rpm i love looking at computer shop sites.

[Darksat]

Yeah you can stick a 2.5 inch in a desktop fairly easily.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=HD-108&cat=HDD

[Defcon 5]

Thats cool very cheap as well, would be a good option for a quiet server, I haven't ever come across a quiet 3.5"

[solidghost]

I saw a few notebook hdds with the specs of 7200rpm! Impressive. But the price difference is quite significant.

[Defcon 5]

I just saw something like 1.2" drive, I never thought of posting the url on here, was around 2500rpm!
Think they said it would be used for things such as mp3 players etc, would be brilliant for the OLPC project they only use flash memory in the laptop!