External Hard Drive

[Stephen!]

The USB speed is theoretical. It all depends on how many USB devices you have plugged in, the speed of the drive e.c.t. The most i've ever seen transfering from an external drive is about 40MB/s (320Mb/s) however it did not last for long and went down to like 20MB/s

[N!ck]

In some 2.5"s, the difference in speed wouldn't be noticeable due to the speed of USB. Comstar has a 600mb/s transfer 2.5" at the moment (obviously limited by USB). Surely you've heard of the WD passport 2.5", with a maximum transfer 480mb/s?

The said transfer speeds are just the speed of the connected interface/external speed. The max sustained read/write speed on a 3.5' HDD is around 60MB/s but you're more likely to get around 40Mb/s at the most. Also, USB speeds are very burstable and unstable.

[HotelUser]

The said transfer speeds are just the speed of the connected interface. The max sustained read/write speed on a 3.5' HDD is around 60MB/s but you're more likely to get around 40Mb/s at the most. Also, USB speeds are very burstable and unstable.

Indeed, as I said the transfer rate would be limited by the USB speed You'd probably be luck to get 40mb/s. Then theres the issue of having USB 1.1, where you're going to be waiting five minutes to transfer over a single song. Yeah, you're right. The given transfer speeds were the interface's speed.

[N!ck]

Indeed, as I said the transfer rate would be limited by the USB speed You'd probably be luck to get 40mb/s. Then theres the issue of having USB 1.1, where you're going to be waiting five minutes to transfer over a single song. Yeah, you're right. The given transfer speeds were the interface's speed.

Exactly, so the speed of making transfers significantly larger than the size of the cache will be no different as long as the interface is faster than the sustained speed of the drive.

[Hitman]

Where did you get yours from?

Bought it in a shop in Spain. You can probably get them in Argos or PC World or something.

Similar to the one I got (difference is this has markings on the front): Clicky

[Hiro]

I've got a 3.5" Maxtor 500gb External.
Cost me about 70 quid from PC world (on offer).
Hasn't let me down and the transfer rate is very fast.

[Stephen!]

Transfer rate doesn't really matter if your just backing up to it every so often and not like streaming content from it.

[HotelUser]

Exactly, so the speed of making transfers significantly larger than the size of the cache will be no different as long as the interface is faster than the sustained speed of the drive.

If the USB speed is higher than the transfer speed of hard drive, then the maximum transfer rate would be determined by the specifications of the hard drive, and the speed of USB would be irrelavent.

It's not as if the user is installing an operating system on a external hard drive .

[N!ck]

If the USB speed is higher than the transfer speed of hard drive, then the maximum transfer rate would be determined by the specifications of the hard drive, and the speed of USB would be irrelavent.

It's not as if the user is installing an operating system on a external hard drive .

Yes i know, i'm just replying to your posts .

[HotelUser]

Yes i know, i'm just replying to your posts .

And I am just replying to yours .