External Hard drive

[Irishlad74]

Hi, I want to get an external hard drive for my lap-top. I have seen some good 500GB drives but I'm confused about the 2.5" / 3.5" thing!!! I have a sony Vaio VGN-N21S - windows vista. Can I run either 2.5/3.5 from my Lap-top and anybody recommend a decent brand that is reliable. Thank you for any advice Brendan Thank you for any advice

[ianmunt]

Its simply a physical size thing,It will be a 2.5" in your laptop but that doesn't mean you have to have the same size external drive.Pay your money and take your choice.Seagate,iomega,western digital,maxtor are all OK

[ACtheTROLL]

there are a couple of differencies

size (duh!) - let me explain that one with the second

often a 2.5" drive doesn't need an external power source.
(it depends on the lappy! - some USB headers don't deliver enough power ... but most do) ...useful if you intend to move between machines.
the case will be about the size of a hipflask. so will fit in your pocket (think ipod)

a 3.5" drive will always require a power unit which means the housing will be something like the size of a housebrick.

HOWEVER
the bigger case will often have a cooling fan ... and will always have a bigger surface area and so should(!) run cooler ... which should(?) mean the drive lives longer.

the smaller case is obviously better if you intend to carry it about ... but there is more chance you'll bash it about ... it will run hotter as well ... so longterm is more likely to fail sooner.

finally 2.5" 500Gb HDDs are relatively new ... and so will cost more than the 3.5.

[Irishlad74]

Thanks guys,

very informative..... 3.5" sounds like the job for me.

Brendan