Contents
– External hard drive: three different types
– External hard drive: what type of connection?
– External hard drive: comparison
With the computer screen, the computer keyboard, the PC camera, the printer and the USB key, the external hard drive is one of the computer peripherals.
External hard drive: three different types
An external hard drive is a storage device that can be used to store data, but also to increase the storage capacity of a device such as a computer.
There are three main types of external hard drives:
|
Types of external hard drive |
Features |
|---|---|
|
3.5-inch external hard drive |
– This is a so-called desktop external hard drive. – This hard drive can have a storage capacity ranging from 160GB to 2TB. – It is a powerful hard drive, with a speed of 7,200 rpm or even 10,000 rpm. |
|
External hard drive |
– This type of hard drive will be very convenient when travelling and will allow you to always carry your external hard drive with you, thus facilitating the backup or transfer of data. – There are different portable external hard drives: ◦ 1.3 inch: this is an ultra-portable hard drive, with a mini size, but it will not be very powerful and therefore cannot be used as the main external hard drive for backup. It should be used somewhat like a USB flash drive. ◦ 1.8 inch: these external hard drives have limited capacity and high cost. As for the 1.8-inch external hard drive, its interest lies mainly in its reduced size. ◦ 2.5 inch: the 2.5 inches portable external hard drive is the most popular. It is light and space-saving while offering high capacities, up to 640GB. |
|
Multimedia external hard drive |
– It is not intended to be used only with a computer but especially with multimedia equipment. – It can be connected to a TV set for example. – There are multimedia external hard drives in HD. Some are even equipped with remote control. – This type of external hard drive can reach a capacity of 3TB. |
An external hard drive can offer different types of connectivity:
– USB: 2.0 or 3.0 for the most recent. This is the most common connection port, with an average transfer speed of 500 MB/s according to external hard drives,
– E-SATA: this type of connection is rarer but offers a transfer speed of up to 3 GB/s,
– FireWire: quite rare,
– HDMI: multimedia external hard drive,
– RCA: multimedia external hard drive,
– S-Video: multimedia external hard drive.
External hard drive: comparison
Here is a comparison of different models of external hard drive:
|
Models |
Type |
Capacity |
Connectivity |
Average price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Toshiba Store Art 320 GB 2.5″ |
2,5″ |
320 GB |
USB 2.0 |
$60 |
|
Seagate FreeAgent Desktop 500 GB 3.5″ |
3,5” |
500 GB |
USB 2.0 |
$70 |
|
Toshiba StorE Steel 120 GB 1.8″ |
1,8” |
120 GB |
USB 2.0 |
$80 |
|
Western Digital Elements 1000 GB black 3.5″ |
3,5” |
1 TB |
USB 2.0 |
$90 |
|
Western Digital My Passport Essential Color 500 GB |
2,5” |
500 GB |
USB 2.0 |
$90 |
|
Maxell Tank H640 640 GB 2.5″ |
2,5” |
640 GB |
|
$90 |
|
Verbatim Quad Drive 1000 GB 3.5″ |
2,5” |
1 TB |
|
$160 |
|
Memup MediaDisk LX LAN 1000 Go Full HD 1080p |
Multimedia external hard drive |
1 TB |
|
$200 |
Hope this helps! Remember to write your comments below.