Whats different between portable and external HD?

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WSGrundy
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Post by WSGrundy »

I have been looking for one to back up all my pictures and music and dell has one on sale for $70. It is 500 GB which seem reasonable.

It says it is a portable hard drive is there anything different from an external hard drive? I'm assuming portable ones might be a bit smaller, perhaps designed to be sleeker or look cool but am I paying a premium for portable? It isn't like other external hard drives can't be taken somewhere.
Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

Theoretically, there's nothing that prevents you from having an external hard disk the size of a garbage truck. That wouldn't be portable.

But yeah, I've always thought they were the same. I assume electronics adverts are written by people who've failed at anything worthwhile in life, so I don't expect consistency.
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TheCatt
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Post by TheCatt »

Sounds like a marketing word choice. The main characteristics for externals would be:
A) Size: using 3.5, 2.5, or 1.8" HDDs
B) Power: Using external power or USB power.
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

and C) Internal and External interfaces (common Internal = SATA or IDE, common External = USB, eSATA, or Firewire)



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Cakedaddy
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Post by Cakedaddy »

I just saw a 1TB for $75. May have been buy.com. Just saying you might be able to get more space for that price range.

Oh, and FUCK Dell.




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WSGrundy
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Post by WSGrundy »

Cakedaddy wrote:I just saw a 1TB for $75. May have been buy.com. Just saying you might be able to get more space for that price range.

Oh, and FUCK Dell.
What I would like is less space for a cheaper price. Right now to backup all my stuff I need 30GBs and that number would be less if I went through my music and got rid of the songs I don't want.
TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

But 1TB is sexier than 500GB.

2TB is even sexier.
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WSGrundy
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Post by WSGrundy »

TPRJones wrote:But 1TB is sexier than 500GB.

2TB is even sexier.
Defiantly sexier but when it comes to PC hardware I will take the fat ugly broad if it means less money.
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