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This is also the reason why I don't buy the largest possible memory cards for my camera, preferring to use multiple smaller ones so that if one does fail then I lose fewer photos. One less 'wall wart' is most welcome in this scenario.Īs for reliability differences, forget about that altogether because you should really be assuming that any storage device could fail at any time, and the only protection against this is to make multiple copies. When I travel with my camera I like to back up my photos every evening onto my laptop (or tablet these days) and onto my external hard drive. The biggest difference, for me, is the convenience of not requiring a separate PSU for the 'unpowered' units. Less careful users may value ruggedness a bit more than me. When they are not working then the heads are safely parked anyway so I'm just careful not to move them until they have spun down and are not working. Also, ruggedness is not very important to me as I'm careful with my hard drives and don't move them around while they are working. I don't think of backups as a time-critical process - you set it running and let it get on with it, therefore I don't care if it takes one hour or two hours. it depends on how exactly you use the devices and what you expect from them.įWIW, my view is that there is little difference. The unpowered ones may also be more rugged than the powered ones (I've read about certain Samsung hard drives with built-in accelerometers that can detect when they are falling so that by the time they hit the ground the heads have been safely 'parked' on unused sectors of the disc, thus preventing damage).ĭoes any of this really make a difference? The answer, as in so many such things, is 'it depends'.
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#External hard drive for pictures only Pc#
My understanding is that the powered ones are 3.5 inch discs, mostly 7200rpm and basically a 'desktop' PC hard drive in a external case and the 'unpowered' one is a 2.5 inch disc, 5400rpm and basically a 'laptop' hard drive in an external case.īroadly speaking, the powered ones are therefore likely to be faster than the 'unpowered' ones. Mostly powered but one is unpowered (well, it is of course, but via the USB port). I have a number of external hard drives used for backup purposes.