Re: External Hard Drive Recommendation

Q wrote,

Also, I fundamentally believe that an external drive needs its own power
supply. I know that the power supply is a nuisance when traveling, but it
is better than having the USB on the notebook burned out. Unless your
notebook has a full size Firewire port (...i.e., does not have the little
iLink port) the firewire port will not supply power at all, so to use
Firewire on the iLink connection the drive *must* have an external power
supply.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, I travel for long periods of time in
Asia. If I can power my external drive from my PC via USB or Firewire, that
is one less cable I need to carry (wish all tech manufacturers would come up
with standard power interface spec). As for the USB burning out on the
laptop, there are now USB converters that you can plug into the wall or the
country adapter and then the wall, eliminating the need for the USB port on
the computer. My Thinkpad, without the X6 base, has 3 USB ports however.

Frankly, I don't think there is much difference in any of Maxtor, Seagate
(who ownes Maxtor), or Wester Digital. They all have the same failure
rates.

Yes, I now realize that Seagate and Maxtor are the same.

If the drive is rated 110v only, you need a transformer with the plug
adapter. These are commonly available with adapters and transformers for
most EU countries.

Now days, I try to stay away from transformers. I look for gear that can
run on 110 - 220v and bring along a couple wall adapters (very light). No
problem on my last trip to Asia. Thank you for your informative post.

rg


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