Storage Solutions External Storage Help

[magma]

Hello all

I would truly appreciate help in the following matter

I am looking for an option for external data storage ( dvd rip movies and music ) since i find my current laptop storage

insufficient

I thought of looking at an external HDD with usb 2.0 connectivity

I am quite a novice in PC peripherals so please do excuse my limited knowledge
After a bit of googling i find there are mainly two kinds of storage i can consider
One is External Hdd's called External Desktop Storage
these include disc drives in a case that require an external power source

Following are some results i found
FreeAgent Desk: External USB 2.0 Hard Drive (500GB-640GB-1TB-1.5TB) | Seagate
My Book Essential Edition 500 GB Hard Drives ( WDBAAF5000EBK )
WD Elements Desktop 500 GB Hard Drives ( WDBAAU5000EBK )
LaCie - LaCie Grand Hard Disk
LaCie - Hard Disk, Design by Neil Poulton - Hi-Speed USB 2.0
SimpleDrive 500GB Turbo USB 2.0 External Hard Drive | SimpleTech :: by Fabrik
G-Technology - G-DRIVE - Professional External Hard Drive
The other option are POrtable USB drives
these i see do not require an external power source and are usb powered

here are some results i found
Seagate External Portable Drives | Seagate
WD Elements Portable 500 GB USB 2.0 Hard Drives ( WDBAAR5000ABK )
WD Elements SE Portable 1 TB USB 2.0 Hard Drives ( WDBABV0010ABK )
LaCie - LaCie Petit Hard Disk
LaCie - LaCie Rikiki
SimpleDRIVE Mini USB 2.0 2.5 inch Portable Storage - External Hard Disk Drives

My requirement is as below

My budget is limited to about Rs 4k-4.5k

I require storage solution to store my movies/music which i can carry from one room to another room r from office ( 1 pc To

another) to either connect with an HTPC (usb) or WDTV (usb) and stream movies and music from there
Hence though the solution may or may not have external power
( it doesnt matter to me - OR should it ?)

i am satisfied with even 500GB

My main concern is not storage capacity but ease of use and most importantly RELIABILITY
i dont want the HDD failing in a couple years
(i know thats almost impossible to gaurantee these days but i dont understand why since my 10yr old 80gb internal HDD in one

of my desktops is still going strong- wish i could get something as reliable!)

i have another question
its quite noobish but what the heck

For my application as stated above what would be the difference for me be between an External Desktop Storage ( powered) and a

POrtable usb powered drive
(well except for the obvious - powered and unpowered and higher portability- both of which im not very concerned with- OR SHOULD I BE ? )

i mean i one more reliable than the other ?

is the technology / parts in either different/superior/inferior ?

i.e what should i opt for?
as you can see there are so many options and that confuses an old chap

please advice

 

[anfjavid]

power and portability - you show least concern. Ok.. But what about price ?. The external desktop storage sells for less. THe portable one is expensive. If you want only 500gb then better go with the portable one since the price difference is less. But if you opt for a 1 TB drive then the portable one sells for double the price of the desktop one . So in this case you can go for the desktop one. But IMO your first preference should be portability and reliability...

FYI the drives which i am referring here are only seagate ones and i dont have any idea about others.

 

[agantuk]

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but for desktops, isn't an internal HD better than an external one? I ask because I will not have any necessity to carry the data anywhere else, and so was planning to get a 1.5TB internal disk. Good idea?

 

[anfjavid]

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but for desktops, isn't an internal HD better than an external one? I ask because I will not have any necessity to carry the data anywhere else, and so was planning to get a 1.5TB internal disk. Good idea?

did you read this line ?

require storage solution to store my movies/music which i can carry from one room to another room r from office ( 1 pc To another) to either connect with an HTPC (usb) or WDTV (usb) and stream movies and music from there

For the above purpose portability is a must so obviously the OP has to opt for external storage only

 

[agantuk]

^ Oh well, like I said I was hijacking the thread, and talking about my own concerns So yes, for the OP, portable is the only solution.