[conspire] would this be a good external hard drive for my Linux Certified laptop?

[Darlene Wallach]

Mark,

On Sat, Feb 6, 2010 at 11:00 AM, Mark Weisler
<mark at weisler-saratoga-ca.us> wrote:
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> Darlene Wallach wrote:
>> I'm looking at external hard drives for my Linux Certified laptop that
>> I would carry around with me. I have a part-time job that I use my
>> laptop for. I need more disk space and thought an external drive I
>> carry with me would make sense.
>>
>> I found this on Central Computing. Even though Linux is not listed,
>> I'm assuming there would be no problem. I currently have Fedora 10
>> installed. Months ago I tried installing Fedora 11 on my laptop and
>> could not get my laptop to boot after installation - separate issue.
>>
>> Can anyone recommend or warn me away from this external hard drive?
>> I'm thinking the "rugged" will protect the hard drive given I'll be
>> carrying it around with the laptop.
>>
>> http://www.centralcomputers.com/ccp68099--lacie-301371-rugged-500gb-2-5--fw-fw800-usb-5400-301371-drilac30186r.htm
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> equal justice under law,
>> Darlene Wallach
>>
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>>
>>
> I'm virtually certain the USB drive you have identified would work just
> fine for you.
>
> A couple of considerations...
>
> As to the ruggedized case, I don't think that is much value unless the
> drive will likely be subjected to rough treatment. I commute to work
> with a notebook computer and a similar external, USB drive carried in my
> motorcycle luggage bags and have not had a problem with the drive in
> months of this bouncy, vibrating treatment. (Its case is just hard
> plastic, not ruggedized.)

Good to know! Thank you. I would have it in my computer bag and
driving in my car perhaps, but mostly using it at home attached to my
laptop. I would be using the external drive for my work not using the
external drive for backup or storage.
>
> Another consideration is the enclosure. I believe you could achieve the
> same result by buying an external enclosure and hard drive that you
> slide into the enclosure. That way, in the future, you might obtain
> additional drive(s) and be able to easily put them into the enclosure
> should a drive fail or show signs of approaching failure. (Or archive
> data on one drive and remove it from the enclosure for longer term
> safekeeping.)

That makes a lot of sense - thank you.

I like the fact that the drive has firewire, which might be just a tad
faster than USB 2.0?

>
> Another consideration is whether the external drive is powered by the
> USB cable or from a 110 VAC power source.
>
> A consideration is where you plan on using the computer. If it is on a
> park bench with children around then a more ruggedized case might be
> appropriate and getting power from the computer's USB port is the way to go.
>
> If you are mostly going to use it in an office and be in one position
> for several hours using a 110 VAC power source can be good rather than
> potentially taxing the power on the notebook.

Very good point. Since I will be using the drive inside, perhaps
sometimes at a Peet's, it makes more sense to get a hard drive that
uses a 110 VAC power source rather than the laptop.

>
> Lastly, for value it's hard to beat the 3.5 inch external USB drives,
> with 110 VAC power, from Costco (or similar sources) as it's now about
> 1.5 terrabytes for about $150. Costco's return/refund policy on
> electronics is about the best I know of.

That is great to know as I have a Costco card. I will check prices
next time I'm in the store.

>
>
> - --
> Mark Weisler
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Thank you very much for taking the time to so thoroughly answer my question!

I will be checking into hard drives at Costco - maybe next month there
will be a coupon in the mailer they send out.


equal justice under law,
Darlene Wallach