I am purchasing a new 4tb. “desktop” type hdd external hard drive for my nucleus…probably Seagate, lacie,wd etc. These are the type which need to be connected to the mains power and have larger cases.
How do the smaller ,”portable” external hdd drives compare. These are the type which grab power from the usb connection to the nucleus.
Are there differences in reliability,lifespan, overheating etc. Is drawing power from the nucleus ,in the case of the portable drives, an issue?
Any thoughts ?
Thanks
When it comes to external USB drives I now only use 2.5" drives which I draw the power through tbe USB. Practically every drive with a power supply has died on me.
I also believe that is stands a better chance of surviing from a electrical power surge.
Both have 5400 and 7200 rpm drives but in the end it boils down to the USB transfer rate which is adequate for streaming music.
Of course the USB 3 is faster for transfering your music library especially if you have a few thousand albums.
–MD
Thanks Mike,
I haven’t had the same experiences as you , but also haven’t had my larger drives on 24/7, having used a NAS till recently.
As it happens , I got a 4tb seagate expansion ext. drive yesterday as a backup disc I will have stored, at another location.
Previously when I have transferred my library of about 5000 albums , it has taken days from NAS to a usb ext drive.
Yesterdays transfer using usb3 took less than 5 hours. I was very impressed.
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