Hello Guru's, I was wondering some opinions on this one. I need an external hard drive that will mainly be used for storing bulk video files and images. I would like to play video files/movies directly from it as well. What type of external storage do you recommend for such a purpose? A standard external HDD (possibly 7200RPM) with USB 3.0 or a flash memory drive like a WD Passport or Seagate Expansion that supports USB 3.0? I am looking at something in the 2TB range. I am just not sure the pros and cons of getting one or the other for my intended purpose. I will do some backup file storage on it as well, but its main purpose will be active use of videos. c1:
I would say just get any external usb3 drive you want.... Since your just going to be watching vids from it you dont really need a 7200 RPM drive. I have a 1tb WD essentials USB2.0 and a 2tb usb3 wd elements drive and they work just fine for playing vids and watching movies on them ( i think both of them have 5200 rpm ecogreen drives) Also one thing to consider is that the larger externals that use 3.5" drives will require an external power supply while the external drives that use 2.5" drives power themselves from the usb port. Something to think about if using an external Power unit is a problem for you. External SSD's would be overkill for what you want to do, you would only need to go SSD if you intended to run games or demanding programs off it. As for brand names, i always stick with Western Digital as they have never failed me before.
Another issue with 3.5" drives is their prone to damage. I saw two external 3.5" HDDs broken by falling to its side (not the falling from table to floor - just falling from standing position to lying one).
^ Thanks for the responses. Thefunkyone, I ended up finding a killer deal on a 2TB WD Elements USB 3.0 drive and decided to go with that! Sounds like it might be the same one you have. It seemed to get great reviews, and you're probably right that it will be just fine for streaming video. I do not plan on using this drive for gaming or an OS or anything of that nature. It will be nice to have the extra storage and to not have to delete crap just to free up space for a change...
Yeah don't worry about it. It will be just fine for your needs. My parents use an old WD elements usb 2 drive to watch movies np.
Hmm, ok I just got the WD Elements 2TB drive and I have to say I am pretty disappointed with the transfer speeds. I am averaging 63mb/s which is more like USB 2.0 speeds!! What could be causing my slow transfer speeds with USB 3.0? I double checked to see that USB 3.0 is enabled in my BIOS, so that can't be the issue. Seems like this should be going much faster than this....
