Just to add to noonie's comment, Dell laptops and desktops are renowned
for not actually following the USB specification and providing
insufficient power on the USB ports. No idea why they haven't fixed this
but this has been the case for years. The 2-plug version gives you the
option of plugging the drive into two different USB ports on the Dell or
other computer with a dud USB port (with one plug getting power and
data, and the other one only providing power) and being able to use the
drive.
It's why some sites make special mention of Dell when buying USB devices
(see
http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/index.php?redir=http://www.auspcmarket.com
.au/show_product_info.php?input[product_code]=CA-PUF25K&input[category_i
d]=). To back this up with personal experience, I've had several two
Dell laptops and several Dell desktops (as well as PCs that I've built
myself) and all of the Dells have had the USB power issue (not enough
power for an external USB HDD or to charge a Blackberry through the USB
port), while none of my home-built PCs have.
It's been this way with Dell for years. I'm buggered if I know why Dell
don't simply follow the USB standard or why a bunch of Americans haven't
launched a class action against them for advertising that their PCs have
USB ports when they don't actually follow the USB spec, but I have the
issue on a very new Dell Precision T1500 desktop at work (not enough
power to charge my Blackberry) so they don't seem to be in any sort of
hurry to fix the issue...
So if you don't have a Dell and it's working fine with the PCs you have
then you should be fine.
Cheers,
Ben
________________________________
From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com
[mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of noonie
Sent: Thursday, 4 March 2010 2:14 PM
To: ozDotNet
Subject: Re: [OT] External hard drives (Done)
Greg,
On 4 March 2010 16:50, Greg Keogh <g...@mira.net> wrote:
Thanks everyone for the advice. I believe Ken's advice
that if it's just for backups and carrying files around then a USB
connection is good enough. The guy in the shop pointed out that the 2.5"
drives were the USB ones, and they came in 2 or 1 cable versions. So I
picked the 500GB Seagate 1-cable for $120, which is now plugged into XP
and seems to be found and working okay.
I have a single cable that has two plugs at one end with one of
the plugs being a pass-through plug. This allows me to use one plug,
where the usb port has sufficient power to run the drive, and two plugs
for extra grunt if necessary. I've not used the pass-through but it is
intended to allow another device to use the port at the same time.
I've been told that a single usb port may eventually not provide
enough power where the mobile drive and/or the PC it is attached to
starts to get old and tired.
David's comments about the power have me worried. I
deliberately picked the 1-cable version because it would be less bother.
I didn't think about why anyone would create a 2-cable version (yoiiks!
because I might run low on power!!!).
I've seen two-headed cables at the computer fairs/markets for
cheap.
Tiang, if the ext HDD is dropped or stolen, then the
backup is the desktop machine and vice versa. Sounds logical eh!
Encryption not needed, but I'll remind my wife of the security issues
that come with portable data. She carries a laptop around every day, so
I suppose everyone with portable data should be reminded to watch out
for thieves or accidents.
And we habitually carry our backup drive in the same laptop
case as the PC that it's backing up. Someone steals the case and look no
data at all :-(
--
Regards,
noonie
The idea of cloud storage is an interesting one which I
will file in the back of my mind for possible later consideration.
Cheers,
Greg
This email is intended for the named recipient only. The information it
contains may be confidential or commercially sensitive. If you are not the
intended recipient you must not reproduce or distribute any part of this email,
disclose its contents to any other party, or take any action in reliance on it.
If you have received this email in error, please contact the sender
immediately and delete the message from your computer.
