3Tb hard drive

[hammy]

As the title says 3TB hard drive for £73 http://www.dabs.com/products/buffalo...m_content=i800

[leelive]

As the title says 3TB hard drive for £73 http://www.dabs.com/products/buffalo...m_content=i800

That is not bad.... but it is only a USB2. I got a couple of USB3 versions for only £17 dearer each on Amazon.

All the best
Lee

[DazzyD]

Like Lee said, it's a pretty good deal for 3TB of storage (working out at around just 2.5p per Gigabyte!) but it's limited to the maximum 480Mbps (Megabits per second transfer speed - not to be confused with the MBps or Megabytes per second which would be roughly 8 times faster) of USB2. If it had USB3 (up to 5,120Mbps) or Firewire (up to 3,200Mbps) it would be more practical especially when it comes to the transfer of large files such as DVD rips.

My other gripe with the drive would be the plastic case. I've stopped using plastic-cased external hard-drives now due to them being susceptible to damage caused by knocks. A couple of years ago I had two such drives die on me within a few weeks of each other. It wasn't the actual hard-drives that failed but the electronics in the cases themselves that caused the problems. I put the drives in aluminium ProBox cases and I've never had any problems since. These plastic-cased drives may be fine for office- or desk-based applications where they can be set and left but, in my opinion and my experience, they're no good for portable applications such as the on-the-road life of a working DJ.

But don't get me wrong, Hammy. It's a good find. Buffalo are a reputable brand and the DriveStation drives have a good reputation themselves so I'm sure this could be a bargain for some people given the right application.

[ukpartydj]

Like Lee said, it's a pretty good deal for 3TB of storage (working out at around just 2.5p per Gigabyte!) but it's limited to the maximum 480Mbps (Megabits per second transfer speed - not to be confused with the MBps or Megabytes per second which would be roughly 8 times faster) of USB2. If it had USB3 (up to 5,120Mbps) or Firewire (up to 3,200Mbps) it would be more practical especially when it comes to the transfer of large files such as DVD rips.

I probably would steer away from USB2 nowadays, perfectly good for backing up data but one day you might want to transfer all the files on your HDD.
I've never hit the 480Mbps mine goes at around 250Mbps (33MBps).

If you want to backup that whole 3TB HDD at once (25165824Mb) it'll take around 30-35 hours using my system ... 14 hours at maximum the theoretical maximum speed whereas USB 3 would probably realistically be 2-3 hours.

I filled up a 1TB USB2 hard drive a year ago and found the transfer process quite painfully slow, whereas you don't notice it when you're filling the bugger up!

[Jiggles]

USB3 = Slow slow slow! Thunderbolt is the new way to transfer! 10gbps bothways. 6 Devices per chain.


Before anyone says "Its an Apple connector" Its not it was developed by Intel!

[ukpartydj]

USB3 = Slow slow slow! Thunderbolt is the new way to transfer! 10gbps bothways. 6 Devices per chain.


Before anyone says "Its an Apple connector" Its not it was developed by Intel!

Thunderbolt is way before it's time and so expensive!
I can see it being the new Firewire (only media professionals use it) and USB will prevail for 99% of users.

Also just to add the Thunderbolt's demise - USB3 will soon be 10Gbps also I do believe.

[Marc J]

USB3 = Slow slow slow! Thunderbolt is the new way to transfer! 10gbps bothways. 6 Devices per chain.

Before anyone says "Its an Apple connector" Its not it was developed by Intel!

Also just to add the Thunderbolt's demise - USB3 will soon be 10Gbps also I do believe.

A totally irrelevant argument when talking about a 3TB external HDD spinning at 7,200 RPM, as the speed of the HDD will be the limiting factor in either case!

Unless your using an SSD as your external drive, which would be far too expensive, USB3 will be absolutely fine. See Macworld - How fast is USB 3.0 really?

[DazzyD]

USB3 = Slow slow slow! Thunderbolt is the new way to transfer! 10gbps bothways. 6 Devices per chain.


Before anyone says "Its an Apple connector" Its not it was developed by Intel!

No, Callum, anyone with an interest in the subject will know that it was developed Intel but Apple registered it as a trademark and later transferred the rights to Intel so they are now the sole rights holder of the Thunderbolt standard!

A totally irrelevant argument when talking about a 3TB external HDD spinning at 7,200 RPM, as the speed of the HDD will be the limiting factor in either case!

Unless your using an SSD as your external drive, which would be far too expensive, USB3 will be absolutely fine. See Macworld - How fast is USB 3.0 really?

I think, at the moment, USB3 is fast enough for anyone. But that will not be the case in the future. In 1981, 32 years ago, Bill Gates "allegedly" said "640k ought to be enough for anybody" when referring to computer memory. Yes, not even 2 thirds of a MegaByte!! Nowadays, 4GB is more the norm with some applications requiring even more! It will be the same for data transfer speeds. They will keep on getting faster and faster and new devices will be developed to take advantage of the speed increases. It's micro-computing evolution!

[Jiggles]

Thunderbolt is way before it's time and so expensive!
I can see it being the new Firewire (only media professionals use it) and USB will prevail for 99% of users.

Also just to add the Thunderbolt's demise - USB3 will soon be 10Gbps also I do believe.

The latest standard of Thunderbolt is 20GBps. It will be released at the end of this year.

[BeerFunk]

Bargain! It's gone up a couple of quid now, but let's face it, you'll fill it once (take the pain!!) and then after that the transfer speed becomes irrelevant really. If you haven't got a second, or even third backup of all your media - what are you waiting for?