USB Powered External Hard Drives - Recommendations?

Dinarius

I need a USB powered external hard drive for transferring digital camera files from a laptop (which I use on location) to a desktop back at the office.

I bought a TrekStor Pocket x.u. 40Gb. It has two USB plugs, both of which you plug laptop.

However, it's incredibly slow! 15Gb of files takes about 40 minutes to transfer from the laptop.

Can I do better?

Would any of these be any faster?

http://www.buy.com/cat/external-portable-hard-drive-laptop-2-5-/40636.html

e.g. I can buy the Western Digital in my local Bizmart.

Thanks.

D.

kaimera

I'd recommend the WD passport drives myself.

Have a 160gig and its solid.

Dinarius

Kaimera,

Thanks for that.

But, are they reasonably quick?

Transfer speeds are given with the one I bought, but it's impractically slow for me.

I'm going to exchange it for something better.

What is the question!

D.

kaimera

Well tbh, from a laptop 5400rmp hdd to a more than likey 5400rpm usb powered hdd is going to be slow.

Can't say for sure how long 15gigs takes to transfer from my laptop to my wd.

Cork Skate

Dinarius wrote: »

I need a USB powered external hard drive for transferring digital camera files from a laptop (which I use on location) to a desktop back at the office.

I bought a TrekStor Pocket x.u. 40Gb. It has two USB plugs, both of which you plug laptop.

However, it's incredibly slow! 15Gb of files takes about 40 minutes to transfer from the laptop.

Aren't you meant to only plug one of them in? Is that your problem? there is a long one and a short one yeah, and the short one is normally the faster one. Could be wrong, dunno that drive but check it out.

Ghost Train

I've heard that the trekstore is okay speed

if its a lot of small files like photos, it could slow it down, might be worth trying a few large files few hundred MB in size to see if they transfer faster

the second usb is only for extra power, might work with one lead, might need the two depending on the laptop

Overheal

WD Passports are the leading brand in USB Powered HDDs. I've got a 250gb drive that works the goods. Transfer rates arent god-like but they aren't horrible either. I think the most I've ever seen it do was about 12Mbps or something like that. Its really plenty for most needs. If you need much faster your looking in the wrong place if you want USB powered, to be honest.

Voodu Child

Yeah, I use WD Passport and its grand. I just transferred a 8Gb movie file from my laptop there and got 17Mb/s, so you could do the maths and see how it compares to your Trekstor. The highest i've seen was maybe 40Mb/s, not paying much attention though tbh. (I think Vista is slowing me down though, so you might get higher speeds yourself..)

muggyog

Is it an old laptop? Or really my question should be is it USB(version)1 or USB(version)2?

Max Speed of USB1=12Mbs=1.5MBs=90MBminute
Max Speed of USB2=480Mbs=60MBs=3.6GBminute (between 1and1.6GBminute in reality for drives)

How to check http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm

Even with USB2 there are a great variety in the transfer speeds between the various drives. Here are two (varied) specs on random USB drives.

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Black Iomega REV 35GB USB 2.0 External Drive[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Specifications: CONNECTORs: USB 2.0/1.1 port. Maximum Native Transfer Rate: 25 MB/second. Average Native Transfer Rate: 20 MB/second. Formatted Capacity: 35 GB(Native) / 90GB** (Compressed). Average File Access Time: 13 ms.


[/FONT]LaCie Mini Hub 500GB USB 2.0 FireWire External Hard Drive
- USB 2.0 & FireWire + 4 USB-powered hub ports + 2 FireWire-powered hub ports
Capacity: 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB models
Interface:
- Hard drive: 1 x USB 2.0 port & 1 x FireWire port
- Hub: 4 x USB 2.0-powered ports & 2 x FireWire-powered ports
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Max Data Transfer Rate: Up to 34MB/s with USB 2.0; Up to 40MB/s with FireWire
Average Seek Time (Write): <11ms
Cache: 8MB or greater

These differances are explained by the fact that there are no actual USB drives only IDE or SATA drives with a USB bridge(converter). So the theoretical speed is much faster than the actual.

Your TrekStor is rated at 22/24MBs=approx 1.3GBminute.
So 15GB of files taking about 40 minutes=0.375GBminute=not right.
Have you any other USB items plugged in?(discount mouse/keyboard)

remember B≠b where data is concerned.

Ghost Train

I was thinking too it might be usb1 but with 15gb in 40 min he's gettings about 50mbits/s which is well above 12mbits/s

Overheal

voodoo_child wrote: »

Yeah, I use WD Passport and its grand. I just transferred a 8Gb movie file from my laptop there and got 17Mb/s, so you could do the maths and see how it compares to your Trekstor. The highest i've seen was maybe 40Mb/s, not paying much attention though tbh. (I think Vista is slowing me down though, so you might get higher speeds yourself..)

SP1 or SP-0? Most users report a much faster transfer speed after going to SP1 and i havent made that switch yet.

Dinarius

Guys, many thanks for all the replies.

TrekStor recommend that you should use both USB plugs.

In the end, I exchanged it for the WD My Passport Essential 160Gb. Works like a dream!

For the record, this laptop is very new. USB 2.0, dual core, shed loads of RAM etc...etc....

Thanks again.

D.

ps. While I'm at it, when I shoot to Compact Flash card (e.g. Sandisk) I use a card reader to transfer the files. A 2Gb card takes about 20 minutes to transfer to my desktop (very fast machine) - the card reader is also a Sandisk. Could I improve the speed of these transfer?

Ta.

D.

muggyog

Your ps

A 2Gb card takes about 20 minutes to transfer to my desktop

would suggest the reader is a USB1 device. Change the reader (borrow a different one as a test).

The logo you need to see (USB2) on the card reader is enclosed.

Dinarius

OK, just ran a full test of the WD My Passport 160Gb drive.

27Gb of camera files took 62 minutes from my laptop to the drive.

The laptop is a DELL Vostro, dual core, 2Gb RAM, etc...about 2 months old. It was running on batteries during the transfer, if that makes any difference.

I then transferred the files from the WD Passport to my DELL desktop (very fast, pretty high spec.). This took 23 minutes.

Make sense in both cases? i.e. 62 minutes vs. 23 minutes?

Thanks.

D.

kaimera

Are you running Vista by chance pre.SP1?

Dinarius

Hi Kaimera,

No, I run XP Pro on both machines.

Thanks.

D.