New External HDD required for WII U

DublinBeaker

Hi there,
My son has the 8gb white WII U and over the weekend a few of the games that he has required updates. When trying this, there wasnt enough space available.

Google a bit and of the 8gb only 3gb is available so he cant update some of his games. I need to expand the memory via USB so have 2 questions.

Can i just just a USB stick pen drive thing, apparently not the best as they recommend the external memory has its own power source.

Can someone recommend a good external hdd with its own power source.

Thx,
DublinBeaker.

sligeach

I had a look around the various Irish sites and there's no good deals. The cheapest was a 500GB USB 3.0 portable hard drive for €52. I bought 2 top quality secondhand 500GB USB 3.0 hardrives for that money(Seagate & Toshiba), though that's an exception to the norm. I'd suggest looking at Adverts, Donedeal, Gumtree, Buyandsell, etc.

That's the problem with the Basic Wii U. It says 8GB's but it's not. As you say, it's only 3GB's. I wouldn't recommend using a USB flash drive. Others will say it's alright. But over time it will wear out. If you had the Premium Wii U you could have perhaps swapped games from the flash drive to the Wii U when playing to reduce the wear and tear but a lot of digital games are bigger than the remaining 3GB's.

How often does your soon use the Wii U? I'd maybe suggest maybe 500GB USB 3.0 portable hard drive, anything larger would be overkill. The Wii U is only USB 2.0 but if you use the hard drive in future, USB 3.0 is miles better. Glancing through some of the secondhand sites, I don't see any good deals there either. You will need a Y cable for the hard drive as a single Wii U USB port doesn't provide enough power.

Or if you don't mind the risk with flash drives, you could get one fairly cheap. I was only saying the other day that I ordered a Toshiba 32GB flash drive for €16 delivered. Does he buy a lot of digital games?

DublinBeaker

Hi sligeach. Thanks for the detailed reply. He doesn't download games at all. All his games are disk. But updates to the games are what is driving this. Will pop into the likes of currys and see what I can get. He would only need a very small external drive.

DublinBeaker

Does the external hdd need it's own power source?
There is 1 on Groupon at the moment. 😊

sligeach

Have you got a link to what you're looking at?

You can buy a portable HDD and connect a Y cable to the Wii U USB ports and that will supply it with the power. Or you can buy an external HDD that requires a plug for power.

DublinBeaker

sligeach wrote: »

Have you got a link to what you're looking at?

You can buy a portable HDD and connect a Y cable to the Wii U USB ports and that will supply it with the power. Or you can buy an external HDD that requires a plug for power.

hi there,

This is the one on groupon.

https://www.groupon.ie/deals/gg-dc-nordic-ap-s-3-1

Willing to spend about 50quid on one, including delivery. Had a look at pixmania aswell. Sligeach, if you were buying one which one would you get.

In your earlier post you mentioned one for about 52.
Which one is that ?

sligeach

DublinBeaker wrote: »

hi there,

This is the one on groupon.

https://www.groupon.ie/deals/gg-dc-nordic-ap-s-3-1

Willing to spend about 50quid on one, including delivery. Had a look at pixmania aswell. Sligeach, if you were buying one which one would you get.

In your earlier post you mentioned one for about 52.
Which one is that ?

If you were going to spend €60, I'd suggest this one. It has the same specs but it's from a more recognised and trusted brand name.


http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=1427187&authToken=


The one I seen for €52 was a 500GB model. For double the capacity I'd recommend spending the extra €7 on this.


See what others have to say.

DublinBeaker

Would i need the USD Y cable with this one in Argos.
What is the Y cable for ?

sligeach

DublinBeaker wrote: »

Would i need the USD Y cable with this one in Argos.
What is the Y cable for ?

I bought this cable.


http://www.ebay.de/itm/USB-3-0-Micro-B-Y-Kabel-Dual-Power-2x-Stecker-A-externe-Festplatte-/310894690180?hash=item4862c47f84


I've bought Chinese cables before and they're a bit cheaper but they take at least 3 weeks for delivery and sometimes there's mix-ups.


One USB port on the Wii U doesn't provide enough power for the hard drive. So a Y cable takes power from 2 USB ports.

Nollog

I also use a Y-Cable for mine.

Just in case you get a USB 2 or 1 hard drive, it'd be a connection like this one: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/140907101068

sligeach

/\/ollog wrote: »

I also use a Y-Cable for mine.

Just in case you get a USB 2 or 1 hard drive, it'd be a connection like this one: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/140907101068

You're better of with a USB 3.0 Y cable especially with a USB 3.0 hard drive. It makes it future proof, for example on the NX where it will be 99% guaranteed to use USB 3.0. Besides a USB 3.0 cable is backwards compatible with lesser hard drives.


In case you aren't aware, here's the advantages of USB 3.0.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-advantages-of-usb-30.htm

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-advantages-of-usb-30.htm

USB 3.0, Advantages & Improvements Compared with USB 2.0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhD1-XEE77o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhD1-XEE77o

Nollog

sligeach wrote: »

You're better of with a USB 3.0 Y cable especially with a USB 3.0 hard drive. It makes it future proof, for example on the NX where it will be 99% guaranteed to use USB 3.0. Besides a USB 3.0 cable is backwards compatible with lesser hard drives.


In case you aren't aware, here's the advantages of USB 3.0.

Except a USB3 ycable uses a different connection on the male side.

here's a chart of what i mean

Star Lord

The cable would have 2 male sides, A Male on the side you connect to the computer/console and the Micro B Male for the side you connect to the drive. The Y cable would have 2 A Male parts.

sligeach

/\/ollog wrote: »

Except a USB3 ycable uses a different connection on the male side.

here's a chart of what i mean

I don't get your point. I know they're different but they've both the same size and fit the Wii U. Sure USB 3.0 would have to be as it's backwards compatible.

Star Lord

I think that while you'd said:

You're better of with a USB 3.0 Y cable especially with a USB 3.0 hard drive.

he was pointing out that a USB 3.0 cable/Y cable will only work with a USB 3.0 hard drive. Can't use that cable in a USB 2.0 HDD, or a USB 2.0 cable on a USB 3.0 HDD.

DublinBeaker

Hi there, OP here. Ended up stumping up more than what i planned. 96euro in Currys.
Got a 2TB mains powered Seagate external drive.

Could of saved a bit going down the portable drive and a Y USB cable.
Thx for all advice.

sligeach

DublinBeaker wrote: »

Hi there, OP here. Ended up stumping up more than what i planned. 96euro in Currys.
Got a 2TB mains powered Seagate external drive.

Could of saved a bit going down the portable drive and a Y USB cable.
Thx for all advice.

I am shocked. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: That's overkill, you'll never ever need all that on the Wii U especially as your son buys retail games and you've spent twice what was required. If you use it for something else in the future you might get some value out of it. The NX might need that amount. But the price of memory is falling and 2TB's could be a lot cheaper by then. You've got to watch those store staff. They work on commission and will twist your arm into buying something you don't necessarily need.