disk space

[cellio]

I need more disk space for my home machine. There seem to be three options (one of which I hadn't heard of before last week): add another internal (IDE) drive; add a SCSI drive (I have a card to support a scanner), or add an external drive that plugs into a USB port (this is the one I hadn't heard of before). There's a lot to be said for an external, portable device, and at $179 plus shipping for 20gigs (other sizes available) it seems reasonable to me. (I haven't really kept up with typical prices.) An internal drive would be cheaper, but I'd have to get it in there. I have no experience with SCSI drives; they're more expensive than IDE and I'm not sure what the payoff is. (Seek time?) So I'm thinking of getting one of the USB ones.

Comments

[seanmcguire.livejournal.com]

I think the payoff on SCSI is that the data transfer is faster than with IDE.

Data transfer on USB is supposed to be painfully slow...

If you really want an external, and you have money to spare (which I know no one ever does), I'd recommend getting a FireWire card and an external FireWire card. Data transfer rates at about 400 MBps.

FireWire cards are probably becoming cheaper... I think the new SoundBlaster Audigy soundcard actually has one built in.

[cellio]

External isn't an explicit goal, but ease of installation, which includes moving it to my next machine when I upgrade in probably another year or so, is. (Keeping the cost down is also a goal, of course.) I guess it's time to hunt down the specs on data-transfer rates with these things. Thanks for the warning.