My laptop only has a 20GB hard drive, and I have an i-Pod that has taken up 10gb of that space, can I transfer this information and digital pics and downloaded movies to an external hard drive, then use the drive for my laptop and my desktop when I am at home?

If so what is the price in Thailand for external drives, I am in pattaya right now.

Thanks.

to give you an idea, check www.pantipprice.com

From an older article

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18254

An external harddrive is just a normal harddrive inna box. You can usually buy the two things separately for less total cost.

If your notebook has an I-Link/Firewire/IEEE1394 connection, then you should get a 3.5" enclosure with that connection, since it's more suited for sustained high-speed data transfer than USB2.0. If not, then get one with USB2.0.

The harddisk will cost around 3,600-3,900, and the enclosure will be around 800-1,500, depending on where you buy it and the interface. I recommend getting a 160GB or 200GB drive, since the cost per GB is considerably cheaper than the 120GB, i.e. more bang for the buck. You can get both at any major IT place (Pantip, IT Mall, Seacon, Seri, etc. etc.).

If size matters, then get a notebook harddrive and put it in a 2.5" enclosure. Notebook harddrives are smaller and less susceptable to shock. However, they're considerably more expensive, have less capacity, and are much slower than 3.5" drives. The enclosures are typically around 300-800 baht.

I bought a 40Gb HD and a housing (you need both) for 5100Bht at Pantip about 1 month ago for the same reasons as you. Came with a little fake leather wallet and all the cables - out of the wallet it would fit in my shirt pocket.

It is USB 2.0 - tho' my laptop is only USB1.1. Took a while to copy off my HDD but had no problems with it.

It needs two USB ports as they are a bit power hungry so I bought a 4 port USB hub for about 250Bht.

60Gb HDD were also available which fitted into the same housing.

I bought it on the third floor - can't remember the shops name but ask around for the best price. The HDD itself was a fujitsu.

good luck.

......beat me to it....The one I got was a 2.5" for a laptop so the size/speed issues raised above come into play, but I only use mine for back-up .

.....It is USB 2.0 - tho' my laptop is only USB1.1.  Took a while to copy off my HDD but had no problems with it....

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Yes, my USB 1.1 is very slow too - about 1 MB/s - so check your USB type and if you're going to use the external drive for anything more than as a backup or data store, learn to be patient!

Try Maxtor 120GB external. I bought mine 6 months agoa and it has got to be the best pruchase I ever made as far as hardware is concerned. 8,000 Baht then. See them at http://maxtor.com/

The price for a Maxtor ATA133 160GB drive is around 4,000 baht. An external 3.5" USB2/Firewire combo aluminum enclosure is around 1,300.

A 2.5" 80GB 5400 rpm notebook drive is around 7,000 baht (40GB=5,000). A 2.5" USB2 enclosure is around 300-800, as mentioned above. The two advantages of going 2.5" are size and the fact that you don't need a power adapter (apart from the USB/firewire cable). The disadvantages are in the price, capacity and speed.

In comparison, an Iomega 120GB external 3.5" USB2/Firewire HDD is around 9,000 baht.

Just curious, would there be any enclosures available for Serial ATA HDD's?

There are SATA enclosures available in the US (look in newegg). I haven't been able to find any here. Some SATA PCI cards come with external SATA connectors, which allow you to connect to external SATA boxes (which have either SATA or PATA internal connectors).

Go for the 3,5" drives, not the small ones.

The big cases seem to be much more reliable, and the disks to go inside

have a larger capacity.

hi'

seen on the web, reasonable price for ext drive ...

bought mine like this, LaCie 80gb, 70$

francois

Thanks guys, Yesterday I bought a Seagate 80GB 7,200 and a Seperate case for a total of 3750 baht.

Disc was 2,550 Baht, case was 1,200 Baht............................