I wrote:
I'm looking for an external USB disk >= 500 GB to be used with both Linux and M$ for backups. Are there any good sites to check out, or any known compatibility issues like the freeagent problem? My google-foo isn't working well today.
Thanks for all the answers :) Greg Freemyer wrote:
Are you worried about the hardware? integrated encryption? or the backup software that often comes with an external drive?
Mainly hardware issues. We will specifically avoid encryption. It's not me that uses these drives and I know nothing about any software that comes with them or what software is used with them. So I'd only be concerned if there was bundled software that stopped them being used. C wrote:
One of the simplest ways to set aside your concerns is to just buy an empty USB case from some manufacturer like
I don't want to do that since it involves work and responsibility for correct functioning and I'm only buying this for somebody else.
No proprietary OneClick software lurking anywhere... no software that auto installs when you plug into a Windows machine etc etc.
Sorry, I don't know what OneClick software is, and I know nothing about Windows (newer than 98 or NT4 anyway).
plugged them in and they worked (talking in the last couple of years here.. a few years ago there were issues, but not anymore... not that I've heard of anyway).
I know there was a specific automatic spin-down issue with Seagate FreeAgent drives. Does that mean it's been fixed? James Knott wrote:
I have recently experienced a Hitachi notebook drive that will not work in external USB cases. The external case has been verified good with a couple of other drives and the drive shown to fail in another case.
Interesting. Hitachi seem to come out well in 3.5" drive comparisons. But thanks for the warning. Patrick Shanahan wrote:
I have an external usb case with is only functional for me with < 250gb drives...
I've heard about problems like that, but I don't want a separate case in this instance anyway so it shouldn't be an issue. Greg Freemyer wrote:
Laptop drives by design often pull more power than a single USB port can provide.
Thus external laptop carriers typically come with a custom USB cable with 3 connectors. You have to plug 2 of the connectors into your PC in order to get enough power.
That's another interesting point. The disk will only be used in the office. All previous drives have had mains power but I see "USB powered" in a lot of ads. Having to use two USB ports might be an issue; I'll need to check. Thanks all, Dave -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org