Page 1 of 1
Experience with USB hard drive docks (I'm full of questions)
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:04 pm
by BrightSide
What are some advantages of USB hard drive docks and enclosures over external hard drives? OR the other way around?
Looking for opinions, and maybe some favorite/recommended brands and why?
Thanks!
Re: Experience with USB hard drive docks (I'm full of questi
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:17 pm
by FZ1
The advantage is with docks you can swap out drives at any time and many support 2.5" and 3.5" drive form factors. The are very flexible with capacity only limited to the number of drives you have.
External drives are generally a smaller form factor and more portable depending on what you buy. You are locked into a capacity and if the drive dies, it's a paper weight. Generally they are USB powered whereas many docks require external AC power. Many come with software for backups, protecting data, etc.
If you just want an external USB drive for your desktop and don't plan on carting it anywhere a dock work nicely - especially if you're like me and have a bunch of extra drives laying around. The best way to go with a dock is get one with an eSATA port if your host PC supports it to take advantage of the extra speed/bandwidth.
Re: Experience with USB hard drive docks (I'm full of questi
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 1:24 pm
by bubba
I have both, as they each have their suited chores.
I have a couple of BlacX docks. One at work, one at home. Very handy for file recovery, drive diagnostics, drive imaging, etc.. No need for a cage, just plug in and power up. Swap as needed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153066
Now as for externals, I have several 2.5" externals, but I use them for transporting data because they can be powered off the USB and they are small.