I need to get a replacement 1TB hard drive for my old Seagate which is starting to die. I am looking at 1TB drives on Amazon. It seems that the portables are, on the whole, cheaper than desktop 1TB drives! Question: is there any reason I'd want to get a desktop then? Is their performance better? I feel like I'm missing something here.....
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Why get a 1TB desktop HD as opposed to a portable?
- Thread starter oxband
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Are you talking an internal or external drive? If you need to replace the hard drive inside your computer you probably can find plenty of 3.5" drives cheaper than 2.5" drives on the internet.
And yes, the 3.5" drives will generally outperform because of higher RPM's. 7200 RPM laptop drives can still get pretty pricey.
One advantage point, I would think a 2.5" drive may produce less heat but will perform slower as the RPM run less to keep the heat down. If you did go 2.5" you would need a bracket to secure it in place where the 3.5" drive fits.
Hmmm, all in all your better off just getting a 3.5" drive for the sake of performance, price and ease of fit in the computer.
i'm just guessing that you have a laptop, as most here don't have the mac pro. I would get the portable since the performance difference isn't noticeable plus the ability to take it with you anywhere. I just got WD's 2tb portable with USB3 and i'm transferring at 110MB/s in a drive half the size of a small paperback. For me mostly, the portable drives are also quieter, which is important. I had a seagate 3tb for some time and the clicking really bothered me. For massive storage like 6tb plus, the desktop size is still cheaper and always will be.