External HDD with high MB/s speeds

[timbo343]

We have a number of external hard drives but their file transfer speeds are around the high teens, and we are wanting a couple of drives which have transfer speeds around the 25 - 30 MB/s speeds while using USB.

 

Can anyone recommend any or show me to a site that has reviews on this kinda thing.

 

Thanks

 

Tim

[SYNACK]

USB3 or eSATA are probably your only options as USB2 bandwidth probably limits this. You may be able to get this with fast consumer grade drives and the newer standards or an external RAID0 set connected in the same fashion.

[Arthur]

Sequential transfer speeds of 25-30MB/s are trivial to achieve with the latest HDDs, even over USB 2.0. See the benchmarks in this review for examples.

 

If you need something faster while still sticking with USB 2.0, you might want to have a look at external HDDs from Buffalo and LaCie which include a special "Turbo USB" driver. Once this has been installed, these drives can do 35-40MB/s apparently.

 

Another option would be to get the HDD and enclosure separately. You can then choose whatever HDD you want, an enclosure with multiple interfaces and typically a longer warranty. The 3.5" Samsung F3 or WD Caviar Black & 2.5" WD Scorpio Black would be good choices.

 

Longer-term I think a USB 3.0 HDD might be a better investment though. The new Seagate GoFlex drives look really nice since they have interchangable cables that enable you to quickly switch between USB 2.0, USB 3.0, FireWire 800 and eSATA. They look like they will be fairly expensive though.

Edited May 8, 2010 by Arthur