Actually, until USB 3.0 ships, it doesn't really matter how fast the HDD is. Just about every HDD released over the last three or four years is capable of 35MBps minimum sequential reads (mostly the reason why external enclusures exist in the first place), which is the max sustained transfer rate over USB 2.0 (and yes, I know about eSATA, but we're talking about USB).valnar wrote:My two USB external drive enclosures for backups have 750GB drives now. I stayed away from 1TB and 1.5TB because of all the failures. But now they are getting full, and a 2TB in a single enclosure would be awesome! The fact they are slow wouldn't matter to me at all. I look forward to them.
So big 5400rpm drives are just fine for external enclosures, with the added advantage of lower heat outputs over the faster 7200rpm drives. Of course, backups are always a must, but that's another issue altogether
[EDIT]Ups, forgot to ask you guys something Sorry.
Does anyone know if this drive specifically, and Green Power in general (I'm really thinking about the WD10EADS, so... ) support Staggered Spin-Up? I know Samsung drives support it, but WD has lowered the GP idle drive requirements to those of 2.5'' drives at full power (kinda), and also moping the floor with just about any other 5400rpm drive available (while also being at least as cheap as the others), so it's my current top pick to low power HDD storage...
Thank you in advance.[/EDIT]