what is the difference between external hard drives and portable hard drive?
I know that they are both USB storage devices outside the computer but why are some reffered to as external and others portable, i mean aernt they both portable?
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Posted in: Portable External Hard Drive
4 Responses
Yousef - November 18, 2009
Yes, Both are portable.
ourvettes - November 18, 2009
Both are portable but those that state portable would be easier to move or carry with you to different locations and are smaller and more compact in size. ( I’m not sure if they all do, but my portable came with a carrying / storage case with it. )
My other external hard drive is much larger in size and not as easy to carry around with you. Especially if you want to take it from say your home to another home ~ it is larger and bulkier in size than the portable hard drive. But both are portable.
I hope this explains this for you.
Tina B - November 18, 2009
I asked the same question at Staples when I was purchasing extra storage.
The guy told me the external hard drives are meant to stay stationary. The portable ones are more for on the go applications. Something to do with the way they absorb shocks from being moved around.
Since I was using mine with a laptop, and throwing it in a laptop bag, I chose the portable drive.
philiplaptop - November 18, 2009
Hello!
Thats a great question!. . I think i have both of them, so i’ll try and answer the question. . . I would say an external hard drive are the older ones that are very big and bulky and that you have to plug into an a/c power source, and the portable hard drives are the small ones (which by the way are now very big in storage size!)
that use just your usb port of the computer. . I have 2 external hard drives that are 160 Gigs. that use a/c power and i also just got 2 portable hard drives from western digital,(called “MY Passport” one 160 Gigs, the other 250 Gigs, (and i have seen 500 Gig ones!) that just use the usb port of the computer. . these are the size of about a “pack of cigarettes!. . hope this helps you!