SATA Internal vs SATA External

I recently had a power outage at my house and I guess my surge
protector was bad because my external USB 2.0 IDE drive is TOAST and
will no longer show up in my computer (I took it out of the enclosure
and installed it internally and it wouldn't show up either). SO, today
I went to Fry's to get a new external drive, but decided to just get
an internal SATAII drive because it was cheaper. I got a 320GB Maxtor
SATAII for $59.99. So my MOBO supports SATA (I'm assuming SATAII
also?) and I figured if I end up wanting to make it an external drive
down the road, I will just buy an enclosure on Ebay.

So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
matter if its SATA or not right?

THANKS

E

"Erich93063" wrote:
>... Is there a speed difference when using an internal
> hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
> though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
> via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
> MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
> USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
> transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
> computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
> correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
> convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
> drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
> matter if its SATA or not right?


If you connect a SATA HD through a USB controller, it will transfer
data at USB speeds. But... if you connect a SATA HD through an
eSATA controller, it will transfer data at SATA speeds. The only
downside is that eSATA is not plug-n-play (you have to power down
to plug/unplug the HD). Why not connect your SATA HD as a
SATA HD and forget about the USB slowdown?

Here is just one manufacturer of external SATA enclosures:
http://kingwin.com/jt35ebk.asp
MWave sells 'em for $23:
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch...=done&nextloc=
Here is another make for $40:
http://www.firewire-1394.com/externa...-enclosure.htm
Both have fans and power modules.

Here is a source for SATA/eSATA plug adapters:
http://www.firewire-1394.com/externa...-solutions.htm

Here are a couple sources for eSATA cables:
http://www.firewire-1394.com/sata-cables-shielded.htm
http://www.svc.com/esata-cable.html

*TimDaniels*

You can buy an E-SATA enclosure for that SATA HD...the one I bought came
with a SATA connector that fits in a slot out the back of your
system.Inside it connects to a SATA Controller and with the backplate
******* in you can connect externally.Mine also happens to connect to a USB
port,,,so I can copy from the Desktop using SATA and transfer to the laptop
using USB...
peter
"Erich93063" <erich93063@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1182375708.202805.61880@g37g2000prf.googlegro ups.com...
>I recently had a power outage at my house and I guess my surge
> protector was bad because my external USB 2.0 IDE drive is TOAST and
> will no longer show up in my computer (I took it out of the enclosure
> and installed it internally and it wouldn't show up either). SO, today
> I went to Fry's to get a new external drive, but decided to just get
> an internal SATAII drive because it was cheaper. I got a 320GB Maxtor
> SATAII for $59.99. So my MOBO supports SATA (I'm assuming SATAII
> also?) and I figured if I end up wanting to make it an external drive
> down the road, I will just buy an enclosure on Ebay.
>
> So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
> hard drive vs. an external hard drive? Common sense would tell me even
> though it is a SATAII drive, if I make it external and I connect it
> via USB 2.0 (or firewire for that matter), that now it really doesn't
> MATTER that it's SATAII, because now I'm only transferring files at a
> USB 2.0 speed, correct? So am I correct in saying that if I want fast
> transfer speeds, I am better off leaving it internal inside the
> computer via SATA then making it external for convenience purposes
> correct? And if I DO want to end up getting an external drive for
> convenience purposes that I can theoretically just get a cheap old IDE
> drive because its transferring at USB 2.0 speeds so it really doesn't
> matter if its SATA or not right?
>
> THANKS
>
> E
>

"Erich93063" asked:
> So my question is: Is there a speed difference when using an internal
> hard drive vs. an external hard drive?


Hmmm.... Some people say thank you, some people just go away.

*TimDaniels*