Need help with external hard drive options

I am ordering a new laptop with just a 60GB SSD so I am planning on moving all of my movies onto an external hard drive. I want to be able to plug the hard drive into my laptop and my TV and watch the movies via the USB connection.

My problem is, how do I know if a hard drive needs a fan or an external power source? Obviously 5400RPM will use less power and produce less heat but will that be fast enough to seamlessly stream HD movies? Can I run a 7200RPM HD without external power (just USB)? I'd like to get a USB 3.0 enclosure since my new laptop will have those ports but my TV only has USB 2.0, will it still be able to power it without an AC adapter? And yes, I do understand that only some USB ports are powered but for this situation assume all of them are powered; basically, is that powered port ENOUGH power for faster/larger HDs?

Also not sure which internal interface to go for between SATA II and III. Is II fast enough to stream HD movies? Does the difference between II and III affect whether it needs external power? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Pretty much all 2.5" (laptop size) hard drives should be able to run off USB power without an AC adapter. All 3.5" hard drives will need external power.

Any conventional/spinning hard drives won't see any difference between the SATA II and SATA III interface. I don't think there are any spinners that have a read speed of more than ~150MB/s. SATA II (up to ~250MB/s) is more than enough for streaming HD videos. Even USB 2.0 which is capped to ~20-35MB/s is enough for streaming HD videos.

Be sure to check what file systems your TV supports (NTFS or FAT32) when you get your new drive. Most drives probably come as NTFS but could be converted to the older FAT32 if necessary.

 

Wow is it really that simple? So hard to find that answer. Thanks for the info on SATA, too!

 

Hello, stevenator128,

For my Dell M6600 external backup process, my son mounted a 1 TB hard drive in a Thermaltake Max5G USB 3.0 case. The unit has two integrated fans in a vertical enclosure, and the design keeps the drive temperature lower than passive cooling. This solution works reliably and decently for periodic backups. You could select a higher-capacity drive if desired.

--John

 

Great, thank you. I have a 640GB hard drive from my desktop that I was going to stick in an enclosure but since a 3.5" will need external power I think I'm just going to get a 1TB 2.5" drive since they're only about $100

 

If you're using a external box for short term stuff like backups or to grab some files as needed that allows for the drive to spin down for most of the time it is fine to not have a fan.

However, if you are going to have it streaming stuff for hours on end were the drive will be continuously spinning you will want a enclosure with a fan to prolong the life of the drive.

 

whats the new laptop? no way you can install a second drive?