looking for a portable external drive suggestion?

Jim Cockfield wrote:

IOW, a PCIe card with two USB 3.0 ports would only run your $14.94 from monoprice.com (a very reputable vendor):

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10304&cs_id=1030405&p_id=8089&seq=1&format=2

That would give you a card with an NEC chipset, and personally I'd avoid other some of the other chipsets (VIA, etc.) like the plague.

IWO, I would not consider a USB 3.0 card using anything other than an NEC or Renesas chipset, since the NEC chipsets have more mature drivers available for them.

I'd also stick with a card like that one that has a connection that allows more power from your PSU.

Those types of cards will still work from Bus power only. But, they have a Molex connection so that you can provide more power to devices via a connection to your PSU, too. That's needed with some devices like portable hard drives, because they may need more power to work than is available from cards that try to rely on PCIe bus power alone.

If your using a larger portable drive with it's own A/C power adapter, that's one thing. But, if you want a "portable" (2.5") drive that gets all of it's power from the USB connection, you need to be careful that the USB 3.0 port you're using can provide enough power to the device, hence why I'd stick to cards that allow a power connection from your PSU to help out.

Then, just find a USB 3.0 drive at a good price using feedback from buyers to help make a decision. From what I can see of listings now, you can buy a 500GB USB 3.0 drive for around $59.99 delivered. Or, you can buy a larger 750GB drive (or even 1TB Drive) for around $79.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007601%20600003484&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

Or, as an alternative, just buy a USB 3.0 2.5" drive enclosure and buy a separate laptop drive instead. Monoprice has an enclosure like that for $12 right now. This one:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10305&cs_id=1030504&p_id=8086&seq=1&format=2

Then, just install your own drive.

500GB - 650GB laptop drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600361780&IsNodeId=1&name=500GB%20-%20650GB&Order=PRICE

750GB and larger laptop drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007605%20600361786&IsNodeId=1&name=750GB%20and%20higher

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JimC
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