larsbc
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Forum Pro
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Posts: 18,281
Re: What is the best tablet now?
DavidF wrote:
The Nexus 7 does not support external hard drives, such as USB powered ones, at least not easily (I did once see on the web where someone did this, but it seemed complicated, and may have involved 'rooting' the device.)
If the drive doesn't work, it's quite likely due to the drive requiring more power than the USB port can supply. In those situations, you can use a USB Y cable (http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-3-Feet-Cable-External-Drive/dp/B0047AALS0/ref=pd_sim_e_4). You'll need another power source for the second USB plug (the red one in the photo) but there are options for that such as: USB power pack, USB 12V adapter in a car, USB AC power adapter, etc. BTW, whether or not the drive can be powered solely by the Nexus 7 depends on the drive itself. Here's a couple of examples where the N7 could power an external HD all on its own: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2290825
My preference, though, is to be prepared and always travel with a USB Y cable. I think my WD Passport came with one, in fact.
However, you can have it read SD cards and USB flash (thumb) drives, and you can copy from and to these. It takes:
- OTG cable (plugged into same slot as you plug in recharge cord)
- Nexus Media Importer, which lets the device recognize these.
- A file manager app (I use x-plore) which lets you create folders and copy/move to and from these.
I prefer to root the device and then use Stickmount to recognize storage devices (ie: I don't use Nexus Media Importer). Rooting provides other benefits, such as the ability to run Greenify for further extending battery life by hibernating programs that don't need to run in the background.
And, despite some advice to the contrary, you don't need a microSD slot or an additional USB port to do this.
Agreed. I'd rather keep using regular SD cards and use a USB SD card reader. You can get some tiny USB hubs and include an SD card reader built-in, btw.