External HDD USB vs. eSATA

[venney]

So far, I am have done the sensible thing, to insure my pc at university as burglaries happen very often. But I haven't got a back up of all my data. I would be very upset if I lost the data, not so much the hardware.

I have practically no experience with external hard drives except from the knowledge that usb is insanely slow at transferring data.

Is it worth spending 20/30 pounds more on an external hard drive that offers both usb and eSATA? Or is eSATA not much faster.

There is a lot of data to be backed up, verging on 900gb, so its going to take ages no matter what.

At the moment, I am leaning towards just buying a usb one, and letting it take its time.

Thanks for any opinions.

[venney]

Well, being impatient like I am, I went ahead and ordered one. .

I bought it because it wasn't too expensive, looks good, and from what I've read, is perfect for backing up data with its software. I will post my thoughts when it arrives.

[PcTestCard.com]

Heard that the USB3.0 interface is coming up.
USB3.0 is over 10 times faster than USB2.0 and should come up in the market early next year.

I believed the USB3.0 will exceed all PC interface data transfer rate then.
Should be the Fastest on the market.
Why not wait a bit and order an USB3.0 External HDD then.

[venney]

Hey PcTestCard.com thanks for your input.

I already ordered one now, im going back to university on the 4th or so, so i want to back it up as soon as possible just in case! I will keep my eye out for usb 3.0 becuase lets face it, usb atm is pretty darn slow!

[liljim]

Wont matter ven, your mobo wont hold a 3.0 connection anyway. Your alternative to what you already ordered would have been firewire. What you have coming will work pretty good.

[venney]

hey jim, i looked into firewire and esata, but i thought the one i choose looked perfect for what i need

[venney]

Ok an update, somehow my external hard drive has arrived before my ram that was ordered way before this, but never mind.

The external drive looks lovely, goes with my black pc perfectly (coming to think about it, I have black everything for my pc, speakers, mouse, keyboard, monitor, case).

It was a doddle to set up and install, and using the backup software it provides couldn’t be easier. It has a backup schedule that you can set, which when I’m living at home again I will set up.

For now, I choose the directories I want to back up, and am half way through doing the whole process already. It is taking a while, but I do have a lot of files.

Another clever feature of the hard drive is that it stores your pc files in separate folders. what I mean by this is if you connect it to two or more pcs, your data will not get confused as it automatically stores your data in folders in accordance to your pc.

So far so good, looks like I have done the right thing