jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I watched an interesting video about prices of external drives vs internal. The guy's point was that external drives - in many cases - are less expensive than bare drives intended for internal use. He couldn't understand why. I knew right away.

He called Seagate and spoke to a very helpful woman for several minutes. In case you didn't know why externals sometimes cost less, here's why. When you buy a bare internal drive, you have lots of choices and lots of specs. You can look at the details and read reviews. When you buy a pretty external drive to put on your desk, you know the capacity and how fast it spins, but not much more. At one time, WD told you what was inside their desktop cases - not anymore. You pay less for an external HDD in a case because it is a lower quality and/or an older drive. If I want an external in a case, I buy the internal drive I want and then buy a separate case.

Take a look at diskprices.com

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Have to STRONGLY agree with you on this point. I also recommend you be careful because buying a faster drive than you can use properly will cost you money and you won't necessarily be able to take advantage of the added speed. Best of luck.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

The problem with most external HDs is not the the drive that fails, it's the case they are in, cheaply made, that is why I don't use external HDs.

Bayou

YES! I have assembled many externals this way. A quality case and a carefully chosen drive = much better than a preassembled external.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Red6

But is this the case with external SSDs? I can understand external spinning HDDs failing more often than internal drives, but I doubt this applies to today's SSDs.

Many good reputable external SSDs are available with large capacities and reasonable prices. These SSDs are rugged and great for backing up laptops while traveling. I have never had one fail yet.

tcthome Loc: NJ

I need to add a internal. Maybe 4tb, but even 1 or 2 tb would help. I have 2 spaces available for 2.5" internals & will need the cable that goes to the motherboard also. And that cooling gel that goes between the cpu & heat sink. Cleaned the inside for the first time in about 7 year about a month ago. Removed the cpu fan & heat sink to clean better & that gel was all dried up. Maybe I'll try New Egg when I order. Pretty sure I ordered from them before once on a recommendation from a UHH member.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right. SSDs have a big advantage over HDDs, but they do have a limited, although long, life. SSDs are available in an assortment in specs, with prices rising as the specs get better.