Ext hard drive question

[Bill Gates Jr.]

I have two slightly older seagate drives 1.5TB and 3.0 TB. both come with AC adapters for power. My newer Go flex (1.5TB) and Seagate (2TB) portable drives don't use an AC adapter. Can someone explain the pros and cons of the two types, AC and portable? Is one more stable than the other? Will one type have a longer life usage? I don't do any tasks where I need one vs the other, although the portable type are smaller and easier to have around as they don't have the AC cable.

 

[chscag]

The difference is the power supply and size of the drives. The older drives (which are probably larger) use an AC to DC power supply and require more current. Newer drives (smaller) do not require as much power and can be run directly from the USB bus. As far as durability goes, I don't think it makes much difference. Both types can fail at any time.

 

[chas_m]

This is also due to improvements in the USB bus, of course. USB 2 and later can supply more power than USB 1.1 could, and the new USB-C can supply more power still for future peripherals.

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

Thanks guys. Figured the older drives weren't as efficient in using power, but wanted verification.
USB-C! I'm just getting used to USB 3.0.