USB 2.5" powered HDDs

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PacknHeat

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
385
I believe I posted in the wrong forum category. So I will try here. :)
I came across this article @ Tom 's.
I have a DELL 600m laptop, and would love to be able to use one of these 2.5" HDDs with my laptop.
I have read on the Dell forum that the USB 2.0 ports are 500mA and I have heard that they are only 100mA. :rolleyes:

This is where I get confused. (Doesn't take much. :p)
Looking at these external drives and just the enclosures, they claim "NO AC power needed". I'm sure this depends on your USB power output.
I do like the very small size of the enclosures.

OK, What determines the "low power needed" to make these claims?
I would think it would be the HDDs, but the enclosure case by its self claims "NO AC power needed". How would they know that the HDD that you plan to use is low powered?
Does it take both, special HDD and special enclosure?

I do not know much about the HDDs they use, but would it be cheaper to purchase my own low powered HDD and their enclosure? Any recommendations, or stick with theirs?

Please advise :) Thank you
 
to check how much power your usb port can supply (I bet it's 500mA, 100mA is used only on unpowered usb hubs - basically spliting the 500mA into several smaller parts, hence 100mA)
well to check how much power your ports can sustain go into device manager (if you use windows) > universal serial bus > usb root hub (or similar) > properties > power tab

if it's 100mA - a possiblity is to buy an AC powered usb hub - works fine

believe me, you do not want an extra ac adaptor with your portable external hdd, it's so much better to worry only about the hdd and usb cable

btw, IIRC 2.5" hdds need ~190mA on the 5V rail (standard 3.5" ones use much more hence there is no )
 
A direct port from the motherboard should always be 500mA. I just verified the same on my Inspiron 8500. The power tab shows 500mA for all the ports. And I just found out that the MS Notebook Optical Mouse uses 100mA.
 
as long as you're plugged into a powered hub (which includes your PC) it's 500mA
 
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