External [Portable] Hard Disk Vs Internal Hard Disk: Which One You Should Buy

Every laptop/computer needs to have hard disk which stores operating system, application files and all your personal data. This hard disk is called internal hard disk. But sometimes need arises to increase the storage of your laptop or computer. So, which one to choose between External and Internal Hard Disk.

In that case you have options of purchasing further internal hard disk or a portable external hard disk, but for that you need better understanding to meet your requirement what type of hard disk to buy. I will be discussing some points which you should consider for making your decision. Also, after reading this post, you do not need to search anywhere else for this as I am writing these points after a full research (sources: web and my personal experiences).

I remember that I purchased my first laptop with 500 GB hard disk which seemed enough storage in those old days. But my passion for movies, music and high graphic games made me to buy a new hard disk soon. For that I Googled “External hard disk Vs Internal hard disk” many a times and also asked some experts for their suggestions and then came on a decision of purchasing an external hard disk as it would be portable. But you may need another one, so read these points carefully and decide which hard disk you should buy according to your needs.

Comparison of Internal Hard Disk Vs External Hard Disk:

I am going to compare internal and external hard drives point-wise. These will help you to understand the exact differences between both types of hard disks.

•  Portability

Internal hard disks can assemble in your system while external hard drives are portable. You can carry external hard disks along with you and can take away anywhere like a pen drive. You can consider them similar to a pen drives but they differ in size. You can use a single external hard disk to store data of multiple computers and can carry that with you for using whenever required. While internal hard disks can store data of a single computer as they are assembled within the body of system.

Sometimes if you have to go somewhere, where a PC is available and you just need your data, in that case portable (external) hard disks can fulfill your need without the need of taking your laptop/computer with you. You can keep your data stored on an external disk and can use any time & anywhere with a compatible PC.

• Speed

Internal hard disks are faster than external hard disks for data transmission. They can copy and move data at a high speed as compared to portable drives. It is because data transmission speed depends upon interface between drive and system. As external hard disks transfer data via USB 2.0 data cable, they are slower than internal hard drives. But you can get faster data transmission speed even on external hard disks via eSATA or FireWire on eSATA portable drives. Only you may need some additional hardware and drivers for that. Also the speed of USB 3.0 and internal hard disk are almost same.

Again internal hard disk can decrease processing speed of your computer due to cluttering of data. While external hard disk helps you to keep your internal hard disk free which can provide you faster processing speed.

• Compatibility

Compatibility is an important factor, you can’t ignore it if you want to buy something more useful.

External USB hard disks are compatible with all systems. You can use them with any computer/laptop which has a USB port. So, this feature of external hard disks makes them more compatible as compared to internal hard disks. But one thing you should consider is that eSATA external hard drives are compatible only with those systems which have additional hardware and driver for eSATA connectivity.

• Price

I just checked the prices of Seagate internal and external hard disks before writing this post and found that both type of drives have almost same prices. Both types of hard disks have price about Rs. 3300 to 3500 for normal specifications of 500 GB storage capacity. And for higher storage capacity, I found that external hard disks cost you less than internal drives.

Conclusion

• You should purchase internal hard disk if you have to use hard disk on a single computer/laptop so that you can get faster speed. Like if you love movies, high configuration games etc then internal hard disks can save your time for storing them. (Note: It can decrease processing time of system due to cluttering of data.)

• If you don’t care about the data transmission speed then you should purchase external hard disk to enjoy portability. You can carry external hard disk with you very easily.

• As USB hard disk is compatible with almost all computers, so you should buy external USB hard disk if you want to use that hard drive for multiple computers.

• If you prefer high speed external hard disks then you should purchase eSATA portable disks but remember they need some additional hard disk and driver so you cannot use them with all computers.

This post is totally based on suggestions of some experts and my personal experience. Your experience may be different, in that case I will like to get your valuable suggestions in comment section here so that they can add more useful information for readers.