A, speed: near the end of the day when copying data, slow a minute or even a second slower will make our mood irritable, so high-speed read and write data is critical. In addition when we use a laptop connected to a portable hard disk, if the transfer speed is too slow, it will also accelerate the shortening of the laptop's battery life.
Currently, the read speed of mainstream 2.5-inch branded removable hard drives is about 15-25MB/s, and the write speed is about 8-15MB/s. If we copy a 4GB DVD movie to a removable hard drive at a write speed of 10MB/s, it will take about 6 minutes and 40 seconds; if we copy a 4GB DVD movie to a removable hard drive at a read speed of 20MB/s, it will take about 6 minutes and 40 seconds; if we copy a 4GB DVD movie to a computer at a read speed of 20MB/s, it will take about 6 minutes and 40 seconds. If a 4GB DVD movie is copied from a removable drive to a hard drive at a read speed of 20MB/s, it will take about 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
Usually, the read/write speed of a 2.5-inch branded portable hard drive is determined by three key factors: the hard drive, the read/write control chip, and the type of USB port. 2.5-inch laptop hard drives are divided into two types: 4200 RPM and 5400 RPM, and in order to speed up the read/write speed of the hard drive, many hard drive manufacturers have increased the read/write cache of the hard drive from 2 MB to 8 MB. The more common 2.5-inch laptop hard drive brands on the market are Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, etc. The difference in speed between them is relatively not too obvious, and you don't have to worry too much about the hard drive model when you buy a branded portable hard drive.
Relative to the laptop hard drive itself, the read/write control chip and USB port type often determine the maximum read/write speed of a branded portable hard drive. For example, the same USB 2.0 interface mobile hard drive products, even with the same model of 2.5-inch Hitachi 5400 rpm hard drive, one can provide 28MB / S reading speed, while the other can only provide 15MB / S reading speed, which is because of the two used by the main control chip and other components of the differences caused by. However, as consumers, it is difficult for us to figure out what type of read/write control chip is used in a certain portable hard disk, and it is also difficult to distinguish whether it is a real USB 2.0 high-speed port from the outside. Therefore, if we want to find out how fast a particular brand of portable hard drive can read and write, we should go to a professional IT website to check the review data of the product, or bring a laptop to try it out when you buy it.
Tip: The best way to find out how fast a branded portable hard drive reads and writes is to check out the reviews on professional IT sites or bring a laptop to try it out on the spot.
Second, the power supply: there are a lot of poor quality desktop computer motherboards chassis front USB port is prone to insufficient power supply, which will cause the mobile hard disk can not be Windows system normal discovery failure. In the case of insufficient power supply it is necessary to give the mobile hard disk an independent power supply, so most of the mobile hard disk are designed with DC-IN DC jacks to solve this problem.
For laptops, the 2.5-inch USB portable hard drive works when the hard drive and data interface are powered by the USB interface. the USB interface can provide 0.5A current, and the laptop hard drive operating current is 0.7 ~ 1A, the general data copy will not appear problem. However, if the hard disk capacity is large or move a large file is easy to power supply is insufficient, and if the USB interface at the same time to a number of USB devices power supply is also prone to insufficient power supply phenomenon, resulting in data loss or even hard disk damage. In order to strengthen the power supply, 2.5-inch USB portable hard disk will generally provide from the PS / 2 interface or usb interface power cable. So when moving larger files, etc., you need to connect the PS/2 power cable. However, there may be cases where you need to connect two interfaces at the same time, but we found that the newer Centrino laptops have canceled the ps/2 interface, so you must pay attention to what the two interfaces it provides you with, so as not to invest in a failure.
Third, quality: there are many so-called branded mobile hard disk on the market is actually assembled by the dealer himself, that is to say, the manufacturer provided to the dealer is only a mobile hard disk box, the dealer to get the box and then put the hard disk into it. The quality of this brand of mobile hard disk is not guaranteed, the water goods hard disk or even repair hard disk is likely to be installed into the mobile hard disk box by the treacherous merchants sold to the unknowing consumers.
Notebook hard drive channels are complex, parallel imports, disassembled goods in the market is not uncommon, and because the manufacturers of genuine identification methods are not much publicity, consumers in the process of purchasing is very easy to be deceived. Not to mention the Zhongguancun street full of "mobile hard disk tray" in the hands of fake, old goods, even if the counter to buy, to ensure that the absolute authenticity is not easy. Water goods are divided into smuggled goods and OEM goods. Smuggled goods is not sold in China, notebook hard disk as a high degree of precision accessories, in the smuggling of the transport process is inevitable bump, quality is difficult to guarantee, in addition to smuggled things may be outdated products, there was a period of time Hitachi's outdated products on the buzz, there are many discussions online, but now pay attention to distinguish between consumers or not much; OEM goods are from the notebook manufacturer or the manufacturer's authorization. The OEM goods are from the notebook manufacturer or the manufacturer's authorized repair point out of the spare parts, although the quality may not be a problem, but the warranty is not good to do. Demolition of many sources of goods, mainly returned to the machine in the hard disk, as ever used, there will inevitably be a certain amount of strain and aging, the terrible thing is that the problems that exist in them are often not all at once can be reflected, generally speaking, the user to buy as long as the formatting is successful, the capacity of the correct will not have any objections, but time will be out of the question. In addition, the notebook hard disk is not like boards and other accessories, agents generally do not give individual users warranty, the dealer threw down the counter to go away, the user can not do anything about it; there are also some dealers orally said that the warranty of one year, the actual warranty time is only 3 months, as long as there is no write to the receipt, the user said what is no use. So it's best to buy a portable hard drive that has some market visibility and a good reputation.
In addition, the workmanship of the PCB circuit board also has a great impact on the quality of the mobile hard disk. However, as an ordinary consumer, we are unable to disassemble the machine to carefully inspect the PCB circuit boards (and it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad capabilities), the best way to search online to see if we can find authoritative media review reports and netizens to try after the evaluation.
Fourth, whether the thinner the better: Speaking of mobile hard disk, now the price of mobile hard disk is getting cheaper and cheaper, the shape is getting thinner and thinner. But the pursuit of low-cost and beautiful appearance, so that many products do not have anti-vibration measures, some even the most basic anti-vibration padding are not (in fact, a laptop hard disk with a thin plastic or metal box), the reliability of its stored data can be imagined.
Generally speaking, the thinner the enclosure, the less shock-resistant the hard drive is. In order to prevent accidental drops on the mobile hard disk damage, there are some manufacturers launched a super anti-shock mobile hard disk. Many of these manufacturers claim that they are 2 meters anti-drop, in fact, the height is not at all the focus of our attention, because many mobile hard disk products from 5 meters or even 10 meters height when dropped may still be intact, but unfortunately just a time or two of good luck. We should be concerned about whether this product through a professional laboratory of different angles hundreds of times more than the fall test, usually mobile hard disk accidentally fall height of about 1 meter (that is, the height of the desk, but also the average person's waist high), in the purchase of products, you can soften the dealers to give us a live demonstration.
V. FireWire: Before the USB 2.0 standard was introduced, the USB 1.1 standard was very slow, read and write speeds as fast as 1.5MB/s; while the FireWire interface read and write speeds can be as high as close to about 50MB/s, so for quite some time, FireWire was synonymous with high-speed transmission.
But with the USB 2.0 standard, read and write speeds of up to 60MB/s have left FireWire behind, and almost all computers have USB ports, and very few have FireWire ports, so we don't have to think about FireWire models when we buy a portable hard drive now.
However, if you're using an Apple computer, FireWire will come in handy, and it's a good idea to buy a portable hard drive with a FireWire interface. Overall, the FireWire interface is an optional feature.
Six, added value: many brands of mobile hard disk will be free to give some antivirus software, personal information management software, a key backup software, encryption software, etc., but in the broadband network is so developed today, these are not really worth something, can not be tempted by this.
[Edit Paragraph]Mobile Hard Disk Development
With the ever-changing and widespread use of the Internet, the popularity of various types of digital consumer electronics products and the continuous development of the concept of mobility in various fields from business office to personal entertainment and leisure, the demand for storage of personal data, especially the growth of the demand for mobile storage has become faster and faster. In the past three years, in the mobile storage market, mobile hard disk with its relative to the optical media storage (such as CDRW DVDRW, etc.) higher access speed, more simple access process and relative to the flash memory storage (ie, USB flash drive) larger capacity, lower prices and other advantages, more and more by the ordinary consumers and business users of the favor, the market space is also growing.
But all changes are the same, in the rapid development of technology, more diversified products, more intense competition in the market environment of the market direction and development of the market presents some trends that can be grasped.
Trend 1: Minimize size, maximize capacity
"Minimize size, maximize capacity" can be said to imply that the entire mobile storage device development trend: easy to carry, large space. In 2000, the capacity increased to 1GB, so far, the productization of 1-inch micro hard disk has been able to provide more than 4GB of storage space, and its disk body is only 5 cents the size of a Chinese yuan coin, enough to settle in a variety of small and exquisite consumer electronics products. At the same time, the 2.5-inch laptop hard drive that has become the standard for mobile hard drives has a maximum capacity of 80GB, which is almost equivalent to the current capacity of mainstream desktop hard drives.
The 1.8-inch hard drive, although a latecomer to the mobile storage market, has perfectly reconciled the contradiction between volume and capacity. 1.8-inch hard drive capacity is about 50-75% of a 2.5-inch hard drive, but compared to a 2.5-inch hard drive, it is much thinner, smaller, and lighter. The world's newest and smallest Pepsodent mobile hard disk, 1.8-inch, is the first to be launched by Silicon Power globally. The structure is designed to be delicate and compact, and the volume of the whole product is condensed to 68mm x 91mm x 15mm, equivalent to 1/2 of the traditional 2.5-inch mobile hard disk, which is the smallest mobile hard disk in the global market, in order to ensure the best state of operation. As smaller portable devices requiring tens of gigabytes of internal storage space come to market, we'll see the 1.8-inch portable hard drive get more and more use.
Trend #2: Speed - data access speed
There is still a lot of room for speed in mobile storage device access speeds. First of all, the interface standard of mobile hard disk has been upgraded from USB 1.1 to USB 2.0, which is an important milestone in the development of mobile hard disk. The traditional USB 1.1 specification is designed specifically for low-speed device communication, which determines its data transfer rate can only reach a maximum of 12Mbps, but due to a variety of video and audio, databases and game software and other large-scale files are widely used, the access speed of the mobile storage products have been challenged. usb2.0 interface, the data transfer rate of 480Mbps, a substantial increase in data transfer speed. The USB2.0 interface, with a data transfer rate of up to 480Mbps, has dramatically increased the data transfer speed. More and more portable storage products are now supporting USB 2.0, and the USB 2.0 interface is also standard on Silicon Power's PepsiCo portable hard drive series, which not only has the advantage of smaller size and larger capacity as mentioned above, but also has the advantage of higher data transfer rate in the whole portable storage market.
But, as the industry has widely recognized: Has the USB 2.0 interface standard reached the limits of what can be achieved in terms of transfer speeds for mobile storage? Is a faster interface standard possible in the future?
Integration and multifunctionality is the third development trend
Due to the fierce competition, many mobile storage vendors are starting to think about the development trend of integration and multifunctionality. The idea that a mobile storage product does not have to exist in a single product form is starting to be accepted. Many functional concepts are being attached to mobile storage products, and mobile hard drives are no exception. For example, MP3, recording and other functions are being integrated with storage functions to meet the multiple needs of consumers for digital technology products. However, the development of this trend does not seem to be clear at the moment.
Trend 4: Secure storage
Undoubtedly, users are concerned about the data security of mobile storage products is the highest index. Data confidentiality, stability, etc. as the product sale points (selling points) is direct and indispensable. And this development trend is precisely the mobile hard disk in the mobile storage products market has always occupied an important place to protect. Although compared with flash memory, mobile hard disk in shockproof, safety and other performance is temporarily at a disadvantage, but mobile hard disk manufacturers for shockproof, drop resistance and other security technology exploration has never stopped. Taking Silicon Power Electronics as an example, many of its technologies applied to the Pepsi-Linx 1.8-inch mobile hard disk have given this product a unique advantage in safe storage. Its auto-balancing roller system protects the hard drive from harsh environments or sudden shocks and still allows for normal operation, maximizing the protection of the hard drive and data.
At the same time, there are more and more products in the market that are moving in the direction of hardware encryption.
Trend #5: Stylish Appearance
Just like the development of all electronic products, users of portable hard drives also have fashionable requirements for the appearance of the product, especially when it is still a kind of portable consumer durables that can be shown to others. The appearance of the mobile hard drive in addition to the increasingly small size, lightweight and lovely, its material performance, feel, decoration, color, product appearance, has also become a demanding condition for consumers. mini (mini) represents not simple, but the simultaneous improvement of the quality of both inside and outside the aesthetic sense. Wave-type all-metal shell design products, such as Silicon Power's Pepsi-Linx, is a breakthrough in the volume of the limitations, but also in the appearance of the best, with a unique personality and not to do anything to show off the style, with a variety of colors designed for a variety of users, calm and quiet lake blue, cool and cool gray, soft and elegant purple, and dazzling silver and white, to bring the different users of the perfect and flawless fashion feeling.
The market is becoming increasingly rich in products, and at the same time, demand and consumption trends will slowly gain two-way stability. Although the market competition will be more intense in the future, the advancement of product technology and the stabilization of the market order will make the majority of users of mobile storage and the manufacturers involved in the competition to profit at the same time. As the comprehensive strength of manufacturers such as Silicon Power gradually strengthens and becomes apparent, the leadership of major players will become more prominent, which will ultimately determine the market share of their products. The future of mobile storage will bring users a better experience!
[edit]Major manufacturers (in no particular order)
Lenovo, Patriot, MSI, Newman, Lambo, BenQ, Travelstar, Samsung, Western Digital, Maxtor, Hitachi, MobileStar, Seagate, MemoryStar, and so on.
Mobile Hard Disk System (first domestic prayayan v3)
Prayaya V3 is a virtual operating system (also known as V3 Pocket System, fully installed only 9M), which enables the installation and use of applications on any non-windows system partition or removable storage device.
1: Install V3 on the local machine (non-system disk) and install commonly used software into the V3, the benefits are: all the registry information of those software and later upgrade files, including the use of all the files left behind the record automatically saved in the V3 virtual system, so that your windows system is completely free of worry about WINDOWS bloat and aging day by day, free of the always If you want to backup, optimize, and clean up your system, if you reinstall or restore your Windows system, you don't need to reinstall the programs in the V3 directory, and all the previous data (favorites, cookies, history, chat logs, VoIP logs, and emails) will be completely retained.
2: When installing the V3 virtual system on a removable storage device, load the commonly used software into the V3, you can realize plug-and-play, change the public computer into your own computer, input method, QQ, MSN, stock operation ......, everything as usual.
3: The official download center lists thousands of V3-compatible software programs, which can be installed directly.
4: Prayaya V3 unique open link function, you can make your favorite program extremely convenient to run on it, making it as convenient as windows.
5: Security, the latest right-click encryption function so that you no longer worry about leaking important documents (using the latest U.S. AES256 algorithm)
6: V3 can be installed at the same time a variety of antivirus software, the maximum to ensure that do not allow the virus to invade, but also can be used to create antivirus disk.
Prayaya V3 can bring great convenience to your life, work, and play; on the other hand, due to the great variability of data transfer speeds of removable storage devices (some of them are faster than the local hard disk, while some of them are inferior and may be less than 10% of the speed of the local hard disk), there are times when you should not expect them to run so fast on an external removable storage device as they do on the local hard disk, so we also recommend that you do not use the same software as you do for the external removable storage device. So some times, don't expect them to run as fast on external removable storage devices as they do on the local hard drive, so we also recommend installing them on the local hard drive and high-speed external storage devices, such as removable hard drives, high-speed USB flash drives, etc., as a backup for each other, is the best way to go.
Installation instructions
After downloading the installer, insert the removable storage media you wish to install V3 on, and the installer will list the preferred removable storage drive for you to choose from (just specify the drive for local installations), then specify the root directory of that drive.
V3 is a green virtual system, after the installation is complete, it will not write any files in the registry or windows system directory, and will prompt you to create a shortcut on your desktop for ease of use.
In the case of local hard disk installations, it is recommended that after running PrayayaV3, in Settings - > Security Inside, turn off "Allow V3 to create autorun.inf". Run PrayayaV3 directly from the desktop shortcut.