Is esata better than usb and if so why? Am considering switching over to esata. Thanks in advance

Suzi,

SATA or eSATA is definitely better.

I have been switching over to SATA drives because of the lower cost and faster transfer rates available when you get one with an eSATA connection cabability.

I have 2 variants - one a true EHD with USB anb eSATA connection ports and a not so true SATA Docking station with USB and eSATA connectors.

You need to get one that comes with a eSATA PCI card that installs in your computer and has a standard SATA connector to the Motherboard. From then on you connect the external drive to the computer via this PCI connector. The connecting cable may come with the unit or you may have to purchase it yourself. TYhis cable takes the place of the standard USB connecting cable. (I leave mine plugged in all the time and simply plug it into the eSATA connector on the EHD/Docking station. Once connected via this route, you have the same transfer rates as an internal hard drive.

The Docking Station lets you purchase another hunk of memory at the marginal cost of the drive itself.

Here is a link to a docking station - local Canadian company, but any reputable computer store should have them or have access to them. -

http://www.shoprbc.com/ca/shop/searchRe ... =&sortDir=

So, for price and performance eSATA is the way to go.

eSATA is a faster interface than USB 2.0 by a long shot. USB 2.0 is capable of @ 60 Mb/s transfer speed while eSATA is in the neighborhood of 300 Mb/s. See this Wikepedia article for more information and a comparison chart of the various interfaces currently available.

Unless your computer comes with external SATA connectors, you will need to install a card to provide the ports. Just make sure the card you install is fast enough to support the drive you end up connecting to it. Attaching a SATA3 drive to a SATA1.5 port will throttle your SATA3 drive to SATA1.5 speeds. It will still be faster than USB 2.0, but you will not be getting all the performance your drive would be capable of. eSATA also uses a different cable than your internal SATA drive does, so you will need to make sure you get the correct cables in case your drive doesn't come with one.

Thanks, Gene, for the information. I have 2 western digital Tgb externals which are both esata capable(sp). Have a card and cables on order to have installed.
I don't understand what you mean by this

"I leave mine plugged in all the time and simply plug it into the eSATA connector on the EHD/Docking station."
Right now my usb's are plugged into the computer all the time but only turn the externals on to back images when I add new ones.
Another question, have you ever heard of an external reformatting itself with being told to? Some one on another forum said that theirs did that on its own. Kind of scares me.

Suzi,

I think that quote is from my reply.

I sometimes shlep the docking station from system to system, so leave the cable attached on the computer and not have to pull it out, plug in, etc.

I'm not exactly sure what John meant by his statement. I assume he leaves the docking station plugged in all the time and connects the eSATA drive to it when he wants to use it.

And I read that post on the other forum about the EHD reformatting itself. To be honest, I have never heard of that happening. I know an HD can get corrupted or go bad, but not autonomously reformat without being told to. That requires Windows/MAC processes that only run on command. But, as I have learned in my line of work (Optical Networks tech support), anything is possible when it comes to complicated electronics.

Thanks, Gene and John for your answers. Hopefully I will have my card sometime next week.