# external hard drives to use with LR



## dtbain (Jan 17, 2013)

I want my wife to be able to edit our pics in Lightroom without taking my laptop, so I'm going to put the pics and catalog on an external hard drive.

Two questions:

1.  I take it this will work.

2.  Any advice about what is a good (e.g. fast, but also small -- since I'll sometimes want to travel with it) external drive?  Both the following seem to do well on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007UOW818/ref=pe_34321_33974501_pe_epc_dt2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008PABFX8/ref=pe_34321_33974501_pe_epc_dt1

It's not clear to me how to rate the speed of the devices (there's no objective speed rating I take it?  or is there)

Thanks for your help

David


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## DaveS (Jan 17, 2013)

Hi David,

   Unfortunately, the one piece of info that would help out here other than both supporting USB2/3 is the rotational speed, usually they are 5400 or 7200 rpm, where the latter is faster.


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 17, 2013)

Nearly all "portable" (i.e. USB-powered) drives are 5400 rpm.....I have a feeling than one of the Lacie "Rugged" portables is 7200.

I use such portables for some of my backups, including a couple of WD Passports....but they're all USB2. Currently looking to check out some USB3 varieties, including both of these models in the OP, but doubt I'd ever consider using them as my main catalog and/or images location. Having said that I just loaded up one of the USB2 backups as a quick and dirty trial, with both catalog and images on the same drive, and all things considered I didn't find it too bad at all. Yes, rendering previews takes a little longer (but not unworkable) and moving through images in Library is a fraction slower....but I was pleasantly surprised. I would expect exports would be slower also.


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## Replytoken (Jan 17, 2013)

TNG said:


> Nearly all "portable" (i.e. USB-powered) drives are 5400 rpm.....I have a feeling than one of the Lacie "Rugged" portables is 7200.



HGST also makes a few 7200rpm models, but I know nothing of their quality these days.

--Ken


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 17, 2013)

Thanks Ken, I'd forgotten about the Touro Mobile Pro (not to be confused with the 5400rpm Touro Mobile)....that was the one I was primarily interested in, but trying to source it this side of the pond is a little difficult. Amazon (UK) have the 500gb, but I haven't found the 1tb anywhere as yet.


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## Replytoken (Jan 18, 2013)

TNG said:


> ...but trying to source it this side of the pond is a little difficult.



Sorry, Jim.  I feel bad that so many items are either unavailable or available at such high prices on your side.  But then again, there are some advantages to living in the EU that are not available to us in the states.  You win some, you lose some.

--Ken


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 18, 2013)

You could buy a fast little drive and a separate enclosure to put it in, if you can't find anything fast enough to consider a working drive.


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## dtbain (Jan 20, 2013)

Thanks, Victoria.  I am inexpert, I'm afraid:  could you explain what putting a fast little drive in a separate enclosure means?

Thanks so much.  It hadn't occurred to me that external drives would be slower than internal; but given I need my wife and I both to be able to access the drive, there's not much option (except perhaps the one you mention?) -- so it'd be great to solve the speed problem.

Very best

David


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## dtbain (Jan 20, 2013)

Thanks Jim, very helpful.

It hadn't occurred to me that external would be slower than internal.  But, given your test used USB2 and wasn't too bad, perhaps with USB3 even a 5400 rpm drive would just about cut it?

I am sometimes in the US, but I couldn't find a 1TB version of a USB3/7200rpm Lacie Rugged drive even on amazon.com.  I _could _find a 1TB version of the USB3/7200rpm Touro Mobile Pro (though not on amazon.co.uk), but its reviews look a little mixed -- so am left indecisive, as ever!

Thanks

David


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2013)

It looks like the Lacie 7200 only comes in 500gb varieties, so if you need 1tb+ it's not an option. Oddly enough a couple of the Touro Mobile Pros were listed on Amazon UK (Marketplace trader) the same day as my original post....but because it's a little new I'm also a bit on the fence about it. Might take up Victoria's suggestion!

What she means is that you could buy an "internal" drive, such as this one (though even the 2tb version only costs £70), then buy a separate drive enclosure, such as this one....which basically allows you to turn a good-quality fast internal drive into a USB3-connected bus-powered external drive.


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## dtbain (Jan 20, 2013)

Ah, thanks for explaining Victoria's suggestion.  I take it the enclosure comes with a usb lead out the back to connect to the laptop?  If so, it sounds do-able; or is it something that one might need more expertise than mine to do?!

d


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2013)

It should be fairly straight-forward.....I've used one in the past to connect an old laptop drive to my desktop, didn't break anything. Obviously, you just need to be careful when slotting the drive into the enclosure.


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## wianb (Jan 20, 2013)

TNG said:


> What she means is that you could buy an "internal" drive, such as this one (though even the 2tb version only costs £70), then buy a separate drive enclosure, such as this one....which basically allows you to turn a good-quality fast internal drive into a USB3-connected bus-powered external drive.



Although the quote above is an example of what is possible be careful and do your research before committing yourself. The drive mentioned above is a 3.5 inch drive and the drive enclosure is for a 2.5 inch drive (it won't fit). High speed large capacity 2.5 inch drives are expensive and there are very few 3.5 inch USB drive enclosures available at the moment.


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## Jim Wilde (Jan 20, 2013)

Oops! 

Good spot and thanks for the correction.

Yes, do the research!!


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## wianb (Jan 20, 2013)

You're welcome


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## dtbain (Jan 20, 2013)

Thanks, DaveS, sorry I missed your post originally.  Yes, sounds like USB3 and 7200rpm is the thing to aim for -- but that the latter is rare in external drives.

d


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## LRList001 (Jan 20, 2013)

Is this any good?  Plug any SATA drive into it, solid state if you like.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...driveenclosures/usb3.0externalhdddocking.html


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## Victoria Bampton (Jan 20, 2013)

That sort of thing could work great if you were deskbound, LRList001, but probably won't be protected enough David's travel.

David, yes, if you can use a screwdriver, you can put an internal drive into an exclosure.  There's nothing to it.

I often use little enclosures to make external drives out of spare internal drives, for example, I swapped my laptop drive for an SSD a while back, so the 320gb drive that was in the laptop became a lovely little external drive.  I've also got a big 4-bay enclosure rather than having 4 separate external drives.

There's a selection of 7200rpm 2.5 inch drives here http://www.dabs.com/category/compon...-hard-drives/11154-41580000-52450000-56320000 but yes, 1tb aren't cheap.

Here's some examples of enclosures that could work: http://www.dabs.com/category/compon...rd-drive-enclosures/11270-56170000-4294946383

As a possibly cheaper option, do you need to travel with it, or could you get a reduced size small one plus a normal size fast one, and use file sync software to update it when you need to travel?


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## LRList001 (Jan 23, 2013)

Victoria Bampton said:


> That sort of thing could work great if you were deskbound, LRList001, but probably won't be protected enough David's travel.



I can't answer that of course, but as a matter of practice, I have been travelling with loose SATA drives that I back up my images onto for many years (they travel in anti-static bags).  I rate the drives as at least as robust as an SLR camera and lenses. I keep the drives in different suitcases and/or hand baggage so if something goes missing, I don't lose the lot.  The unit I referenced does need an external power supply, but then so do many (all?) of the external 'performance' drives I have seen on the market.  And yes, I also have various enclosures that I swap SATA (and the odd IDE drive) in and out of.  Not all require even a screwdriver.


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