Does eSATA Make Sense for 5400RPM External HDD?

[JesseM]

I've been wondering since I got my new laptop with an eSATA port how big of a difference I'd see compared to USB with my external Fantom 1TB GreenDrive. I'm currently getting read speeds of ~32MB/s and write speeds starting at ~55MB/s and quickly slowing to ~20MB/s for larger files.

 

[SNGX1275]

I suppose it depends on how large of transfers you do and how frequently you do them. Also, depends on how fast your laptop's drive is. I think even with 5400rpm a modern 3.5" sata drive (which is what is in that external) should be able to sustain 60+ megs a second. I just did a 9 gig transfer between a 2TB WD Green drive and a 2TB Hitachi and at the end it was over 70megs/sec still. eSATA is no different than SATA other than its external, speeds should be identical. So if you are doing multi gig data transfer on a fairly regular basis its worth using eSATA. And IMO if you have that on your external, there really is no reason not to use it.

 

[JesseM]

Thanks for your help, SNGX1275. I'll pick up a cable next time I'm at Fry's. The only reason I can think not to use eSATA is because nobody else I know has a port on their computer, so I'd have to haul around a USB cable anyways when travelling. Take care.