{"id":6604,"date":"2014-10-13T12:30:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T16:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=6604"},"modified":"2014-10-13T12:30:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T16:30:10","slug":"when-to-buy-a-flash-drive-an-external-hard-drive-or-an-external-ssd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/10\/13\/when-to-buy-a-flash-drive-an-external-hard-drive-or-an-external-ssd\/","title":{"rendered":"When to buy a flash drive, an external hard drive, or an external SSD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mrinal Thakur asked \u201cWhat should I buy, an external hard drive, an external SSD, or a pen drive?\u201d<\/p>\n

My quick answer: Use an external hard drive for backup. Use a flash drive or an SSD if you want to move files from one computer to another and a network isn\u2019t practical.<\/p>\n

The long answer: It all depends on how much storage you need, how much you worry about physical damage, and how much you\u2019re willing to spend. Flash-based storage such as external SSDs or flash drives (also known as pen drives or thumb drives) tend to be more robust: Drop one to the ground, and it\u2019s still likely to work. But hard drives provide more storage for the dollar.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s really not much difference between flash drives and external SSDs. They both store your files in solid-state flash RAM and plug into your computer via USB. The only real difference is the form factor.<\/p>\n

SSDs are shaped like hard drives, because they\u2019re meant to replace internal hard drives\u2014and therefore have to fit easily into a computer\u2019s bay. But when used externally, there\u2019s no real need for that shape or size.<\/p>\n

On average, external SSDs are faster than flash drives, but the reason has nothing to do with their shape. External SSDs are more likely to come with USB 3.0 connectors, which improves performance. But if you look, you won\u2019t have much trouble finding USB 3.0 flash drives, either.<\/p>\n

Of course, a USB 3.0 drive won\u2019t be any faster than USB 2.0 unless your PC has a USB 3.0 port.<\/p>\n

In other words, it doesn\u2019t really matter which of these two you buy. Find the device that fits your budget and the pocket you plan to carry it in.<\/p>\n

A hard drive is an entirely different beast. Because it\u2019s mechanical, a hard drive is more likely to be damaged. It\u2019s also more difficult and expensive to make\u2014unless you factor in the one expensive ingredient in a flash drive or SSD: flash RAM. If you don\u2019t need much of that, flash drives can be astonishingly cheap\u2014less than $10 for an 8GB drive.<\/p>\n

But if you need a lot of storage, hard drives quickly become the bargain choice. For $100, you can buy a 2TB hard drive. A flash drive or SSD with an eighth of that storage could cost you twice that much.<\/p>\n

via When to buy a flash drive, an external hard drive, or an external SSD | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mrinal Thakur asked \u201cWhat should I buy, an external hard drive, an external SSD, or a pen drive?\u201d My quick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[344,376,1019,1139],"class_list":["post-6604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-technology","tag-external-drive","tag-flash-drive","tag-ssd","tag-usb-3-0"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-1Iw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7910,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/30\/bit-by-bit-intel-looks-to-quadruple-ssd-storage\/","url_meta":{"origin":6604,"position":0},"title":"Bit by bit, Intel looks to quadruple SSD storage","author":"NCCT","date":"March 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With all the photos, videos, apps and tunes you have, the storage on your smartphone may not be enough. 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The new Intel 540s Series drives are offered in capacities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6516,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/10\/03\/these-self-destructing-ssds-will-physically-destroy-the-nand-flash-on-your-command-techspot\/","url_meta":{"origin":6604,"position":2},"title":"These self-destructing SSDs will physically destroy the NAND flash on your command – TechSpot","author":"NCCT","date":"October 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s one thing to have your personal notebook filled with family photos, music and movies come up missing. It\u2019s a different beast entirely when that missing notebook contains business information, trade secrets or the login credentials of your employer. In those instances, it\u2019d be great to have a self-destructing hard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3177,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/08\/14\/sata-3-2-finalized-includes-sata-express-for-2-gbs-of-bandwidth\/","url_meta":{"origin":6604,"position":3},"title":"SATA 3.2 finalized, includes SATA Express for 2 GB\/s of bandwidth","author":"NCCT","date":"August 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"SATA-IO, the group in charge of maintaining the SATA specification, has announced (PDF) that revision 3.2 of SATA has been finalized. Importantly this revision brings SATA Express, which melds SATA and PCI Express for bandwidth of up to 2 GB\/s, giving high-speed solid state drives the protocol they need. SATA\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6943,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/11\/21\/intel-to-launch-ssds-using-3d-nand-technology-in-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":6604,"position":4},"title":"Intel to launch SSDs using 3D NAND technology in 2015","author":"NCCT","date":"November 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Intel has announced intentions to launch solid state drives based on its 3D NAND technology sometime during the second half of next year. Developed in cooperation with flash memory specialist Micron, the tech stacks 32 planar layers which delivers 256Gb (32GB) of storage in a single MLC die. 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