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I am about to buy a nc10 (anyone know where its in stock now?)
I am going to buy it in the US, and use it in Korea for a year. I am going to need a power adapter to use it in most of the world (or get the Korean version and need a power adapter in the US…)
But I don’t want a second power adapter in order to have an external hard drive.
Are only 2.5″ hard drives able to be powered via USB?
I saw some that use two USB slots to power, there are two USBs next to each other on the nc10, correct?
What is the largest 2.5″ external that will run on USB power?
Pros, cons, opinions?
I’m assuming that to run a hard drive in another country would require a real power converter, and not just a plug adapter. Anyone have info contrary?
On a total side note, I am just now looking into external dvd burners / drives also.. any suggestions?
[quote1231494849=okalyddude]
I am about to buy a nc10 (anyone know where its in stock now?)On a total side note, I am just now looking into external dvd burners / drives also.. any suggestions?
[/quote1231494849]1. Check out the where to buy page!
2. The LG slim seems popular, some external DVD drives collected from the forum!Clicking through those pages before you buy helps support the site if you feel it has been useful 🙂
I don’t know about the power questions, soz, hopefully someone with more international experience than I will answer!
Tesco sell on offer the Iomega 260 GB external drive for only Ă‚ÂŁ39 – its brilliant. One niggle – short lead with 2 usb connectors. Works well with single lead on modern PC with
decent USB Current limits….i use a 250gb WD Passport drive on a single lead with no additional power with no probs. They to a 350gb version to although have not tried one.
Kirk
These are 2.5″ I take it?
I will look around more online, just hoping for good suggestions.
I did use the link on this site to buy from Amazon, a blue model shipped with 2gb ram stick, on its way now.
Thanks for the pointers, I’ll let you all know what I find
Generally 2.5″ drives have a low enough power requirement to be driven off USB, whereas 3.5″ drives will need extra power. Though if running off the NC10 battery, it will drain the battery obviously. Some 2.5″ enclosures have an optional external power supply however so you can run it off USB or external power.
Another option from branded external drives is to just get an external enclosure and buy a 2.5″ drive to stick inside. In my case I replaced my old laptop drive and used the old drive inside an enclosure. There are lots of enclosures about and you can get them very cheap if unbranded.
As for the power adapter (for the NC10 I take it?). The adapter included is suitable for worldwide use. All you need is a travel adapter for the plug, or swap the “figure of 8” cable for a local version. I have dozens of these for the UK as so many devices use those cables.
For a hard drive (with power supply), you’d have to see if the included adapter is worldwide voltage (e.g. 110v to 240v), and again if you can swap the plug cable for a local one or otherwise use a travel adapter.
All that said, would not Korea be a cheaper place to buy anyway? (more so for common gadgets like drives which may be sourced from Korea anyway).
The site HotUKDeals is worth keeping an eye on if you’re after some bargains. I’ve seen external hard drives on there going quite cheap. You have to be quick on some of the deals though!
Yeah my plan at this point is to wait on the bluetooth mouse and the external dvd drive until I’m in Korea (and probably have a little more money in my pocket)
The hard drive I would prefer ahead of time to load up with stuff, but I could always settle on the 160 gb too.
That is interesting that it does not need a power adapter, only a plug adapter. Good news also. I will probably try to look into the specifics of it (just to be caucious with my new baby!)
Same with the external, I may just get a 3.5″ enclosure (I already have a 1tb 3.5″ HD) if I can guarantee that it will work with just a different power cord or a simple plug adapter.
I should probably already be aware of world wide voltage standards, but my rule of thumb has always been if its smaller than a hair drier, just use a plug adapter, hair dryer or bigger use a voltage adapter. So anything between 110 to 240v can be used anywhere with just a plug adapter?
Also the nc10 doesn’t have eSata does it? That’d be nice..
Most external enclosures seem to say: 110/220V AC/DC 12V power adapter (AAPAC12V1.7A)
or something along these lines.
Does the 12v matter? Or would this qualify as allowing world wide use with only a plug adapter?
Yeah, if it says 110 to 240 (or 220), it will work just about anywhere in the world. You won’t need a step up or down converter. All you need is a travel adapter to convert the mains plug to the right pins.
*Or*, if the adapter has a figure-8 style connection for the cable to the mains, then you can replace that with a cable with local style plug pins (the NC10’s adapter is a figure-8 style).
As for the 12V in the enclosure, I suspect that refers to the voltage allowance to power the disc. I’m not sure what the power requirements are of a hard disc, but all hard discs use standard connections and voltages. If it is a hard drive enclosure, you can be assured it would have the voltage to power any hard drive you buy. However you do need to get the right kind of enclosure for the type of drive, i.e. IDE or SATA.
However, no, the NC10 itself doesn’t have eSATA.
Seagate and Western Digital now offer 500GB USB powered hard drives for around $140US. These should run with just a single USB connection, as my WD 320GB does, but you can pick up a Y-cable for the second USB connection if you want to be certain. Unless you really need a speedy 7200RPM or faster drive, these new 500GB units should work fine.
–Ken
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