Internal HDD vs External HDD

[Alir]

External hard drives are often much cheaper than internal drives. What is the reason for this? I don't care about WD drives here. Their USB controllers are soldered onto their hard drives meaning you can only use them as external drives. External Seagate hard drives are actual internal drives inside a case. Despite this, they are much cheaper than buying internal Seagate drives.

 

Is this because internal drives are better in quality and those external drives are just cheap drives in enclosures? This is one theory I have found online. Though some random people say external drives are better and faster than internal drives and internal drives are the cheap ones - except the USB connection is what slows down the external drives.

 

All of my internal drives have developed faults and problems (decent airflow and everything). Meanwhile, I have a WD 2.5" hard drive from about 6 or 7 years ago that is still somehow working. Though my experience is very subjective, of course.

 

EDIT: The benefit of using an external drive inside the case is that I can run SMART tests on it if I need to.

[Dedayog]

Just get an internal drive, they're not more expensive and honestly if you're talking about HDD's we don't talk about speed anymore.

If you want speed, get SSDs.

[Alir]

2 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Just get an internal drive, they're not more expensive and honestly if you're talking about HDD's we don't talk about speed anymore.

If you want speed, get SSDs. 

I'm concerned about longevity more than performance. Though performance is still technically a factor.

 

I simply don't have the money for an(other) SSD.

[chen57]

I think usb hdd just have lower lifespan.what i mean by that is that they are made to work in short burst not like an internal hdd.

[Dedayog]

Just now, Alir said:

I'm concerned about longevity more than performance. Though performance is still technically a factor.

 

I simply don't have the money for an(other) SSD.

The internal / external issue is about portability or storing away a backup drive.  

 

Where are you located?  Country?  Budget?  Size needed?

[Alir]

Just now, jstudrawa said:

The internal / external issue is about portability or storing away a backup drive.  

 

Where are you located?  Country?  Budget?  Size needed?

 

UK

About £90.

4TB or more.

[dDave64]

1 minute ago, chen57 said:

I think usb hdd just have lower lifespan.what i mean by that is that they are made to work in short burst not like an internal hdd.

 

They use the exact same drives you’d see with an internal drive, they just have an external enclosure. The constant random plugging and unplugging, moving, shaking, exposure to elements, failure to eject properly, etc. do tend to make them last less time though.

[KarathKasun]

One is a consumer electronics part.  The other is a computer part.

 

Different markets have different price points.

[Alir]

1 minute ago, dDave64 said:

 

They use the exact same drives you’d see with an internal drive, they just have an external enclosure. The constant random plugging and unplugging, moving, shaking, exposure to elements, failure to eject properly, etc. do tend to make them last less time though.

 

Funnily, my internal drives were well treated and failed anyways.

 

My WD 2.5" drive hasn't been so gracefully treated. Though again, this is mostly just a fluke and it is obvious this is abnormal.

 

However, the external drive disassembly videos I have seen suggest the external drives are cheaper drives.