Internal SATA II drive or External USB 3.0 drive for extra storage?

[Zylicyde]

I recently purchased an SSD for my computer to keep my OS and programs on, and plan on keeping all of my pictures/documents/etc on a regular mechanical hard drive.

I also just upgraded to a Z68 motherboard that is also USB 3.0 capable.

Right now, I have a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB (SATA II), but was thinking of possibly upgrading it. I've seen both 2 TB and 3 TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drives on sale for $99-$129, so I was wondering if I should sell off my Spinpoint and go with one of those for the extra storage space?

Pros/Cons that come to mind:


Pros:

- Can take the hard drive anywhere on a whim.
- No noise except for when it's on (which wouldn't be very often).
- Lower power consumption (since it wouldn't be on very often).
- Realtime transfer rates would probably be the same as SATA II as the mechanical drive itself is the bottleneck.


Cons:

- Can be damaged much easier. (falls/spills/2 year old son, etc)
- Long term reliability?


Thoughts? Anyone trying this or waiting until USB 3.0 is more time-tested?

 

[Pyree]

I use usb 3.0 as interface for over a year now. WD with usb 3.0 Nexstar enclosure. Now problem what so ever. Perform just like an esata drive and as fast as using sata interface. I keep it on the ground between the wall on the right hand side of the desk and the computer desk so slim chance of of damage there. Keep your working HDD for several reason:

One can never have enough space
Just in case of boot HDD failure and waiting for new disk to arrive

this one is just me, I don't feel secure sell disk I used to anyone even if I purged the data on it. I need to see its physical destruction.