storage. These drives can be huge, from today’s new small end of 20–40GB to
monsters of 200 or 300GB in capacity.The only problem here is that most of the external devices are principally
aimed at desktop computer users who don’t much care about size, weight,
and power consumption. If you buy an external USB drive of that sort, be
aware that you will either have to provide electrical current from an AC
adapter or add a fairly significant draw to your laptop’s battery. An example
of a full-sized Maxtor One-Touch external drive is shown in Figure 7-4.As a laptop owner you should set your focus instead on devices specifically
designed for battery-powered computers. These use low-power, lightweight
drives that are often the same as those used as internal devices on laptops.
As such they will work as an external USB drive without the need for an AC
adapter, although one can be attached to the drive when you’re working late
in your hotel room.If your laptop is capable of communication using the USB 2.0 standard (which
I discuss in detail in Chapter 16), be sure to buy a drive that exchanges data
at that speed. In most types of use, a USB drive is no slower than an internal
device.Figure 7-4:
A Maxtor
One-Touch
40GB
external
USB hard
drive, fast,
capable,
and
requiring an
AC adapter
for power.
Chapter 7: Easing In to Hard Disks 135