Hi,
You'd have to look at the spec's of whatever hdd's you're interested in
3.5" are faster bottom line
Some 2.5" are more for laptops
It would have to specify desktop in it's listing otherwise a laptop 2.5" hdd might have a lower power consumption because of heat and a laptop would have a lower power supply than a desktop would plus a desktop would have a better cooling system from temperatures created by all hdd's.
For the ultimate in reliability, use an SSD in a USB 3.0 enclosure. Much less likely to be damaged by a drop than an HDD. Also, I believe that 2.5 inch hard drives would be more durable than 3.5 in hard drives. 2.5 inch hard drives are designed to be used in notebook/laptop computers, and the movement associated with it. 3.5 inch hard drives are designed to be used in stationary computers/storage devices.
Some sealed usb closures used to actually use a proprietary file system but the interface electronics "converted" filed to Windows format on the fly ie it looks like NTFS to user but wasstored differently on the drive. This made the drive pretty useless even if it could be removed (ie not soldered). I think this is fairly rare now.
The best way to know for sure what you are getting is to buy the hard drive/SSD yourself, and an enclosure to put it in.
Hi folks
over the years I've kept loads of laptops 2.5 inch HDD;s after replacing them with SSD's. They make excellent backup devices etc -- you can attach them to computer via SATA-->USB2/3 connectors -- excellent one that never fails is the SABRENT brand. (The SATA-->USB3 connector). As well as SSD works also for 2.5 inch notebook / laptop HDD's too.
USB 3.0 to SATA Adapter Cable for 2.5 SSD: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
laptop 2.5 inch HDD's are probably more robust than standard 3.5 inch standard HDD's simply because laptops are usually designed to take a few knocks.
You are unlikely though to see laptop HDD's > 1 TB so if you want larger capacity drives you'll have to go for 3.5 inch ones. Get those with at least 7200 RPM and largest possible cache --it makes a huge difference to have a decent cache and a speed of 7200 RPM compared with 5400 RPM if using HDD's rather than SSD's.
Cheers
jimbo
Check the specs, especially the disk rotation speed. A lot of 2.5 inch spinner drives spin at 5400 RPM while 3.5 in spinners spin at 7200 RPM. It impacts performance. It may have changed but that was how it used to be with IDE drives. The smaller drive had a smaller motor and thus spun slower. It also helped with battery life in a laptop. That may not be true anymore with todays SATA drives. Can't hurt to double check the speed though. Or as advised go with an SSD. No moving parts, no noise, low power requirement, plus plus.
I never had a HDD either 2.5" or 3.5" fail in any PC. I still have c. 2006 HDDs in operation in my museum piece reserve 2006 PC running the latest version of Windows 10!
Hi there
Any mechanical device can (and does) fail -- it's fine though if you don't experience any failures -- but I'll bet the one time something goes wrong is the time you don't have backup !!!
You can get laptop spinners (2.5 inch) sata / 7200 rpm but these days with the price of 250 GB SSD's now dropping towards the 35 USD mark why would people even think of having anything other than an SSD in a laptop.
As far as ruggedness - well an SSD is pretty well unbreakable. 2.5 inch spinners are also robust -- normal 3.5 inch HDD's aren't designed for knocks and bangs a laptop gets - especially at airports and London's International Eurostar Terminal (trains via Channel tunnel from London to Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam etc --saves using planes for those types of trips !!!) and also desktop HDD's aren't designed either to go through X-Ray machines.
Cheers
jimbo
When it comes to X-Ray machines, there is no difference between a 2.5 and 3.5 inch hard drive or SSD. Protection from X-Rays is provided by lead shielding, and I don't know of any consumer market hard drive that has lead shielding for radiation protection.
Enterprise drives come in either size. There isn't any known durability difference simply between the physical sizes.
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