So I need two External Hard Drives (EHDD). One for each laptop. Please let me know what you think of the hardware I am thinking of buying for this. I plan to mount/unmount them and disconnect all cables every time I shut down. This is because no matter what I do it seems to me that they stay hot and spinning and I want to get a long life out of them. I do however, welcome all feedback about this practice. The reason for this is that the old Seagate I have is failing and I am lucky if I can get it to work (already completely backed up, and don't save anything to it anymore) and the new Lacie is not working as I expected. For example, it supposedly has a sleep mode. I set it to five minutes and yet the thing keeps spinning and creating heat. I think the best thing for this new unit is to unmount and then disconnect the one USB cable that is uses for power and data. This way when I use it I just power up the laptop and then plug in the USB cable. This should ensure a long life...I hope. Let me know thanks. The first link is for the HDD. http://www.newegg.com/Pro...x?Item=N82E16822148840 The second link is for the enclosure. Please let me know if I am missing something or forgetting something or out of my mind. http://www.newegg.com/Pro...-_-Rosewill-_-17173043

I think the green drives are designed to shut down when not in use. Both of my external drives "go to sleep" after they are not used for a while. I think with the right drives, you shouldn't need to go through all the extra work to keep them in good shape.

 Thanks KurryKid. That is what I thought, but the Lacie does not actually sleep. It stays warm/hot and keeps spinning. I will have to try it again to see if I can get it to sleep.

I have two of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392002
and two of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145167
and one of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392060
 
I would buy anyone of them in a heart beat.......not a single issue and they run a LOT and I have 1 TB drives in each except the 2 bay enclosure which I have 2 - 1 TB Drives. I have each over at Least two years a one of the singles I've had longer.....
 
Only my 2 cents.
Clifford
 

Nice...what about cooling?
 
I do not see a fan...maybe I am blind.
 
Thanks