I opened up a Western Digital Passport external drive, removed the faulty drive, and popped in the Seagate 160GB hard drive that I had been using in my notebook (but since replaced with a 500GB drive).
My concern is that the Seagate will require more power than the Western Digital–especially since the WD drive enclosed in the Passport shell was jumpered to use RPS (Reduced Power Spinup).
Here are the main specs for the Seagate 160GB drive (model# ST9160310AS ):
"Power dissipation +5V input average (25° C)
Spinup (max) 1.0 amps
Seek 1.6 watts
Read 2.6 watts
Write 2.85 watts
Idle, performance* 1.5 watts
Idle, active* 0.78 watts
Idle, low power mode* 0.725 watts
Standby** 0.22 watts
Sleep 0.22 watts"
And the specs page mentions the following:
5V start max current 1.0A
And here are the specs for the Western Digital drive (model# WD1600BEVS-00RST0 ):
"Current Requirements
5 VDC
Read/Write 500 mA
Idle 400 mA
Standby 50 mA
Sleep 20 mA
Power Dissipation
Read/Write 2.50 Watts
Idle 0.85 Watts
Standby 0.25 Watts
Sleep 0.10 Watts"
Now I’m something of a noob when it comes to basic electronics. I just don’t want to shorten the life of a perfectly functional hard drive by putting it in an enclosure that doesn’t feed it enough juice. The Passport enclosure may be sufficient for the Seagate ST9160310AS, but then again, it may not. I’d rather spend a little bit of money on a new enclosure than take the chance.
Tech experts: Please advise!