Stupid computer question

Iv'e got an old, well at 3 yrs prehistoric, Dell pc and I want to free up a bit of space on it by buying an external hard drive and storing all my music and images in it, I was all set to buy one of these

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141558

until I was told it was only suitable for a laptop, that cant be right can it ? btw my system is still running XP if that makes anay difference
thanks
Stew

[the_lone_wolf]

That one looks suitable for any PC with a powered USB port, your desktop should be fine

However...

For that money you can almost get a 1TB (1000GB) internal hard drive, they're very easy to install and you'll never be likely to fill one of them...

That external drive will be fine on any machine (laptop or desktop) running Windows XP and a free USB 2.0 port.

I think what the person advising you may have meant is that this external caddy contains a 2.5" drive which is typically used inside laptops.

However as it is in the caddy and not just a bare drive you will have no problems if you meet the spec above.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by stewie

until I was told it was only suitable for a laptop, that cant be right can it ?

no its not right.

Thanks guys, thought it would be ok,
ta

[embee]

I'm not sure about this, but I think because it's described as a "portable" rather than simply "external" you'll be paying more for it. Do you actually want a portable drive?

External hard drives are simply what they say, and suitable for anything with a USB2 connection.

When I looked into it a couple of years ago I decided on Seagate as they appeared to have very few bad reviews, unlike some of the other makes. Got mine from Maplins, they regularly do offers on specific units.

I was amused by the instructions that came with it, blatantly tongue in cheek. It went "Take it out of the box, plug it in".

It only has the laptop thing because it's powered by a usb not a plug, and it's kinda pocket portable. Designed for laptops but you can just as easily use it on your pc. I bought one of these in Canada last year i think and it looked pretty handy.