From USB, harddrive, or CD? Which is friendliest to the computer?

General · 06-24-2010, 07:31 PM

I like to listen to music. I can put my MP3s on a USB drive, on the hard drive, or on an MP3 CD, to play them on the computer. Which method will be friendliest to the computer (i.e. so the computer will likely last longer)?

pljvaldez · 06-24-2010, 07:56 PM

Bascially, you're looking at burn out times for CD-rom drives vs USB hard disk vs mechanical hard disk. Of those, I would guess USB hard drives would last the longest (no moving parts) and CD-rom drives would last the shortest (the most moving parts) with regular hard disks somewhere in the middle. But this is just my wild guess.

General · 06-24-2010, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

Bascially, you're looking at burn out times for CD-rom drives vs USB hard disk vs mechanical hard disk. Of those, I would guess USB hard drives would last the longest (no moving parts) and CD-rom drives would last the shortest (the most moving parts) with regular hard disks somewhere in the middle. But this is just my wild guess.

If I use a small USB disk or a CD-ROM drive, is the data ever passing to the hard drive, thus gradually wearing out the hard drive as well?

pljvaldez · 06-24-2010, 08:02 PM

It may when using a CD if the player has to buffer it somewhere (like when you burn CDs). But most of the time I would think the data rate from either a CD or USB would be fast enough that it wouldn't require buffering.

jefro · 06-25-2010, 03:28 PM

We still use computers that are almost 30 years old. Don't expect yours to last anywhere near that long. I'd say do what ever is fastest to you or at least easiest.