External USB HD with -optional- mains?

Posted by Stephen on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Stephen
Published on 2009-12-12T13:57:32Z Indexed on 2010/05/12 10:04 UTC
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Hardware

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usb

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external-harddrive

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power

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hardware-rec

Hi,

I'm Christmas-present-buying, and I'd appreciate recommendations for a USB HD with an optional mains power input. I've hunted, but can't find all the information I want (partially due to sketchy product specifications).

Background: This is for a digital TV which I do not own, and so I'd like to get it correct first time. The TV has a USB port to allow recording straight to disk, but the manuals don't say how much power can be drawn through the USB port. The manual's instructions state, possibly generically, to plug the drive in before connecting to the TV.

Ideally I'd like a small (2.5"?) drive which can draw power over USB, with an mains power input if it turns out the USB port on the TV doesn't offer enough juice. The ideal is to use one cable, two max. A powered USB hub would introduce too much clutter.

I've spotted that the LaCie Petit drives have what appears to be an additional power input, but I'm not even sure from the specs what that is. And the device doesn't ship with a mains adapter.

Suggestions?

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