USB2 Powered HD - 250Gb too much?

[demonboy]

Hi all, newbie here.

I live on a boat so my power consumption is always an issue. I have just purchased a new, cheapie Dell that only draws 1.5amps so it should be ok to run on 12v.

I'm interested in purchasing two 250Gb USB2-powered hard drives, probably Western Digital.

What I'm concerned about is the power required to run either one or both of the drives at the same time, especially on 12v. Anyone with experience of USB2-powered HD? Is 250Gb too much to handle? I notice the 80Gb and 150Gb models are more popular. Is this just because of people's budget or is it because the 250Gb units are problematic? I'd also be interested to know how much more power is required to run these drives.

Any help or comments on these issues gratefully received.

 

[Cromewell]

The capacity of the drive doesn't really matter, power cnsumption is determined other ways for hard drives. The spindle speed is the biggest draw. I don't know the numbers for 3.5" hard drives power consumption. I know 2.5" drives (laptop hard drives) cap out drawing around 4W of power for a 7200RPM. A 3.5" drive will draw more than that but I don't know how much more.