Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Enigma]

I'm not a tech guy, so please go easy on me.

I bought my laptop in Canada, and I'm planning to pick up a USB hard drive. I know that the laptop has a power converter in the power cord that converts the voltage so that it can run properly, however I'm curious if buying a hard drive in Korea and using it with a Canadian computer will matter.

The reason I ask is because I had an mp3 player I purchased in Japan that charged fine on my Canadian computer (via USB), but when I took it traveling with me to China and southeast Asia it wouldn't charge. So I'm wondering if there would be a similar problem with a hard drive.

One more question - I live in a very small city nowhere near Seoul, so I figured I'd just pick one up next time I make a Costco run. Is that a good idea, or can I get a (significantly) better deal elsewhere?

Thanks

[swigs]

It's more about the OS, than country of origin. Meaning if you have Mac OS X, then your hard drive would need to be formated for that system. Most external hard drives are already formated for Windows.

There are hard drives that are powered through USB, and some that have their own external power. Usually the ultra portables are albe to be self powered, but cost more per gigabyte. So it depends if you want portability over storage capacity.

Not sure what costco has, but you could always buy online as well, and get exactly what you want.

[Underwaterbob]

Voltage provided through USB is the standard 5V around the world. Your MP3 player must have just chosen that time to break.

[sulkoudai]

2.5 inchers are USB powered and 3.5 inchers need a power supply.

[JustinC]

I've never had a problem with any USB-powered device in any country, I think your player just called it quits or it had paranoid software.