External Hard Drive (Desktop) Choices

i'm comparing wd , lacie hard drive (4tb), looking best performance per dollar spent.

lacie drive has thunderbolt2 , usb 3.0 connectivity, runs disks @ 7200 rpm, , can transfer data 180mb/s. given tb , usb 3.0 have max throughputs of ~20 & 5 gb/s, seems there no advantage using tb device. today transferred 73gb file macbook pro (ssd) imac (ssd) via thunderbolt bridge on 30 minutes. less quarter of maximum rate provided lacie (hdd) - there other limitation on transfer speed inherent system?

wd doesn't give specifics (data transfer "blazing fast"), i'll assume it's same lacie. reason i'm considering lacie because have one. didn't comparisons before. needed external drive, had 1 @ apple store, done. time, difference in price $300, , need know it's more "designed _____" on side of box.

can clear details specs , performance? specifically, tb superiors usb 3.0 on 1 of these drives (i.e. worth paying more capability). thanks.

 

several independent factors impact performance (read/write speed):

transport between computer , drive enclosure (usb 2, fw, usb 3, tb 1, tb 2, ethernet...etc.)

if usb 3 transport, computer , enclosure both uasp?

internal enclosure interface towards drive (sata 1, 2, or 3)

type of drive (ssd or spinning platters)

if spinning platter hd how designed (rpm, cache size, access speed...etc.)


aware there 2 main hd suppliers these days, wd , seagate. seagate owns lacie.


either usb 3 doing uasp or tb transports, delays in spinning drives, not transport.

 

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