Well, I think I'll buy Samsung 2,5" 640GB, it should work well on USB only power-supply, i it doesn't then i'll buy other external case.
There have been several incidents of dead sheevaplug power supplies. In almost all of them, the plugs were used to power (via USB) an external drive (or other power-hungry device). Apparently, the current drawn by most USB-powered drives exceeds, at least temporarily (e.g. when spinning-up) the amount allowed by the specs of USB. This might not be an issue for the average PC, with its several-hundreds-of-watts power supply, but it is an issue for the plug, which is designed around the assumption of low power usage. So if you use a USB-powered drive with a plug, you may be courting disaster.
That said, it is true that:
- We don't yet know the specs of the Guruplug power supply - it may be able to handle the extra stress.
- I guess nobody knows how many people are actually using external drives powered by their sheevaplug via USB. Those who end up with a burned power supply are "visible" because they ask in the forums for solutions. But there may well be hundreds of sheevaplug users happily using their USB-powered drives with no problems whatsoever. Most of them will remain "under the radar".
Best regards,
Alf