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Hello. I have KODI(OSMC) installed on Raspberry Pi 3. All my media files stored on external hard drive. When I'm watching movie, all this time hard drive is working, so power consumption is bigger. Also I think that in this case, my HDD will be corrupted after few years of usage. I gues that will be better if files will be copyed on micro-SD and then played from it. Maybe my assumption is not correct and someone can tell me why.
Is it possible automaticaly download files from HDD on micro-SD and then play it from micro-SD? Micro-SD card is much cheaper than HDD and will be better if after few years I will replace micro-SD, instead of HDD.
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HDDs are much cheaper per Gbyte than a memory card. As an example you can get a 1Tbyte HDD for less than £40 but a Class 10 64Gbyte micro sd will set you back about £20.
Now you can download or even copy your video files to the micro sd card on the Pi but it only has the one card, which already contains the OS/Kodi. Even without this on a 16Gbyte card, which is what my Pi came with, you'll only get a couple of full length video files if you rip a DVD to something like an MKV format. So you have to ask yourself how many videos you want to get on the card without having to remove/replace some.
Yes, the power consumption of the external HDD is higher than using a micro sd card but for me it's not significant compare to the benefits of more bytes per pound and being separate from the OS/Kodi. For instance I can take it and plug it into any machine I have.
Yes, your HDD may become corrupted of just die but they are very reliable these days. Even so you should always have a backup and this should apply to the micro sd card as well.
The other option to consider is using USB Memory Sticks. Still not as cheap as a HDD but you can have several and they are easily removable.
Question for you: What type of movies are you watching and how do you get them onto your HDD?
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An HDD will way outlive any SD card. I have an external drive that is over a decade old, SD card never last that long.
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