Laptop as Music Server - Wear?

"Backing up my music library on my main PC using E-SATA
takes under two hours. Backing up using USB2.0 takes 12-14
hours."

This is good to know! Just ordered a new 1 TB eSATA/USB
drive ($70 after $20 rebate) to use with my system. I have a
little more than 400 Gbs of Music and Movies that I need to
transfer to it. I plan to use it with eSATA port instead of
USB 2.0.

I'm hoping it helps with my streaming of movies more than
music. Since the movie files are massive by comparison, some
as large as 8 Gbs! Just 43 minutes of Blue Planet Blu ray on
hard drive is 5 Gbs!

That Fit PC is one neat little unit! That would make a great
little music server. Just not enough processing power for Hi
def movies in my opinion.

With laptop price under $500, I don't think cost is a concern.

As for data transfer rate, I have my music stored in NAS and retrieve them wireless using 802.11g and still fast enough. In fact, I can upload/download music files simultaneously w/o issue.

Storing files in NAS has the added benefit of automatic backup. Buffalo NAS has RAID and I prefer having redundancy than larger space, I don't have to worry about HD crashing. Also, I can put the noise making HD away from my listening room.

I wouldn't use a laptop to STORE files, but you could use one as your interface, server. Laptop components run too hot and are too unreliable for long term file storage. You need a desktop or NAS for that, preferably with enterprise grade 3.5" drives and ventilation. Also, if your laptop requires replacement it would be a chore to retrieve your library.

The best solution will be to have a small silent, solid state drive based device (HTPC, notebook, tablet, ect) in the listening room (the drives are too small and expensive to be of much use right now) and then a network attached drive or drives for the files.