External Hard Drive Recommendations?

[AllisonH 0]

I'm looking for an external hard drive to use primarily as a back-up for files that are on my laptop, and also to store some old files (that I also have copies of on DVD) that are important but not being used at the moment, so they won't be filling up my laptop's hard drive. Doesn't matter if it's a portable or not - will just be using it at home. Probably looking for something in the 120-300 gig range, less than $200. Currently have ~50 gig of stuff to put on it, but want a little room to grow.

The problem is - every one I've found has horrible reviews. Any suggestions on one that's easy to use and reliable?

[skycat 0]

I have a 300ish Gig Seagate one that I use daily. It's quiet, upload/download speeds seem to be ok, and well I haven't had any issues with it yet and I've had it almost a year. Mine is USB but I beleive they make a firewire version.

Fly it like you stole it!

[shropshire 0]

Also, maybe get 2! - because you will be jolly pissed off if you loose all the data on your big back-up drive [if] it dies!!

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Morrison79 0]

I bought the Western Digital 250GB at Bestbuy for $140.00. So far I love it. It's small and doesn't need an external power supply.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8360775&st=external+harddrive&type=product&id=1177113149231

[Conundrum 1]

I have the Seagate Free Agent, 320g hard drive and so far it's been great.

[AllisonH 0]

Quote

Also, maybe get 2! - because you will be jolly pissed off if you loose all the data on your big back-up drive [if] it dies!!

I don't think I have anything THAT important. Having stuff saved in 2 places will be enough for me.

[PhreeZone 20]

I dislike the Seagate since its a vertical storage only, the WD Mybooks allow for vertical or horizontal storage. I've got both and use the WD every day and the Seagate rarely.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[AllisonH 0]

Seagate and Western Digital are the 2 I've read the most about. Both seem to have a pretty even balance between people who really love them and people who've had them die in less than 6 months. I'm hoping this is because those who are pissed are more likely to report it? If not, then reliability appears aweful.

[jcd11235 0]

I'm pretty sure you can find 500 GB external drives in your price range. I paid around $120 for a 500 GB kit (hard drive, external case and back-up software, incredibly easy to assemble) a few months back, and drive prices have only dropped since then. I chose to go with a kit not because it was much cheaper, but because the warranty was better.

I highly recommend making sure the drive case has a port matching the fastest connection your laptop offers. I don't know what laptop you have, so I can't say for certain which connection type this is. In order of fastest to slowest: eSATA, FireWire 800 (aka IEEE 1394b†), FireWire 400 (aka IEEE 1394a†, aka i.LINK on Sony products), USB 2.0††.

Some wireless routers also offer the option of connecting an external drive via ethernet or USB, allowing the drive to be accessed over a wireless network. Some drives also have ethernet connections, which also allows network access. These can be quite fast, provided the drive, network and computer all support gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbit/sec) ethernet. If only fast ethernet (10/100 Mbit/sec) is supported, the speeds will be slower than USB 2.0.

If you can give me more information about your laptop (and home network if you have one), I will be happy to help you find some specific models to meet your needs within your budget.

edit to add: You will typically find MUCH better prices online than in brick and mortar stores.

edit to add 2: Hitachi drives (actual drive, not case) seem to have the best reputation right now, but I don't believe Hitachi offers any pre-assembled external drives. Within the case, Oxford chipsets are generally considered to be best, especially if the external drive is going to be set up to boot from, in the even that your internal laptop drive crashes or is otherwise permanently or temporarily out of commission. I highly recommend setting a drive up for this possibility.

† The "a" and "b" designations following IEEE 1394 can refer to speeds other than 400 and 800, respectively, but these are the speeds typically referred to in todays market. If there is no letter after IEEE 1394, it typically refers to FireWire 400.

†† On paper, USB 2.0 is faster than FireWire 400, but in practice FireWire 400 tends to be up to twice as fast.

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[slotperfect 7]

I second the recommendation for the WD 250GB. I have one and it kicks ass.

The only thing I wish it came with was a bag or case. I had to scrounge something else.

Arrive Safely

John

[kelpdiver 2]

if you don't mind 10 minutes assembly, you can stick any internal drive inside an enclosure. ~30-50 for the enclosure. If you have an drive not in use, that part becomes free. And it does allow you to buy a particular drive - if these externals are getting bad ratings, might be that they're using the low end drives.

I haven't had a drive failure since 1994 and many are running 7/24, so not sure what people are doing. If you keep dropping an external, it will die.

[rehmwa 2]

Keep looking - search hard enough and you can get the 750 Seagate Free agent for under $200

I like the Seagate one touch external also. The 500G sits at home and it's totally quiet and completely trouble free.

(And Phree - you are wrong - the one touch can sit vert OR stack horizontally so I don't know what you are talking about there).

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Gawain 0]

Quote

I bought the Western Digital 250GB at Bestbuy for $140.00. So far I love it. It's small and doesn't need an external power supply.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8360775&st=external+harddrive&type=product&id=1177113149231

What you said...I have Western Digital 120GB and love it. Got it for under $100. They have a 320GB for under $200 now.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=387&language=en

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[PhreeZone 20]

I would love to know how you can stack these on their side. The Base sticks out and has the drive leaning on an angle the whole time if its on its side, stacking one on top of it is impossible.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Loonix 0]

I strongly recommend you do NOT buy something looking like http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/img/2007/06/0627seagate.jpg this. I had one. It fell over accidentally, and that was the end of it. It may look "cool" or something, but the design is very unpractical for several reasons.

[AllisonH 0]

Quote

If you can give me more information about your laptop (and home network if you have one), I will be happy to help you find some specific models to meet your needs within your budget.

Uhh... I have an almost 3 year old Averatec laptop (will have this one for another year and a half or so, then replace when I get a real job that comes with a real paycheck). It has a couple of USB 1.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port, and some sort of Firewire port that I've never used.

I have an AT&T wireless router - that's about all I can tell you on that one, I was just glad to be able to get it running.

I do have 2 hard drives in my desktop that I'd be willing to take out since I never use it anymore, but I'm pretty sure they're too small to be of much use. Don't remember the specifics, but I'm pretty sure they hold less than my laptop, which has an 80 gig HD.

[BerryBoy 0]

I agree with shropshire....if you're primarily using this for backup, you're getting it for the right reasons. However, I would not venture putting only copies of important files on this drive without having a backup somewhere else. My job deals with computers and I was foolish enough to bet on my external drive as a temporary storage device for a few months until I could get a new computer....the result was my entire 4 years of work from college lost, family pictures, and other important documents. A mistake I KNEW better than to set myself up for!!! Take our advice and backup your data if you use it as a primary source for any of your important files!!!!!

[AllisonH 0]

All of my files, important or otherwise, will also be stored on either my laptop or on CD/DVD. I'm just looking for something to use as a backup to my laptop. It hasn't been liking me so much lately, and I'd feel better if my things were stored in 2 somewhat iffy places rather than just one somewhat iffy place

[TomAiello 26]

I've been very pleased with this one.

I went through the same search a few months ago (when the Mac OS came out with the automatic backup utility) and this seemed the best combination of price/size/features to me.

I actually bought two of them (as Shropshire suggests), and the second one only gets plugged in to make manual backups of critical files on another external drive (it's got all my media files on it) every few weeks.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[Iceburner 0]

i have a fantom drive 500gb and haven't had a problem with it yet. Only thing it gets negitive reviews on is the led on the front is bright...but nothing a piece of tape can't dull down. Silent, fast, and affordable. I've heard they take the WD drives, put them in a diff case, and sell them cheaper, so i opened mine up, and sure enough, it has the WD logo on it

[jcd11235 0]

Quote

Uhh... I have an almost 3 year old Averatec laptop (will have this one for another year and a half or so, then replace when I get a real job that comes with a real paycheck). It has a couple of USB 1.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port, and some sort of Firewire port that I've never used.

I have an AT&T wireless router - that's about all I can tell you on that one, I was just glad to be able to get it running.

I do have 2 hard drives in my desktop that I'd be willing to take out since I never use it anymore, but I'm pretty sure they're too small to be of much use. Don't remember the specifics, but I'm pretty sure they hold less than my laptop, which has an 80 gig HD.

I would recommend a FireWire drive if you have a FireWire port, especially since you don't use it for anything else. I've attached images of the different kinds of IEEE 1394 ports in common use.

Note that with the right cables, the different FireWire types can be used interchangeably. In other words, with a 6-pin to 9-pin cable, a FireWire 800 hard drive case can be used with a computer with only a FireWire 400 port, etc. The speed will be that of the slowest port. Also note that the difference between FireWire 400 6-pin (Apple style) and iLINK/FireWire 400 4-pin (Sony style) is that the two additional pins on the Apple style port carry power. This means that if either your laptop or the drive have a 4-pin port, you will need to make sure the drive comes with a power supply (which is usually, but not always the case). There are some good reasons to use a dedicated power supply anyway.

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[jcd11235 0]

Here is a comparison of 500 GB - 750 GB drives from NewEgg that are under $200. You may or may not be able to find any particular drive for less. I used NewEgg because they have a good reputation and decent site searching. Their prices are usually competitive, but not always the absolute lowest.

Here is a link to a drive from Other World Computing with a good reputation. I have had good experiences dealing with OWC, but have not tried anything from this particular model. It is worth noting that the actual drive within the case has a 3 year warranty from WD, even though OWC offers only a 1 year warranty on the assembly.

Of all the models linked to above, I would be most inclined to purchase the OWC Neptune 500 GB or the Western Digital My Book Home 750 GB, with preference for the Neptune due to its Oxford chipset. (As a general, but not absolute, rule, if a drive case has an Oxford chipset, the manufacturer will advertise that fact.)

Every model I found (except one that had terrible customer reviews) has a fanless design, which I dislike, since excessive heat can lead to premature drive failure. If you typically use the drive only for backups, that should not be an issue as long as you leave a little bit of space around the case to allow for airflow.

It looks like most of the drives include FireWire cables, but they all appear to be 6-pin to 6-pin. If you have a 4-pin port on your laptop, you will need either a 6-pin (female) to 4-pin (male) adapter or a 6-pin to 4-pin cable. You may be able to get the retailer to swap the cables for you when you purchase the drive.

Good luck!

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[turtlespeed 226]

The Book is a good HD - I have had several back ups and this is the most user friendly to me.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[RastaRicanAir 0]

Quote

Quote

I bought the Western Digital 250GB at Bestbuy for $140.00. So far I love it. It's small and doesn't need an external power supply.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8360775&st=external+harddrive&type=product&id=1177113149231

What you said...I have Western Digital 120GB and love it. Got it for under $100. They have a 320GB for under $200 now.


http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=387&language=en

Put another vote in the Passport column. Mine rocks. It's stuck to the top of my laptop with two pieces of velcro tape right now, and fits nicely in an inside pocket of my backpack.

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-"and ladies....messin with Robbie is venturing into territory you cant even imagine!-cuz Robbie is

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

I would love to know how you can stack these on their side. The Base sticks out and has the drive leaning on an angle the whole time if its on its side, stacking one on top of it is impossible.

I said the one touch, not the free agent. I don't have a free agent so I don't know if the base detaches or not. CHeck the literature

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants