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External Hard Drive - Which to Buy?

3K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  nmaf 
#1 ·
Looking for some recommendations on what name brand, type of separate storage drive to purchase to hold pics, music and simple data. Need something obviously reliable and easy to use.

Here is one from BB that is on sale but not sure if it meets the criteria:

SimpleDrive 500GB External Hard Drive

Don't let its beauty fool you. SimpleDrive is a high-performance external hard drive ideal for storing and backing up your music, video, photos and more. And with high speed USB 2.0, setup is a snap and data transfer rates are fast and reliable.

Thanks,
Nick
 
#3 ·
For backup, The SimpleDrive 500GB External Hard Drive is fine as is pretty much any USB 2.0 drive but I would check around as your likely to get a better deal elsewhere.
 
#5 ·
I like the NextStar 3 drive cases (USB/eSATA) and Hitachi or WD drives. Both hard drive makers have power saving models in the 750GB size that are comparable in cost/GB to to 500GB models and consume less power. 500GB SATA drives also work well in the NextStar 3 case. Avoid Maxtor 500GB drives since they consume more power and run hot.
 
#6 ·
External Hard Drive Advice

I'm looking to buy an external hard drive to back up my files. I tried looking up information online, and it seems that some hard drives die within a few months, some use difficult software, etc. I think I'd prefer a plug and play. Does anyone have external hard drives that they find reliable? I'm also not sure what the difference is (and if either is better) between FAT32 and NTFS. Any help is appreciated.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the replies. Can anyone tell me about the FAT32 and NTFS. I read something about having to format it to NTFS if it's in FAT32 so that videos will play from the external hard drive. Do all the drives come in FAT32 and have to be reformatted?
 
#9 ·
FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB. If you are planning on having files larger than that (i.e. video or backups) then you will need NTFS. NTFS is generally better but FAT32 is more compatible with older Windows operating systems and Linux. I use NTFS for external drives. It works well.

If you are purchasing an integrated external drive, a Seagate unit or comparable name brand is best. Big box house brands are often just cheap no-name cases with the cheapest possible drive. Not usually a good combination. If integrating your own external drive, consider an energy saving drive such as the Hitachi PK series or the Western Digital GP series. For the case, you might also want to consider a networked solution such as the D-LINK DNS-323 2-BAY Network Storage Enclosure or the Linksys NAS200 Network Attached Storage System. They provide 24/7 connectivity to extra PCs, laptops or media extenders and provide space for future expansion. Note that some of these units only support FAT32.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the info. I'm not sure what you mean by integrated, but since I'm a novice, I'm sure that's the one I'll want. I'm also not sure what you mean by a "file size limit of 4GB". If it's a 500 GB drive, can't you but 500GB's on it? Why only 4GB? :confused: Also (bare with me as I don't know very much about these things), I don't notice where any of the specs stipulate whether it's FAT 32 or NTFS. How would I know this? Thanks again.
 
#11 ·
By integrated, I mean a case and drive already put together and sold as a package. Putting a drive and case together yourself has some advantages. It can be cheaper, better quality, consume less power and/or have more connection options than a preconfigured drive. You make the choices, not the maker of the external drive package. Buying an integrated unit is a lot easier though.

The FAT32 4GB limit is for a single file. You can put many smaller files on the drive, up to 500GB, but no single file can be larger than 4GB. Most people will not run into the 4GB limit but some do.
 
#16 ·
I bought an empty external case from eBay for under $7 (including s/h). I then bought a 500Gb Seagate (I think it was around $70), and popped the drive into the case (it took 5 minutes to put together). I use this setup for all my back up stuff like pictures music, video's, etc. Good deal for under $80.
 
#19 ·
The latest Maxtor OneTouch reportedly use Seagate drives inside (Maxtor was bought out by Seagate) and include the OneTouch backup software, whereas the last time I bought one I don't recall the Seagate FreeAgent drive coming with any backup software at all.

Plus I like the case design of the new Maxtor OneTouch slightly more than the FreeAgent (can actually be put down on its side instead of standing vertical if one desired)
 
#21 ·
costco has WD mybook/worldbook external drives, in 500gb, 1tb and 2tb models, ranging from like 120 bucks to 500 for the 2tb model, that has like world-wide ethernet access, esata, firewire/usb2, etc etc etc.

the 2tb is actually 2x1tb that can be used in mirrored raid (raid 5?) for extra protection.
 
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