Recommend an external hard drive

[g force]

Hey...don't often venture here so be kind

I need an external hard drive so I can back up iTunes, photos and work. Reckon 200GB would be enough, but should I get more?

And what brand is worthwhile? Seagate seem good, what about Western Digital?

Ta v muchly

 

[Kid_Eternity]

*Jumps onto thread because he's been mulling over getting exactly the same item for the same reasons*

 

[editor]

WD MyBook are pretty good.

 

[pinkychukkles]

I got a Lacie Rugged 150GB (USB only but you can get ones with FireWire as well) for around £130; quite handy as it's powered from the USB cable.

 

[g force]

That looks nice....just want something that plugs straight into the USB2.0 port so I can copy stuff off my work laptop before I leave the company

I just wonder if I back everything photos, music, word docs, PPTs etc, is 150 GB going to run out quickly? For example, I saw this and wonder if it was the best option:

http://http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=48872&doy=17m4

 

[Kanda]

I've got a few WD Mybooks @ 500GB each. Think they were about £110.

Yeah they are: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

 

[Jambooboo]

I've got a few WD Mybooks @ 500GB each. Think they were about £110.

Yeah they are: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

Even cheaper from E-buyer, which is where I got mine from.

 

[mack]

WD My book £75 quid 250GB.

 

[electroplated]

I'm just waiting for a 500GB WD Mybook to arrive myself - glad they seem a popular choice!

 

[Kid_Eternity]

I've got a few WD Mybooks @ 500GB each. Think they were about £110.

Yeah they are: http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

Nice! *starts counting his pennies*

 

[kyser_soze]

PC World have some 250GB Western Digital drives for £57 + £4 delivery - we got one a while back and it's doing a great job.
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/118392

 

[Kanda]

Nice! *starts counting his pennies*

They're nice, especially when hung off the PS3 for all my movies/music/photos

 

[g force]

Hmmmm.....Sold!

Thank you peeps

 

[Kid_Eternity]

They're nice, especially when hung off the PS3 for all my movies/music/photos

What's the deal with them, you need to install drivers to get em to work or do you just plug em in via the usb and start shifting data over?

 

[Kanda]

What's the deal with them, you need to install drivers to get em to work or do you just plug em in via the usb and start shifting data over?

I just plugged it in via USB and it was visible straight away, no need to copy data across, just run everything off the external drive.

(make sure they are the right formats of course)

 

[Kid_Eternity]

I just plugged it in via USB and it was visible straight away, no need to copy data across, just run everything off the external drive.

(make sure they are the right formats of course)

Cool! Very cool infact, so useful for dumping say video on and transporting from one machine to another? Nice!

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

i just got another seagate external 320gb

£90 and a beuty

 

[scruff]

Can't go wrong with a 500GB WD Mybook!

 

[ChrisD]

don't rely too much on it...

I had a LACIE 250 GB USB 2.0 drive... worked a treat ... for 53 weeks then suddenly makes a clunking noise (it;s buggered)... I'd got used to how easy it was and offloading some files as my hard drive was getting too full..

Now have a Maxtor 320Gb but best to assume that it's possible that the external drive and your hard drive could go wrong on the same weekend... be wary of anything with moving parts! I keep third copy of anything vital on disks or pendrive

 

[rhod]

Another vote for Seagate - solid gear.

 

[untethered]

Make sure you know whether the drive you're buying can be powered directly from the USB port or needs an external power adapter. If you want portability, you'll be getting a smaller USB-powered drive but they tend to be more expensive and have less capacity as they're based on 2.5 inch notebook hard drives rather than full-size 3.5 inch desktop hard drives.

 

[sorearm]

so long as you get western digital or seagate you can't go wrong! I've got myself a 320gig external western digital and it's gorgeous

 

[London_Calling]

I subscribed to the Maplin's email whatsit last week, first mail they sent me this:

High-capacity High Speed 400GB external hard drive
Space for up to 6665 hours of digital audio, 400 hours of digital video or 128,000 photos
High-speed USB 2.0
Low noise 7200 rpm spin speed
Cache Buffer 16MB 8MB
Seek Time < 9.0 ms
Weight 1.16 kg
Dimensions: 4.5 x 15.2 x 22.3cm


£74.99
-£3.00 (for subscribing)
= £72.00

- no expert but sounds like a deal to me.

 

[sorearm]

I subscribed to the Maplin's email whatsit last week, first mail they sent me this:

High-capacity High Speed 400GB external hard drive
Space for up to 6665 hours of digital audio, 400 hours of digital video or 128,000 photos
High-speed USB 2.0
Low noise 7200 rpm spin speed
Cache Buffer 16MB 8MB
Seek Time < 9.0 ms
Weight 1.16 kg
Dimensions: 4.5 x 15.2 x 22.3cm


£74.99
-£3.00 (for subscribing)
= £72.00

- no expert but sounds like a deal to me.

16meg cache, 7200 rpm, maxtor ... mutts nutts mate, get in!

 

[renegadechicken]

i got the seagate 400 gb external and love seagate........remeber to format it to the format you use as they come fat formatted............

ps i also replaced all my hard drives with seagate after purchasing the external hd as i was that impressed with their speed

 

[pinkychukkles]

I should point out, that my suggestion is good for travel and as it's a notebook sized HDD (2.5") and can be powered from the USB (does the same apply if you had it connected via FireWire?) so one less cable (and potentially one less plug adaptor).

If it's going to reside at home then as indicated above, much better value (GB/£) is obtained elsewhere with the other options.

 

[Radar]

I subscribed to the Maplin's email whatsit last week, first mail they sent me this:

High-capacity High Speed 400GB external hard drive
Space for up to 6665 hours of digital audio, 400 hours of digital video or 128,000 photos
High-speed USB 2.0
Low noise 7200 rpm spin speed
Cache Buffer 16MB 8MB
Seek Time < 9.0 ms
Weight 1.16 kg
Dimensions: 4.5 x 15.2 x 22.3cm


£74.99
-£3.00 (for subscribing)
= £72.00

- no expert but sounds like a deal to me.

ebuyer are doing the 500Gb version for £80.

I haven't really looked into external drives before, but I really should. It looks the easiest way to backup my lappie and gaming PC and the odd Jonny Mnemonic style nixer

What's the attraction of firewire with disk enclosures ?? Is it that some camcorders can dump vid to them directly sans PC ?? (The firewire/usb2 ones seems to be an extra tenner or so over USB2 only)

 

[Bob_the_lost]

Firewire is notably quicker than USB2.

Then again if you've got eSATA (or spare SATA ports) then it's even faster than firewire, and you can get eSATA caddies for not much more than firewire ones.

 

[Addy]

500GB for £69.99

* Capacity: 500GB
* Interface: USB 1.1/2.0
* Operating System: PC: Windows XP Home, Professional Edition or Windows 2000 Pro. MAC: Power PC G3, G4, or G5 processor OS X 10.3.9 (or higher), or Intel Core Duo or Core Solo processor OS X 10.4.6 (or higher)
* Drive is formatted NTFS, reformat for Mac using Disk Utility
* Performance: USB 2.0 480 MB/sec
* Spindle speed: 7200 RPM
* Product dimensions: 190tall x 40 thin (without 3.2'' wide base) x 162 mm
* Weight: 0.9kg
* Warranty: Limited 5 Year!

Use code 'SEA30' for £30 discount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

link: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/33374...l_USB_2_0_Hard_Drive/Product.html?P36=5BQDEL#

note: says out of stock, but you can still order,

 

[Bob_the_lost]

Link's dead and the only one i can see that looks like it is for £169