Suggestions for a reasonably priced external hard drive?

I'm interested in it for data backup purposes.

 

I purchased the top one - it is great.


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ix=external+hdds,aps&rh=i:aps,k:external hdds:wave

 

Depends on how much you are looking to spend. I habe a 1TB Toshiba Cavio(??) USB drive, that I got for $90, which is standing up to the use I use it for.

 

Many of the pre-built drives no longer use standard SATA connections on the internal drive itself. If the port or card on such a unit goes bad, removing and reinstalling the drive in a new case will be all but impossible.

Given this, it's best to make your own using an internal SATA drive and an external enclosure. If you want 1TB or less, you can use a 2.5" drive and enclosure that's USB Powered. Over 1TB, I'd go with a 3.5" which uses an AC adapter.

For the drive itself, WD Black series are the most reliable; WD Blue are decent. Stay away from WD Green and Hitachi - both have dismal failure rates.

Hope this helps.

 

I'm with the G-Man on this; go the DIY route and avoid a few potential pitfalls.

 

As stated on the other thread regarding external drives, the drives inside the enclosures, such as the Toshiba Canvio is nothing more than your standard run of the mill SATA or PATA drive. All you do is remove the adapter on the sata interface on the drive, and then place back on the new drive.

Unless you have proof that you can back up what you are stating, that these are not standard drives, even though numerous amounts of info and sites state otherwise, I would like to know where you came up with the idea that the drives are non-standard connections on theme, when they are nothing more than 2.5" laptop hard drives.

 

If you need proof, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64j_U-E2qpc

Other than that, I'm done with this thread.

 

Here's another http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-Porta...dard-USB-interface-on-My-Passport/td-p/429792

Some of us have been battling these issues over some 2-3 years now, here and elsewhere.

I'm done here too.

 

That is just the WD drive, which has a proprietary motherboard specified by the manufacturer of the case. Again, not all have the same drive, and most of them have a daughter board that attaches to the back of the standard 2.5" SATA or PATA drive inside the enclosure.

You should try harder than that gman863.

 

While external hdds ( as the one I referenced) may not be the best choice while at home, I use them when traveling, as they do not need an electrical outlet for power.

I am extremley careful with it ( keep in a padded case) and have never had a problem.

That said, I do keep the contents backed up at home on ,my PC, so I have 2 layers of protection.