What Storage to buy

WexfordMusings

So,

I've filled the hard drive of my pc and played around with the idea of splashing out on a new laptop but with the dreaded - bagel (any west wing fans out there) - eerm - recession - am just considering buying some sort of external hard drive.

So, with a budget of around €200 I can get something like an external 1tb drive like this - http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=357 .

So, does anyone have experience, can anyone point me in a different direction etc.

Thanks

John

ThOnda

I have USB2.o Western Digital external HDD from komplett and I am more than happy user. The 1TB version is less than €150 (but it was cheaper few months ago - I don't know why).

Kbeg3

This one works out at about €120 and it stylish!

forbairt

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=341190

works out at around 140 inc postage ..

or on dabs its a lot cheaper at 115 + postage ?

http://www.dabs.ie/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4XZQ&CategorySelectedId=11157&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11157,50473&InMerch=1

They are usb 2.0 only though your original 1TB drive has firewire

robinph

I have the network version of that which if you have more than one PC or even just one laptop in the house is fantastic. Just plug it into your wireless router and access it from anywhere in the house.

smelltheglove

I couldnt tell you which ones I use but I have a large desktop and a laptop with large storage but also 3 seperate external drives. One is used for me others for hubbie. It works brilliantly as every couple of weeks I copy all pics from both laptop and desktop onto the one drive, then no matter what happens to either computer the pics are still on the hardrive. My next thing to do is network both computers and then I can automatically transfer as I edit.

I woulg highly recommend going for a drive. It is so very awkward to transfer from one to the other when you are doing large bulks, such as buying a new computer, the hardrive will stay with you longer than a lap top in my experience and when your budget allows a laptop you can get one also, which is great for uploading on the go, then network them all together.

Gambler

How do people keep backups of their external HD's?

I have a 1TB myself for all my pics and general storage but have been thinking recently "what happens if that HD fails!!"

I have a friend who work's as a gardener, they had photos of all the gardens they had done over the years (with yearly update pictures for each garden) on an external 300GB drive and recently the harddisk just packed in. Serious harddisk failure which meant that any computer it was connected to wouldn't even boot (even when the HD was taken out and plug in to a computer internally).

Should we be getting a second 1TB to backup the first 1TB too?!

shrapnel222

Gambler wrote: »

How do people keep backups of their external HD's?

I have a 1TB myself for all my pics and general storage but have been thinking recently "what happens if that HD fails!!"

I have a friend who work's as a gardener, they had photos of all the gardens they had done over the years (with yearly update pictures for each garden) on an external 300GB drive and recently the harddisk just packed in. Serious harddisk failure which meant that any computer it was connected to wouldn't even boot (even when the HD was taken out and plug in to a computer internally).

Should we be getting a second 1TB to backup the first 1TB too?!

a lot of people do this too, but a simple way, is just to keep your external HD unplugged, except when writing to it. this will limit wear of the HD and ensure both your PC and external HD can never blow up at the same time (well they still could but very unlikely)

Gambler

Think I might go for a second HD for backups, between all my source code and photos I can't keep a copy on my computer and the external HD at the same time

mikeanywhere

PC World are doing WD 1TB external HDD's for €119.00 (special offer and not sure for how long) which is excellent value

Anouilh

Check the size and weight specifications when buying.

Some external hard drives are best kept in one place.

I got help when choosing a travel hard drive recently and you might find the tips useful:

http://lounge.techfocus.net/showthread.php?t=15130