External Hard Drive

Onecoolcookie

Looking to pick one of these up from my laptop, any good offers around at the moment ?

RolandIRL

depends on how much you need and what you're using it for. would you fill up a 500GB or 1TB, will you be moving it around or leaving it in one place?

look on amazon, and have a search through the Computer & Tech forum for threads about an external hard drive recommendation.
i'd personally go with a Western Digital drive. they're the most reliable, and the best brand. i've got a 1TB Elements that's done me a good two years.

Onecoolcookie

whiteman19 wrote: »

depends on how much you need and what you're using it for. would you fill up a 500GB or 1TB, will you be moving it around or leaving it in one place?

look on amazon, and have a search through the Computer & Tech forum for threads about an external hard drive recommendation.
i'd personally go with a Western Digital drive. they're the most reliable, and the best brand. i've got a 1TB Elements that's done me a good two years.

500GB would be enough I'd imagine and ye it could probably do with being portable

RolandIRL

then i'd recommend something like this

have a look around in shops. if you want it to be portable, make sure that it's usb powered - you don't want to be carrying around a plug with you looking for a socket.
have a search on amazon for other WD products, i just done a quick google search.

mp3ireland2

whiteman19 wrote: »

then i'd recommend something like this

have a look around in shops. if you want it to be portable, make sure that it's usb powered - you don't want to be carrying around a plug with you looking for a socket.
have a search on amazon for other WD products, i just done a quick google search.

got a 500gb in peats for €80 i think a few weeks back Iomega one

its a small portable one....

MURDO

Currys are doing the 500 WD for 75.00

I know this the uk site. But Irish stores have it. Bought about 5 of these so far for my mates Wii's. Very reliable.

Cheers

http://www.idealo.co.uk/compare/2185907/b-q-kettle-bbq-46cm.html

RolandIRL

mp3ireland2 wrote: »

got a 500gb in peats for €80 i think a few weeks back Iomega one

its a small portable one....

i don't really like Iomega, i've had a few that have broken on me.

MURDO wrote: »

Currys are doing the 500 WD for 75.00

I know this the uk site. But Irish stores have it. Bought about 5 of these so far for my mates Wii's. Very reliable.

Cheers

http://www.idealo.co.uk/compare/2185907/b-q-kettle-bbq-46cm.html

link to a BBQ?

saw an ad in curry's brochure for a Western Digital portable 320GB hard drive for €60. you'd probably get a bigger one for a bit more (maybe €20-30 for a 500GB elsewhere) but if you don't need 500GB, when a 320GB would do you, if you wouldn't even fill the 320GB....

d93c2inhxfok4y

whiteman19 wrote: »

then i'd recommend something like this

have a look around in shops. if you want it to be portable, make sure that it's usb powered - you don't want to be carrying around a plug with you looking for a socket.
have a search on amazon for other WD products, i just done a quick google search.

This deal looks amazing mate. I've got a Lacie Little Disk 500gb that is seriously packing in. The replacement needs to be 500gb, fast, portable, USB powered and reliable. This seems to fit the bill... do you have one? Just want to know what you think about it, if you own one yourself.

Portable and 500gb for 73 euro seems excellent.

d93c2inhxfok4y

Actually, I've been reading the reviews on Amazon. Apparently the cable is very loose and disconnects a lot.


Any other recommendations? Really need a new, reliable, 500GB, portable Hard Drive soon!

RolandIRL

i have a Western Digital Elements 1TB. it's not portable so i need a socket, but i wouldn't be bringing it anywhere, just leaving it at my desktop mostly. i have an 8GB flash drive i use for carting stuff around.

it's a different model but i think WD are the best brand out there. i heard few (if any) complaints about them compared to other brands like Seagate, Maxtor, and Iomega, to name a few.

EDIT: Nailer, just read your 2nd post, you could always buy a different usb cable, if that's what the reviews say. they're not that dear

d93c2inhxfok4y

whiteman19 wrote: »

i have a Western Digital Elements 1TB. it's not portable so i need a socket, but i wouldn't be bringing it anywhere, just leaving it at my desktop mostly. i have an 8GB flash drive i use for carting stuff around.

it's a different model but i think WD are the best brand out there. i heard few (if any) complaints about them compared to other brands like Seagate, Maxtor, and Iomega, to name a few.

EDIT: Nailer, just read your 2nd post, you could always buy a different usb cable, if that's what the reviews say. they're not that dear

Hey man, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure if I'd be able to do that, I don't think it's anything to do with the cable per se, just that the port of the HD that the cable goes into might be like, half a centimetre too wide so the cable gets some lateral movement...

I'm getting mixed reports on WD too. Many say they're great, many say they're dodgy. Tbh I'm willing to pay up to 100e if I can get a 500GB hard drive that's:
- USB Powered
- Portable
- Very reliable

Gutted that my Lacie 500GB HD is going.. I've got about 400GB of data on it that I'm worried I won't be able to save.

mathepac

Posted this in another thread Iomega 1TB external FW for silly money (No connection with Iomega) http://go.iomega.com/en/products/external-hard-drive-desktop/ultramax-minimax/ultramax-single/?partner=4725&source=eu_email_2010&utm_source=20100622_en_ie&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=en_ie&utm_content=online_20100622_en_ie#where_to_buyItem_tab

RolandIRL

from the reviews, if you go with an earlier generation WD Passport drive, that seems to be the recommendation. i've an WD Elements drive and that's done me for the past 2.5 years, so i'm happy with it

also try dropbox to back up all the essentials (like photos) in case any hard drive goes. you shouldn't have all your stuff in one place. if it goes and looking through the Comp. & Tech. forum, the amount of threads i see that say "Help, hard drive failing/fell. need to recover important files" is unreal. always have multiple back-ups of very important files

RolandIRL

mathepac wrote: »

Posted this in another thread Iomega 1TB external FW for silly money (No connection with Iomega) http://go.iomega.com/en/products/external-hard-drive-desktop/ultramax-minimax/ultramax-single/?partner=4725&source=eu_email_2010&utm_source=20100622_en_ie&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=en_ie&utm_content=online_20100622_en_ie#where_to_buyItem_tab

sorry, but that's a bit of a rip-off.
i paid €100 for my 1TB one in PC World. you can get way cheaper than that. besides a portable hard drive is what OP and nailer wants. that's a desktop drive

d93c2inhxfok4y

whiteman19 wrote: »

from the reviews, if you go with an earlier generation WD Passport drive, that seems to be the recommendation. i've an WD Elements drive and that's done me for the past 2.5 years, so i'm happy with it

also try dropbox to back up all the essentials (like photos) in case any hard drive goes. you shouldn't have all your stuff in one place. if it goes and looking through the Comp. & Tech. forum, the amount of threads i see that say "Help, hard drive failing/fell. need to recover important files" is unreal. always have multiple back-ups of very important files

Thanks a million for your help mate, really appreciated!

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/5896365/art/western-digital/wd-elements-se-portable-e.html

Saw that one on pixmania, is that what you have? Looks like a bit of a block! I'm surprised there isn't a very clear cut option for this kind of thing.

And you're dead right about the extra back up. I keep a second back up of college stuff on a memory key. The HD I currently own is full of movies, music, tv shows etc. Nothing hugely important, just a vast library I'd like to get somewhere reliable!

I'm plugging in the Lacie one and it's asking me to format it, barely managing to recognise it, then taking about 10 minutes to transfer a 356mb file. Nightmare!

RolandIRL

well, this is the actual one i have. that's a older model i have and it's 1TB


i'd recommend WD, but ask in the C&T forum about other brands and their views. good few "Recommend a external hard drive" threads there

d93c2inhxfok4y

Will do. I'll head there now. Thanks for your help