External HDD Recommendations? hard drive / ssd

[stutters]

I've run out of space on my primary usb drive and need to add space quickly. Do you guys have any specific drive recommendations (space + reliability important, super performance not) and recommendations for when to buy (ie, wait a couple more weeks or prices are going to be pegged for a few more months yet)?

 

xoxo

[Madvillain]

From everything I've seen prices will still be pegged for a few months. As far as reliability I've always had good luck with Fantom and Iomega external drives.

[lousiest]

Own 5 WD 1 & 2 TB Elements external HDD, none failed on me yet. Then again, these are Green drives I think, so they power down when not in use and thus have not been used a lot

[RadioKnight]

I got this ADATA 500gb external for $50, has served me well. And it has a shock resistant casing!

[Flitterkill]

My WD MyBook Elite 2tb has been a happy camper. USB2 and not the fastest drive in the world but for a ton of external storage (and the gimmicky but actually kind-of nice eInk label) I've zero complaints.

[mohawk]

Why not just grab a $10 external enclosure so you don't have this problem again?

[Preacher]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148886

[yErMoTH3r]

I have a vantec block for 2 drives - swap in and out of esata with 1tb wd greens - i use to for backup of the icons on my desktop when they exceed 1900x1200 :-o

[amertrash]

Agreed with mohawk, just buy an external enclousure and a drive. Most common failure for external 3.5 HDDs are the el-cheapo power supply(often wall-warts) they ship with them.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256076

I'd suggest that if you want a 3.5" enclosure, that does USB 3.0, 3TB HDD support, and is a reasonable brandname.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379024

Another 3.5", bit expensive but features USB 3.0 and eSATA, and is an excellent brandname.

 

If you want to do a 2.5" HDD I'd suggest something like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379022

 

I don't really know if it matters if you wait 3 months or so, you might seen some price reductions but probably not too much last I heard they were forecasting at least another 6 months before prices wind down back all the way to normal, if not a year.

 

As for the brand name of the HDD, for a 3.5" there is only two choices, WD or Seagate. I'd suggest buying a Seagate LP(low power) or a WD Green for heat factor, don't buy an Hitachi as they will cease to exist soon, which always leads to questionable future RMAs. If you want to do a 2.5" drive you've got Toshiba/Samsung/WD/Seagate, personally I'd probably stick with WD or Seagate.

[Flitterkill]

And of course, we all failed to mention the docking station solutions.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153071

[lousiest]

Speaking of those, how are they in terms of the sturdiness of the connector? I've always wanted to try those docking stations, as tryign to swap out the hdd from an external enclosure is a pain, especially if the connectors are badly soldered.

[mohawk]

sigh... i can't hear or read the word docking without either laughing out loud, or getting sick to my stomach... not appropriate for these forums but go investigate if you're motivated... just remember, you were warned..

 

 

to answer your question, they're sturdy.. but I haven't had your issues with external hd's..

[lousiest]

lmao, but that definition is so random. teabagging i can see the reasoning

[amertrash]

Lou, I've broken one SATA power connector off when I was pulling a drive out at a weird angle and it snapped off at the base for very little force. Have been more careful since - kinda of like the time I applied a bit(but not very much) pressure to the top of a 2.5" HDD when it was running and heard the actuator arm bump in to the ever so slightly depressed cover, only once One thing to note about the docking station is the SATA group only rates the data/power connector for something like 25 or 50 removal/insertions - the actual manufacturer of the connector(probably Molex in most cases) will probably rate it higher tho, like 250-1000, but probably not the best solution if you're looking for long-term.

[Preacher]

First Mo makes us all gross out on Urbandictionary.com the Trash nails starts in about insertions. You guys are shamefull.

[lousiest]

Newegg is offering the WD 2TB Elements External HDD for $120 (need to add to cart for price, and use promo code WEDI222). Normally goes for $180

 

Free shipping