Shoutbox

I've got/had:

Western Digital 320GB oooold style...lasted ages until I plugged in the wrong power supply...and even then after a bit of fixing and fiddling it worked again (my brother now uses it)

Western Digital My Passport Elite 500GB...absolutely brilliant drive, quiet as anything, no external power supply, ULTRA portable

Seagate 750GB...again, absolutely brilliant, haven't had any problems in almost a year.

Basically go with WD or Seagate...unless it's going to be used solely on a desktop then I'd look to get one without a power supply, it's so much less hassle.

quote:

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Originally posted by Menthix
What are you looking for? USB? eSata (Firewire?)

Also, are you looking for an all-in-one product which may make it harder if you want to replace the drive after a while, or do you want a generic external drive enclosure so you can buy any drive to put in it.

Or do you want an ultra cool stand that allows you to insert bare drives on the fly so you can use any spare drive you have lying around?


As for the actual harddisk itself. If it's not connected via eSata it really doesn't matter much what drive you put in there as you will never use it so its full speed anyway.

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now THAT, looks awesome!
Ive now got my WD in a NexStar case and I must say im quite happy with it.

quote:

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Originally posted by Th3rmal
now THAT, looks awesome!

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I have a Sharkoon one myself (eSata), takes any 2.5" and 3.5" SATA HDD:

http://www.sharkoon.com/html/produkte/externe_geh..._pro/index_en.html

quote:

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Originally posted by djdannyp
Western Digital My Passport Elite 500GB...absolutely brilliant drive, quiet as anything, no external power supply, ULTRA portable

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i suggest one on these i have an essential, and they rock

quote:

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Originally posted by Menthix

quote:

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Originally posted by Th3rmal
now THAT, looks awesome!

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I have a harkoon one myself (eSata), takes any 2.5" and 3.5" SATA HDD:

http://www.sharkoon.com/html/produkte/externe_geh..._pro/index_en.html

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i cant find it on ebay

Yeah i've been looking mainly for Externals that have USB and eSATA support, i would prefer anything higher or equal to 640gb, i wont mind maybe going upto $200 but yeah.

TBH, I don't like any of the full size 3.5" externals much and think they miss the point as a product category.  They are clunky and need an external power supply, so moving them between computers or carrying them with you will be more hassle than it's worth.  For stationary storage that always stays at home there are other things you should be considering -- NAS or just a plain internal drive if you use a desktop.

On the other hand, the portable external drives like the WD Passport are awesome because of the size and the fact they are powered from USB and don't have a separate power supply.  Since they are based on 2.5" laptop drives, you won't find any price/capacity leaders here, but they are very convenient -- and that's the point of having an external drive for me.