I need some more storage on my pc (currently has 120gb), I already have two drives hooked up (40gb and 80gb) and thats the maximum slots on my pc so now i wanna get a external hard drive. I was thinking of getting one of the Western Digital My Books but i've read soo many bad reviews about them recently. I was also looking at a Freecom Network Drive but that also has loads of problems. Can anyone one please tell me a good external hard drive? It NEEDS have 500gb storage space It would be good if it had firewire on it It would be good if it had ethernet port Also my price range is upto £120
Here's a solution: Buy external enclosures for your internal drive (the one that doesn't have your OS on it) and then put a big drive inside. Enclosures are pretty safe bets for working well. I use Icy Box IB-351 units and internal drives.
Would getting a external inclosure be the best option? I need something that is STABLE and something that is FAST.
thread teleported to relevant forum btw... i'm with Sam on this subject, though i use Belkin's myself ..i just put my own DVD-rom/burners/hard drives in the enclosures and they're very stable indeed... ..i use a few enclosures, these Belkin's and various other 2.5" and 3.5" enclosures, across loads of PC's, of Windows XP and varieties of Linux (i keep things simple by formatting the enclosure hard drives as FAT32 thus can write to them in linux safely and swap between XP and Linux)
I've never had any issues with Icyboxes. However, USB will never be as fast as an internal drive typically maxing about 30MB/s rather than the 50 or so your current ones can manage. The only better options are Firewire 800 (unusual) or e-SATA (which requires you having enough ports inside your pc anyway). Hence my suggestion of putting thenew 500GB drive inside, they can manage up to 75MB/s when new, and why waste that on a slow 30MB/s USB connection?
I Recently had a Seagate 400GB USB 7200rpm 16MB cache External Hard disk drive given to me as a present and find this to be a excellent drive.I'm currently just using mainly for system back up purpose but it is very reliable. http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(21269)Seagate-400GB-USB-7200rpm-16MB-cache-External.aspx Currently on special offer £57.58 Inc VAT
Im probably gonna get a 500gb IDE hard drive and put one of my old drives into an external enclosure. So could you reccomend me a good one but one with a reasonable price aswell.
these are very nice indeed, i have a couple of these but want a couple more when i get around to it, and i'll be putting 500GB drives in them http://www.amazon.co.uk/External-Black-hi-Speed-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B000JK769E they sell those thru eBay too. You can buy them as empty enclosures or with hard drive of various sizes. Not sure if the hard drives would be what you want so it's easier to pick your own hard drive to put in. edit- as for 500GB hard drives these are the ones i'll be buying when i get around to it - Western Digital WD5000AAKB 500GB Hard Drive 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM £64.59 inc VAT and free shipping - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129413
I would have to agree with everyone else on this matter. I have 2 external 3.5" enclosures that I put internal hard drives in and they have worked perfectly, used them now for about 3 years. They are perfect for swapping between the PC and the laptop. It seems to be cheaper when you buy an empty enclosure and get your own HD to put into it. I personally prefer Seagate drives myself. You can also buy 5.25" enclosures and put an internal dvd drive into it to make your own external dvd drive, they are pretty reliable also.
Ive recently bought this and cant fault it - and its quicker than USB or Firewire. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119013
