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External Hard Drive Help

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by Matt84, Nov 29, 2004.

  1. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    I am searching for an External Hard Drive to buy because my 40 Gigs on my computer is running out quickly. I'm lookin' to spend under $160. Can anyone help me with some good brands I should look into and also, I was on Ebay searching for one, is there a difference with the "oneTouch" Hard Drives?

    Thanks for the help.
     
  2. vato_loco

    vato_loco Regular member

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    where in canada are you...
    go to futureshop or any mom&pop computer store and look for a USB Case withpower ($50.can) (if you buy the case you can later add a larger HD or a DVD BURNER/CD BURNER) and the harddrive 120GIG (about $80, get a MAXTOR)

    If you are anywhere near the GTA (T.O) private msg me.)
     
  3. vato_loco

    vato_loco Regular member

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    MA BAD
    Are you in canada?
    i read the post wrong lol
     
  4. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    Haha, no I'm in Ohio.
     
  5. vato_loco

    vato_loco Regular member

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    alright lol


    yeah man the best thing to do is go and look for a harddrive/cdrom case with power it should be around $40us and then get your self a 120gig hardrive ($70 around)

    or go to circuit city and look for one there, it doesnt really matter where you buy/ but dont get one that is just a external drive, your better off buying 2 things (the case and Harddrive) becuase its better in the long run

    *** for example you can add a larger hard-drive
    you can add a dvd-burner
    you can add a cd-burner (LOL)
    But yeah get the case with powersupply and get the harddrive and connect it

    Post:

    VatoZ
     
  6. vato_loco

    vato_loco Regular member

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    also make sure you have USB 2.0
    or firewire (i-link)
     
  7. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    Ok, I'll do that. An 120 Gig Hard Drive are only $70?
     
  8. dlc2000

    dlc2000 Regular member

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    im using a $99 western digital that came with a 80 gig 7200 rpm hard drive . it isnt as nice as what has been suggested above . but its cheap storage and is nice for backing up your system in case of a failure .
    the model im using has some draw backs to it , there is no on and off switch and its only usb 2.0 with no firewire .
    i would agree on buying a enclosure and hard drive and putting it together yourself . my western digital is a sealed unit which makes it the throw away model if it fails .
     
  9. vato_loco

    vato_loco Regular member

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    yeah matt84 its the best way to go, thats what i did, i have a 200gig harddrive and a plextor dvd-burner.. when i want to switch i just plug and play it and its a god send

    good luck
     
  10. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    I was look at some on Ebay that are Hard Drives and come in external cases with a USB 2.0. I'll keep lookin' around though, thanks for you help. Hopefully I can find one with an on and off switch.

    I was lookin' at this one, I'm new at this Hard Drive stuff so could you guys take a quick look and tell me what you think.

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41911&item=5142010908&rd=1

    Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2004
  11. dlc2000

    dlc2000 Regular member

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    the drive you are looking at doesnt look like a bad deal as long as it has the on and off switch . i would be careful buying hard drives from ebay . one other thing to note is the buffer . the drive you are looking at only has a 2 mb buffer which is rather small . have a look here to compare some with the switch and different size buffers .http://www.supergooddeal.com/usb20hdd.html
     
  12. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    I'm sorry man, like I said I'm new at this. What does the buffer size mean to the hard drive?
     
  13. dlc2000

    dlc2000 Regular member

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    basically a larger buffer or cache as its refered to allows your hardware to operate more effective . have a look at this link for a better detailed answer .http://experts.about.com/q/1505/3463939.htm
     
  14. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    Ok, so I bought an 120 Gig External Hard Drive but only 111 gigs are showing up. What is up with that?
     
  15. dlc2000

    dlc2000 Regular member

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    thats the nature of the beast with hard drives . they dont show up at what they are stated to be . my 40 gig shows up at 37 gigs the 200 gig shows up at 196 gigs . yours seems to be missing more than normal . im not sure why that is ! you are missing more than just a few gigs . 9 gigs of hard drive space is a lot !
     
  16. ianski7

    ianski7 Guest

    Hey Matt84

    Hard drive manufacturers express a GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes and Windows expresses it as 1,073,741,824 bytes(2 to the power of 30 in binary).
    You have a 120Gb disk = 120,000,000,000 bytes.
    Windows calculates it as 120,000,000,000 divided by
    1,073,741,824 = 111.7GB which is what you see.
     
  17. Matt84

    Matt84 Member

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    Well that sucks! Ok, thanks again guys!
     
  18. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    but you still have full 120gig to access, just the way hd manufacturer reports size
     
  19. ianski7

    ianski7 Guest

    Hey

    ddp,can you explain that please?
     

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