External HD Reccommendations

[cbre88x]

Hey guys. Just want to see what you guys say. I'm shooting for a 500G..maybe even a 1TB. $150-$200 range. Go.

[Fail Medic]

I've been using Western Digital MyBooks, a 250 GB and a 320 GB.  They do their jobs even though the 320 one was a little flaky in its early days which required periodic unplugging to get it "unstuck" so PC would recognize it.

[Luca Shoal]

I'd go Western Digital or Seagate, those are the two best brands last I heard.

[copulatingduck]

Does size matter (like physical dimensions). If not I'd suggest just throwing a regular hard drive into an enclosure, my personal experience with externals has been that even from WD or seagate they die pretty quickly and as such aren't very reliable for backup. Plus then you have an enclosure, and if for any reason you or anyone you know has to move data from one computer to another, you have that at your disposal (make sure it has e-SATA if you get one)

[CaffeinePowered]

make sure it has e-SATA if you get one

Not all computers have an external SATA port, look at your requirements first, USB might be best for sheer compatibility

[cbre88x]

[quote author=CopulatingDuck link=topic=3534.msg109958#msg109958 date=1251651394]
make sure it has e-SATA if you get one

Not all computers have an external SATA port, look at your requirements first, USB might be best for sheer compatibility
[/quote]

Ok, so an external enclosure with a USB. I guess the only thing I'm sacrificing using USB instead of e-SATA is transfer speed right? But if doing this is more reliable then I'll do it.

I'll go ahead and do the same thing then...what enclosures, internal HD's do you guys recommend?

[copulatingduck]

Even without the external sata port though if you're moving a huge chuck of information the sata port will be much appreciated. not only that, i dont think ive ever heard of an external drive that supported esata that didnt support usb or firewire as well.

As for actually picking one, honestly just read the reviews and go with [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010010092%201053807123%201053907126%201054244018&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE]one that doesn't suck

[Badgerman of DOOM]

My dad got this in 1TB a while back, it saved my ass like the day after I backed everything up.
http://www.maxtor.com/en/hard-drive-back...uch-4.html