External PC hard Drive Setup

[mscher]

Looking to get a USB/Firewire external HD setup, with about a 500gb drive.

Nice quiet case with cooling fan.

Any have a setup they are happy with?

 

[sc_shane]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

What are you going to use it for? Portability, backups or what? There are a million solutions, and depending on what you want to do with it, I'm certain I can recommend one...

 

[gonefishie]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

Unless your PC already have a usb 2.0 or firewire port, an external that big would take a long time to access and load.

 

[Windykid]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

I use a plug in USB portable Hard drive that holds 160 GB. I has hundreds of manuals stored on it and works fast and great. I think it was $90.00 dollars at Best Buy.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

I use a plug in USB portable Hard drive that holds 160 GB. I has hundreds of manuals stored on it and works fast and great. I think it was $90.00 dollars at Best Buy.

I keep one too and I backed up all my photos and important stuff...... I keep it seperate from the computer in case of a computer disaster. I got mine at staples..... about the same price.

 

[i386]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

It's really hard to go wrong with these. Pick one up that's a reputable brand and don't look back. If it's for important backups, keep it disconnected from your computer when not in use like Bob said. If you have a surge or some other event that kills your computer, you don't want your backup drive going down with it. I prefer the slim ones that are powered by the usb port.

 

[schematic]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

Check futureshop. I got a 500gig that is usb2 and cat5 networkable for $120 I also bought a 500 gig (just usb2) from futureshop for $90. Both work great

 

[sc_shane]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

Check futureshop. I got a 500gig that is usb2 and cat5 networkable for $120 I also bought a 500 gig (just usb2) from futureshop for $90. Both work great

I'm pretty sure Futureshop doesn't ship to the US. Too bad 'cause it's a pretty cool store. I used to go there when I was stuck in Montreal.

 

[arboldt]

Re: External PC hard Drive Setup

I bought a 500GB USB drive a month ago, using it for backups. I have a smaller USB hard drive enclosure that I put a 30 GB EIDE drive in. I use this for moving files and to back up critical files.

Watch the sales ads. Best price I saw for a 500 GB USB drive was Black Friday (Thanksgiving weekend) for about $90 -- forget what store it was at. My wife chose to get me something else for Christmas, so I kept watching... Got a different brand 500 GB at Office Max for about $119 less a 15% coupon, net $101.15. Since I'm not using it all the time, I don't think the brand is significant, although if you do, just keep watching for sales on Seagate or Western Digital. They'll be in that price range, too. You can also check out buy.com, newegg.com, etc.

One thing I don't do that I should, is to keep a backup offsite. Maybe I'll start doing that...