Attentio Computer Geeks - Any Suggetions for External Hard Drives?

kundalini

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My 300GB Seagate in nearing capacity and I'm not ready to dump the data. I am looking to get another external somewhere between 500GB and 1TB as a main backup storage and use the 300 as a workflow station.

Any suggestions? WD - Seagate - other? I use to know the numbers that were important to be concerned with as far as performance and stuff went, but that was then and things change.

Thanks
 
If you have a network I'd probably look at network attached storage maybe Maxtor does have a decent warranty.
 
I have a western digital my book 500g. Works fine. The free software it comes with sucks. If you buy it dump the software and download something decent offline. I ended up using Carbon Copy Cloner, works great and is free.
 
Whatever you do, backup your stuff! Maan, last night I plugged in my 500GB external drive to organize my stuff and burn things to DVDs. Plugged it in, turned it on, DEAD. Nothing like losing 12,000 photos from this race season that I am still selling! Not to mention all the documents I have on there.

But really, keep your stuff backed up just now learned that the hard way. I'm in for a couple 500gb drives and a 100 pack of DVDs now.
 
I have a Sumsung as my primary drive, and it's been working pretty good. Other than that, the only drives I trust are Western Digital.
 
If I had it to do over again (which I will someday) I would go with the Western Digital My Book World Book II in at least a 1 TB size. The 1TB is comprised of two 500 gig hard drive in the external case and can be run in a raid configuration with one doing instantanious backups of the other. It is also network compatible. They are pricey but to me better safe than sorry.
 
Whatever you do, backup your stuff! Maan, last night I plugged in my 500GB external drive to organize my stuff and burn things to DVDs. Plugged it in, turned it on, DEAD. Nothing like losing 12,000 photos from this race season that I am still selling! Not to mention all the documents I have on there.

But really, keep your stuff backed up just now learned that the hard way. I'm in for a couple 500gb drives and a 100 pack of DVDs now.

That really is too bad, sorry to hear. This just might help, let us know.
Good luck :)

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?forumID=26&threadID=245494&messageID=2473939
 
That really is too bad, sorry to hear. This just might help, let us know.
Good luck :)

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7591_102-0.html?forumID=26&threadID=245494&messageID=2473939

Alright, I know you're trying to be helpful... but why would you recommend this to someone right off the bat? What I'm thinking is that this is a really stupid idea, and I'm betting he would rather consult a professional to try and restore his thousands of valuable photos before using this last resort. I'm not saying it doesn't work... just that this isn't something you want to try first.

And could anyone tell me the average life-expectancy of an external hard drive such as this, or at least how long their's has lasted in the past? Situations like the above story really turn me off.
 
Several mentions of Western Digital and a couple ofor Maxtor. (BTW, forgot to mention that I also have 160GB Maxtor. It is an internal that I bought a case for. I only keep porn on that one. lol)

I've not been overly impressed with some of the reviews of the WD MyBook 1TB.
 
Personally, I'd just use an old crappy computer with a couple drives slapped into it using FreeNAS. That's what I'm planning on setting up soon once I can afford more drives. Oh, and RAID 1, FTW.
 
esata (e for external) is the hot port these days, not the same as the internal sata. But you probably do not have that interface.

Personally I always have at least two hard drives on my sytem (including laptop) and setup shortcuts to quickly copy data to the alternate drive (client files drive & personal projects drive) for live backups.

Also I prefer to use a couple of 250GB external USB drives rather than put loads of data on to the latest huge drive. This way if I loose a drive i have not lost everything, and it is a second back anyway.

I've done a few raid setups, but with power loss I would have to recall and tweak multiple settings (bios, etc) to get back online, and this rattles the nerves. Got me to buy a UPS though!

There are some nice 2.5 inch 7200 rpm external drives on the market now, and if you travel with a laptop these are an attractive form factor.

The freeNAS raid 1 suggestion is wise also, or pickup a NAS from Fry's if you got the bucks and want a smaller footprint.

-Shea
 
I no computer geeks, because of my limitation of computer knowledge this thread is exactly what I'd like to hear. I also looking for one, I like Lacie's design but if it doesn't come with great durability then I won't consider it anymore.
 

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