External Desktop Hard Drive

Gall1987

Gall1987

Gall1987

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Joined
1 Jan 2009
Posts
441
Hi,

I am looking at getting a hard drive to back up my laptop on to. It will mainly store music and pictures (but not a large amount) and also some standard office documents.

I am after advise on which hard drive would be the best fot my needs and also how would I locate what hard drive my laptop has in?

Thanks
 
On your laptop open up Device Manager and the look under Disk Drives, the manufacturer and model will be listed.

Best alternative for an external drive IMO is to buy a caddy and place your drive of choice in there. For widest range of options choose a caddy that has USB2 and eSATA interfaces. Done this way it's easy to upgrade the disk or connect it internally if required. Some manufacturers external drives are difficult to disassemble and change the drive. Having said that... I have a WD MyBook 1TB which is still going strong (eSATA doesn't work but the USB2 and FireWire connections are good). I also have a stack of IcyBoxes with various 3-1/2" drives in - and that's what I recommend.
 
I'm not after changing the drive as I won't be using it regulary. I'm looking for something more than would just be suitable to store my data.

Any suggestions?
 
Decide if you want a psu powered or usb powered external.
For convenience and occasional backups the usb-powered drives are a lot better.
 
Gall1987 said:
Thanks :)

I was looking at a 4GB Toshiba one, would this be ok or are only certain models compatible with certain laptops?
Click to expand...

I think you mean 400GB :)

Any USB external drive will work with any modern computer, laptop or desktop. But as above, if you need portability you'd be better off with one of the following, as they don't require external power (simply plug into your machine).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1240&subid=1237

If you're not bothered about portability and just want space, look here:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1240&subid=911
 
reflux said:
I think you mean 400GB :)

Any USB external drive will work with any modern computer, laptop or desktop. But as above, if you need portability you'd be better off with one of the following, as they don't require external power (simply plug into your machine).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1240&subid=1237

If you're not bothered about portability and just want space, look here:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=1240&subid=911
Click to expand...

Excellent

Thanks for your help :)
 
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