Spec me an external HD

[Sudden]

Looking for an External Hard Disk. About 500gb in size, though don't mind spending a little more if price vs space is exceptionally good.

Main purpose of the HD is storage of files which don't need to be accessed overly often, just some videos, pictures etc. Don't want another internal one since this computer breaks down fairly frequently and I want to be able to access the stuff easily enough without it if I need to.

I looked around a bit, but can't see any real difference between various brands, so was wondering, is there any? Or should I just go pick the cheapest one?

 

[Day03]

I would recommend this one. I got one and it's great, all reviews are great

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-112-SE

 

[Sudden]

yea, have always loved Seagate. the Baracuda's are great.
Is it a big thing not to have the esata though? or is the usb enough for my purposes?

Also, again, whats the difference between say the Seagate and the Western Digital ones or the Freecom ones?

 

[rpstewart]

There tends to be little difference between the brands, mainly it's down to software or fancy one touch backup buttons etc. Obviously each brand will use its own HDDs within the unit.

eSATA is great for performance but requries an eSATA port to use. For occasional use where performance isn't the ultimate requirement then USB if fine.

 

[Tomsk]

There tends to be little difference between the brands, mainly it's down to software or fancy one touch backup buttons etc. Obviously each brand will use its own HDDs within the unit.

eSATA is great for performance but requries an eSATA port to use. For occasional use where performance isn't the ultimate requirement then USB if fine.

Ditto.

USB for ease of connectivity.

Warranty lengths may be different - usually 3 or 5 years. However, if the drive dies, sometimes it's cheaper to just swap in a replacement. BUT it may be difficult to actully get to the drive inside the casing. From my experience the bigger the case or if the case is more styled then it's harder to open.

The backup software that's supplied isn't too good either, since they're usually cut down versions of commercial software.

Another option is to build your own.

 

[Greenlizard0]

Another option is to build your own.

Do this. There's lots of software out there that will allow you to perform various e.g. backing up options etc., but by doing this you'll save a few bob as well.