Windows 7: Looking for an External Hard Drive to be Connected Always!

I have 2 internal 500GB Harddrives.
1 for Operating Systems.
1 for Library (seems enough for now).

I am using the Library one also to edit my videos.
But sometimes, I am having trouble with the space (after the library there is just over 100 GB left).

I am looking for an external hard disk that I can use as always connected to the computer, so I can edit my videos in there (editing videos usually means videos + sounds, and other related files).

I have Seagate Expansion 2 TB USB 2.0, WD My Book Essential 2 TB USB 3.0 (working with USB 2.0 port), and as portable external. I have Toshiba Canvio Plus 1 TB USB 2.0.

Do you have any suggestions about which one to use as always connected?

You can also suggest other hard drives too (doesn't necessarily needs to be using USB port, I have a router and e-sata, firewire - I hope that is the 1394 port, right - and also an express card slot connection also).

For some reason I am not able to feel right with leaving the hard drives connected always, but actually that is the reason I am buying them.

I have heard some bad reports on Seagate Expansion, luckily mine is still working without problems so far.

I mean should I just go with luck -usually what goes with electronics nowadays - and use a drive always connected, or are there specific and better choices out there or within the drives I own?

I don't own an unlimited power supply (where my computers are staying, there have been power cuts a few times), and time to time I am having blue screen problems, I hope these won't affect the drive being connected always.

You'd be better off installing a new, or another, bigger drive IN the system.
Cheaper, runs faster then any external, no need for add on power supply (wires and cables to and from the external HDD).

I have 4 WD My Books attached to my PC and they are always on (they do spin down when they are idle).

This is a notebook. I am lucky to have a second internal drive option.

Funny thing is I was thinking to install 2x1TB internal drives. I contacted with ASUS several times, and the replies I got was: "up to 1 TB". When I asked them is it for a single drive or total of both drives, the replies I got was - not my words, their official words in their e-mail or phone conversations - : "it should be total 1 TB", "I think it is total 1 TB". Noone did give me a specific answer about if I can install 2 internal 1 TB drives into ASUS G72. Does anyone know that if I can install 2 internal 1 TB drives into ASUS G72?

The thing is my drives won't be probably idle any time because of editing and creating the videos in the drive. (Creating a single video -after finishing editing- can take hours depending on the editing options, and I do it always - as long as I do not come across with a blue screen -

How long ( how many months, etc.) your drives have been running?

I know about the spin down thing. Actually, in WDs, probably other some other drives too, you cannot turn down that option, which is sometimes bad for sound and video editors - I am ok with that so far, but I heard about that problem -. They tried to turn off that thing, and WD said they couldn't.

Attaching the external to eSata would be my preferred solution. That will give you more speed (up to the capability of the drive). I have always a couple of drives permanently attached and some more that I attach when needed. They are all from different makes and I have not yet seen any difference.

Another alternative is an external enclosure. I have this one ( Newegg.com - Thermaltake BlacX Duet ABS Plastic 2.5" & 3.5" Black USB2.0 & eSATA Dual Hard Drives Docking Station ). Then you can buy cheaper internal hard drives and hotswap them. Both 2.5" and 3.5" work with eSata and USB2. I use another enclosure for USB3, but that works only with 2.5" disks.

Do you know what the speed will be if I put the SATAs to the dock and to the e-SATA? Faster/Slower than USB 2.0? How much?

Thanks for sharing the option. Will keep in mind.

It will completely depend on the speed of the disk (in eSata). eSata can run at about 300GB/sec but the fastest spinning disks run only at max. 100MB/sec. USB2 has a max of about 50MB/sec (480Mb/sec). That means a fast spinner cannot run at it's full speed. There is, of course, also a dependency on the blocksize. Small blocksizes run a lot slower. Here is the speed I got with above enclosure with a 7200RPM spinner:

Thanks for the speed info.

My 2 oldest drives are over 3 years old, my first one died so I replaced the drive in it with a 1TB Black (this is the one with the green round light), the newest one is a 2TB USB 3 and that is 3 weeks old.
In the picture below, the two right drives are the 500's, the left is a 2TB USB, which I traded 3 weeks ago for the USB version, and other is the 1TB black that used to have a 500GB drive that failed.