External hard drive

[RonBin79]

What sort pf specificatgions and brand name shoud I be looking for when purchasing a new 2 TB external hard drive, also what does SATA mean
please?

Best wishes,

RonBin79

 

[Maguscreed]

SATA is the current drive controller specification.
Serial ATA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

eSATA is the external version if your motherboard supports this I suggest getting an enclosure that also supports it.

Newegg.com - Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive ST320005EXA101-RK
you aren't going to beat that price.

I personally buy my own enclosures and hdd's seperately as I don't like the software that comes with the premade ones. If you do have a system that supports eSATA I suggest building your own from a hard drive and a enclosure of your choice... I like this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042
has a fan to keep the hdd cool.
As for the hdd to go in it. anything you choose should be fine.

 

[rchris]

I would suggest getting a USB 3.0 drive. Much faster, and the next computer you buy will have USB 3.0 most likely. The drive will be compatible now with your USB 2.0 ports or you can easily install a PCI card to add some USB 3.0 ports.
Or, if your current computer has an eSATA port, get an external drive with that type of connection (also faster than USB 2.0); some drives will offer both USB and eSATA.

Love my Seagate GoFlex drive and my Western Digital Passport drives.

Note: I don't like the software that comes with these drives either, but you don't have to use it.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Look for multiple input options like USB 3.0 and esata connectivity for maximum write and read speeds. Then also look for a quiet fan to keep the drives cool as well as raid options. Lastly the other nice feature would be NAS capable which means you can store to it and retrieve from it anywhere you have internet access as it hooks to your router via a cat5 or 6 cable and becomes part of your network devices allowing connection remotely from work, family members or friends computer. As well with enabled TV's and other devices you can get and share this data wirelessly or wired via your router.

 

[Britton30]

I have this Kingwin Enclosure, Only con I have with it is a very BRIGHT blue light. It works very well, I bought a 7500RPM drive to put inside and use it for file backups and system images. Seems to read/write fast for me.

 

[Zepher]

I use a few Western Digital My Books. the newest one I have is a 2TB USB3.0 and it is very fast.
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1309883378&sr=1-2

 

[Maguscreed]

Only con I have with it is a very BRIGHT blue light. .

lol yeah they seem to put that damn light on all of them. I have a nexstar enclosure that will light up part of a room with the light on it.

 

[Britton30]

LOL, mine too Maguscreed, so I turn it over when using it.

 

[Maguscreed]

yeah I just started facing the front of mine towards the wall so it wouldn't blind me.

 

[RonBin79]

Thank you very much for all your help with my now 2tb external hd. I now have a choice to make and a wide selection of drives to pick from. How do I find out whether my computer is compatible to which one though and having selected and purchased a drive, is it very difficult to format it please??

Cheers,

RonBin79

 

[linnemeyerhere]

RobBin79,
The hd to purchase depends on brand preference but that aside look for the fastest rpm you can afford and the largest amount of cache on the drive you can afford. The faster and larger these are the lower the wait time for files to write or be read. That being said if this is just for back up and time is on your side as your not constantly accessing info off or writing to it than a slower drive with less cache will cost less. All things being equal.....go for the speed as every little bit helps. Lastly go with name brand drives with a good customer feed back. I won't bore you with my brand preference as this topic is trumped only by the Intel vs AMD and Which Anti-Virus do you use threads ! lol

 

[Maguscreed]

As for what type. Any modern computer supports a usb drive. The eSATA is more dependent on exactly what computer you have.

 

[whs]

As already suggested, an external enclosure is the best way to go. Then you can buy cheaper internal disks (2.5" or 3.5"). I would also recommend to rather go for a bunch of smaller disks (640GB to 1TB) than only one biggie.

eSata gives you the best performance. If your system does not have it, you can add it for little money at the PCI-e.

This is the enclosre I have (Sata II and eSata plus a handy SD card reader and 2 additional USB ports): Newegg.com - XION XON-SAHDCB-COMBOCR 2.5" & 3.5" Black USB2.0 & eSATA Combo Dock Station