Looking to buy a

[kombizz]

After so many years photography, and having more than 5000 images in digital formats, I have reached to this conclusion that I need to get rid of my two small external storage hard drives, and go for a bigger one in capacity, i.e. 2TB.
I read few articles and reviews in few websites, and still I am not sure which one is more reliable and cost effective. The most recent article I read was belong to PC Advisor (Desktop hard drive reviews | Desktop hard drive deals, ratings, user reviews and prices - PC Advisor) .
I do not want to pay more than £200 in price.
I would like to know which one do you have for PC, the reasons behind buying it, and whether you are happy and satisfied with it's performance. Did the external HD had any problems in the past or does it work smoothly like the first day you bought.
I would appreciate your assistant in this matter.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome kombizz mate for what it is worth I am anti large drives because if they crash and hold a lot of data ie pics then you lose a lot but each to his own.

I would myself rather have a few smaller ones than the large - even 1TB is too big for me but if you are looking for one then have a look here there are some up to 3TB well within your price range

Hard Drives - Newegg.com

 

[Boozad]

My Hitachi Touro Mobile has been a brilliant external HDD. Reliable and great transfer speeds.

 

[essenbe]

I prefer docks. They are simple and easy to use. You simply put a normal internal hard drive in one and use it. You can switch hard drives in about 30 seconds. This is what I use now. I have 2 of them and love them. But, they are not very portable.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...I am anti large drives because if they crash and hold a lot of data ie pics then you lose a lot but each to his own...

True but, then, that's what backups prevent. Every piece of data has setting somewhere should have a copy of it setting somewhere else; two copies in different places being even better. That way, you are less likely to lose anything, no matter the size of the drive.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I prefer docks. They are simple and easy to use. You simply put a normal internal hard drive in one and use it. You can switch hard drives in about 30 seconds. This is what I use now. I have 2 of them and love them. But, they are not very portable.

I'm like Steve but I don't like external docks; they eat up too much room and I have to have a PSU and connecting cables for them. I have one of these installed in my desktop machine (what's with all the products Newegg has been discontinuing lately?); my case has a 2.5" dock already installed. Both are handier than indoor plumbing. I use them for putting my backups onto internal type HDDs.

I do use a cute little 2.5" external dock with my notebook. What the pictures don't show you is that part of the base swings out to make the dock almost impossible to tip.

If using smaller external drives (500GB down), the 2.5" ones make more sense than 3.5" external drives. They are usually USB powered so you don't have to horse around with a separate PSU like you do with the bigger ones.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Had a dock once and it died and was never bothered after that juts like a 1TB that went down with all hands. I prefer the 500GB and found some nice little USB 3.0 320GB Imations for $39 that pull apart easily to use the Samsung drive as a back up drive for the laptops or insert some thing bit larger.

Bit like having enclosures and so cheap. My HAF XM has front docks too which I find real handy

 

[whs]

I would also go for an enclosure. Something like this one. Those accept 2.5" and 3.5" bare bone HDDs which are cheaper than enclosed disks. There are also combination USB2 and USB3 as well as USB2 and eSata for little more money. I have 3 of those (different makes) and they never gave me any trouble. And even if they do, they are cheap to replace and you still have your disks.

When you have trouble with an enclosed disk, it is often the controller and not the disk. Then you can throw the whole thing away because often it is not possible to recover the disk.

But if you really prefer an enclosed disk, my experience is that they are all very reliable. I own enclosed external disks of 7 different makes and only one Seagate broke down. The best seem to be the Japanese makes. My 2.5" Fujitsu that I own since 5 years has travelled a few hundred thousand miles and never let me down - knock on wood.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

This is what I use and I love it. Have esata and USB 3.0 connections. This goes on sale regularly with a 1-2 TB drive for less then shown but it can handle 4 drives in a JBOD or available in raid configurable models.

SANS DIGITAL TowerRAID TR4U+B JBOD 4 x SATA 3.5" Drive Bays 4 Bay SATA to USB 3.0 JBOD Enclosure (Black) - Newegg.com