# External Hard Drives?



## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Hi folks,

What are the current recommendations please for a good external hard drive to use with an Acer Vista laptop. Looking at sub £150 and 1TB would be plenty of space for me.

Thanks


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## Ben_ZS (Sep 28, 2008)

Have a look at the Buffalo ones Mark. My GF's dad got one for around £150 and it does the job.


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## big ben (Aug 25, 2009)

wouldnt get a cheap make as you dont want it to go wrong, few of my mates have lost all their photos/videos/music etc before from cheaper ones. I went for a toshiba hard drive for mine


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Okay, thanks fellas I'll check those out :thumb: I don't necessarily have to spend the £150 and if I can get something good for around £100 then all the better.


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## big ben (Aug 25, 2009)

your better off buying a smaller size one thats better quality for sure!


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## Scotch (Jul 23, 2009)

Have a look here, migth be something that takes your fancy.:thumb:

http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/index.aspx

Cheers

Edit: There are some sea gate disks about 1/3 - 1/4 of the way from the top.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Viper,

I went for a 500GB HD (Iomega) but had it networked from my router rather than a USB to a computer.

It's on all the time, available to every computer and you do not need the computer it is plugged into to be on.

I/We have a 320GB HD (USB, Western Digital) for back up. SWMBO uses a 120GB portable HD as a go between drive for Work and Work at home.


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## Matt197 (Dec 27, 2006)

Anything from Seagate, I rate them very highly and their support is fantastic.

If you can try and get a USB 3.0 capable device that would be good, think I would go for something like this.

http://www.dabs.com/products/seagat...ktop-hard-drive-72Y8.html?refs=50410-52120000

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-gb/pr...drive/desktop-hard-drive/#tTabContentOverview


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## gortreck (Oct 3, 2010)

Ebuyer have some very good offers on at the moment for extarnal hard drives, its worth you having a look at their site to see if anything takes your fancy.

Tony


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## Ducky (Mar 19, 2007)

Will it need to be portable with the laptop? If so a 2.5" drive may be the better option as you can do away with an external power supply.


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Ducky said:


> Will it need to be portable with the laptop? If so a 2.5" drive may be the better option as you can do away with an external power supply.


No, it doesn't - will just be sat on my desk :thumb: (sorry, forgot to mention that at the start).


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

If it is just a bog standard hard drive that won't be moved then it doesn't really matter what you go with.

Buffalo, Iomega, Toshiba don't make their own hard drives so will use another manufacturers which I have found tends to be Hitachi as they are generally the cheapest.

Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital all make their own.


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## buckas (Jun 13, 2008)

I've got one of these Western Digital Elements 1TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

great product and good price


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Thanks for the suggestions :thumb: Seems there are plenty of options sub £100 so need to go to the £150. This is actually going to be a gift someone's wanting to buy for me so the less they have to spend the better.


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## Edward101 (Jun 5, 2009)

http://www.dabs.com/products/lacie-1tb-rikiki-usb-3-0-portable-hard-drive-74SW.html?refs=50131

I have the 500gb one of this and it is extremely good, use it for all my photography etc and it has been faultless and it is fast at transferring all my files too :thumb:


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Thanks to Edward, who reccomended me the Lacie, i would aggree with him. 

It is the most simplest hard drive i've used. Its nice and small too. I got mine from play.com, the 500GB one. I also bought a case from Amazon so its not on show all the time.

All in all, a fantastic hard drive, and very easy


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## Scotty Pro (Nov 12, 2008)

Viper
now wow I know you like to tinker  so why not buy the Hard Disc and enclosure as separates. You will get a lot more for a lot less. The Lacei's and such charge a premium but don't actually make the drives themselves.

I got a one of these and teamed it up with one of these.

Saved a fortune on a ready made drive, and I got a neat case with a fast drive and oodles of storage space. I have always used Spinpoint drives since they first came out about 3 year ago. The ones I fitted at work are still going strong and are as reliable as anything out there.


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## ivor (Sep 24, 2008)

I've got the western digital 1tb picked it about 8months ago and cart it with me when I'm working away so it's usually in the baggage and it's survived a few airlines really well


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## npinks (Feb 25, 2008)

i just bought two Iomega Prestige Desktop Hard Drives 1TB usb2.0 hard drives from Staples, for £69 each

One for the office and one for home as my laptops full

seem to be quite good for the money and brands OK

the chap on the desk thought they would be having a offer on a 1TB portable drive (no power lead required) soon he believed it was going to be around £60-70


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

i got a seagate one from argos for around £50 looks good enough to me.


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## Adnoh (May 26, 2008)

Good brands: Western Digital, Segate

Just get the cheapest one from amazon

Job done :thumb:


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

I got a £7 off voucher through the post from Maplin yesterday and so as I needed a few other bits from there I went for a Seagate 1TB.

Thanks again for all the advice


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## cam_d_ (Jun 18, 2010)

i have a seagate one and after 5 months of storing things on it, the mini usb connector has broken, i am livid about it, cant do anything about it either as i dont have the reciept, it was a present


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## Littler (Nov 8, 2010)

Viper said:


> I got a £7 off voucher through the post from Maplin yesterday and so as I needed a few other bits from there I went for a Seagate 1TB.
> 
> Thanks again for all the advice


Good Buy! I have a Seagate 1TB, bin using it for about a year great piece of kit!


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

cam_d_ said:


> i have a seagate one and after 5 months of storing things on it, the mini usb connector has broken, i am livid about it, cant do anything about it either as i dont have the reciept, it was a present


You can buy a hard drive caddy by itself. Then take the drive out the seagate one and carry on using it. Alternatively call seagate, they are usually very good and helpful.


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## cam_d_ (Jun 18, 2010)

jamest said:


> You can buy a hard drive caddy by itself. Then take the drive out the seagate one and carry on using it. Alternatively call seagate, they are usually very good and helpful.


really? cool il try find a number on thier site , 
im not very clued up to where to look for the hard drive caddy, any suggestions?:thumb:


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## Matt197 (Dec 27, 2006)

Try phoning them first mate, I have had no problems getting 4 year old drives replaced in the past.

Good choice Mark, you cant go wrong with Seagate.


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

cam_d_ said:


> really? cool il try find a number on thier site ,
> im not very clued up to where to look for the hard drive caddy, any suggestions?:thumb:


Phone them up first, you may get lucky.

Otherwise, I would need to know what current external hard drive you have as there are 2 different types of hard drive connections.


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## cam_d_ (Jun 18, 2010)

its a seagate barracuda 500gb one, 
like this... 
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-gb/products/external/expansion/expansion_desktop/

i tried emailing on that site but it just opens the knowledge base... grrr


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

Search Amazon for "hard drive enclosure 3.5 sata" One of those will be fine.

Link to disassembly instructions - http://skeena.net/blog/Seagate ST310005EXA101-RK 9SE2A4-571 9SF2A4-500 disassembly.pdf


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Got to say the 1TB Seagate I got is great. Simplicity itself to use, quiet and doesn't get hot. Very pleased with it.

I also got a Netgear wireless modem/router at the same time and that wasn't simplicity to set up :wall: Got it working eventually but it very nearly ended in this >


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