Help selecting an external 1TB hard drive.

[donfm]

I've been looking for an external backup hard drive for awhile now. I don't have vast amounts of data to backup so 1TB will serve me fine for now. I've been reading a lot of reviews on backup hard drives both stand alone and portable. It seems they all suffer from a rather large failure rate which concerns me. I'm not sure about a portable usb drive that runs only off the USB power supply. I've read people having trouble with not enough power to run the drive. My main purpose is to backup my operating system, music and pictures. The two major consumer grade players now seem to be WD and Seagate.

Would anyone have a reliable external drive they would suggest in the 1TB range at a reasonable price? I'd like USB 3.0 but I'll have to get an aftermarket card to use 3.0 on my desktop computer.

 

[tracerbullet]

I'd like USB 3.0 but I'll have to get an aftermarket card to use 3.0 on my desktop computer.

Keep in mind that if you keep the drive for a while you may still be able to use the 3.0 if you change out computers. Since it's not a huge price premium for it, I'd get it.

I've had luck w/ Seagate and WD both over the years. No real preference. And it seems that over time the 2.5" drives do now work off USB power, I guess they are all efficient enough now. There was a time I wouldn't chance it and only bought drives that had a power adapter, but seems to be OK these days. Do make sure you plug it directly into a computer or laptop, through a hub might not be enough.

 

[Charlie98]

I have two of the now discontinued Seagate GoFlex 3.0 portables, they have worked very well for me. Definitely go for 3.0, most of the newer models are going that way anyway, might as well get one, and it makes a difference when transferring files if you have the 3.0 USB option on the computer.

My oldest one has about 13000 hours on it and it's starting to die (according to CrystalDisk) so I'll be replacing it soon... probably with either another Seagate or a WD.

Oddly enough, my first Seagate (the one with 13000 hours) is a 5400RPM drive, my newest one is a 7200RPM drive... although I can find nothing in the specs to tell me it's either or... I found out through CrystalDisk. It does make a difference when you write to disk, though.

 

[ChambersMonroe]

I just recently bought a 1TB Seagate portable HDD to keep a copy of my data offsite. I got a 5400 rpm drive because in my experience, they've tended to last longer and be more reliable than the 7200's as they do not get as hot...and they're a bit cheaper. Since I will not be doing frequent backups, I don't mind the slightly slower speed. It is USB 3.0 however, so I do at least get up to about 110 MBps on sequential reads according to CrystalDisk.

Anyway, I think Seagate is a pretty safe bet and getting that USB 3.0 expansion card would not be a bad decision if you're not going to be getting a new PC anytime soon.

 

[tweakboy]

I've been looking for an external backup hard drive for awhile now. I don't have vast amounts of data to backup so 1TB will serve me fine for now. I've been reading a lot of reviews on backup hard drives both stand alone and portable. It seems they all suffer from a rather large failure rate which concerns me. I'm not sure about a portable usb drive that runs only off the USB power supply. I've read people having trouble with not enough power to run the drive. My main purpose is to backup my operating system, music and pictures. The two major consumer grade players now seem to be WD and Seagate.

Would anyone have a reliable external drive they would suggest in the 1TB range at a reasonable price? I'd like USB 3.0 but I'll have to get an aftermarket card to use 3.0 on my desktop computer.

Get WDC My Book 1TB External. and enjoy. I personally only trust WDC and Samsung. gl Whatever you do just dont get a Maxtor they are a crappy company. Also dont buy Seagate because they are part of Maxtor,, they hopped in bed with each other,, so the barracua seagate is not the same cuz its being built by Maxtor. Their externals are horrible I know 4 people that it died on and they lost info. Some give slight problems then suddenly die.

WDC my book 1TB is what I would get. You have choice of low profile or standing up. gl

 

[vindizzy]

I've been looking for an external backup hard drive for awhile now. I don't have vast amounts of data to backup so 1TB will serve me fine for now. I've been reading a lot of reviews on backup hard drives both stand alone and portable. It seems they all suffer from a rather large failure rate which concerns me. I'm not sure about a portable usb drive that runs only off the USB power supply. I've read people having trouble with not enough power to run the drive. My main purpose is to backup my operating system, music and pictures. The two major consumer grade players now seem to be WD and Seagate.

Would anyone have a reliable external drive they would suggest in the 1TB range at a reasonable price? I'd like USB 3.0 but I'll have to get an aftermarket card to use 3.0 on my desktop computer.

I've been using WD My Passport 1TB Portable Drive USB 3.0 for a while and it's awesome. It doesn't require external power and it comes with hardware encryption software for data protection.

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Porta.../dp/B006Y5UV4A

 

[IronWing]

I've been using a LaCie Rugged USB drive for over three years. It lives in my briefcase, used for field work (outdoors, in the truck, in tents, dust, and heat) and has not been treated kindly. It uses two USB cables to draw sufficient power. No problems at all.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Any current one should suffice. Just don't drop it! I've munged a couple drives that way (grrr).

 

[FalseChristian]

I have a WD 1TB USB -2 drive that I've had for 3 years and nary a problem. I plan on keeping this external drive for another 94 years.