Need help on choosing a portable hard disk

Need help on choosing a portable hard disk
 

I hope this won't attract an advertising spammer. :D


I have to backup all the information stored in my PC and since I know there are a few "forummers" who work in information technologies, I'd like to ask for your advice here.

Is an external hard disk the same as a portable hard disk? And what are the most reliable brands?

A couple of weeks ago I saw a friend go crazy because his portable HD had a major failure and the technician blamed it on the brand.

I can't be guided by prices, since they are so different from one brand to the other: I saw an Iomega with 100GB that was much more expensive than a Hewlett-Packard one with 250GB, which was almost as expensive as a Seagate Expansion with 500GB... I also saw a LACIE brand... :thinking:

I am thinking I need to get something also and debating between a couple of large memory sticks, one for my most important stuff and one for my husbands most important stuff or an external HD. We don;t need a massive one as we don;t have photos

I don't know in English, but in Spanish you can say "disco duro externo" and "disco duro portátil".

I have a Lacie 500 GB and and it works fine. Seagate is known as having a good quality (though I know somebody who has had problems with some serial, and also with Iomega). HP is known as a good brand in technology.

I'd think about Lacie and HP, with USB connection (I wouldn't use wifi with a HD) and a good capacity.

Anyway, before buying it, make sure your computer has the basic requirements of the external hard disc.

I hope it helps. :)

Yes.

It's not easy to find reliable statistics, and reliability changes. Maxtor has a bad reputation; Seagate has a good one.

There's also the question of drive type to take into account (which might explain the price variation you saw). An SSD will be small and expensive but reliable because it has no moving parts.

The most important thing is how you treat it. Always use the safe hardware removal widget and wait until it says that it's ok to unplug the drive, and try to protect it in transit.

It also depends on your needs.

A drive pen (stick) as a very portable device as opposed to an external drive which could, depending on size, vary from fitting in a pocket to a small briefcase. :)

In my experience personal, I can recommending you that you get a hard disk brand Maxtor, they are most secure than another, although there are a lot brands that they tend to be more cheaper than another ones, in the case of the Maxtor, really if it's a little more expensive than others, but I can be sure that your information can be more secure there for the kind to technology that they uses inside of the clusters of the own hard disk.

Algunos son más caros porque no tienen un (power cord - the usb powers it. Seagate y Western digital son muy buenos. Hay unos buenos:)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=Top%20Sellers

Thanks all. Now I know what I must look for. :)


@Pjt: :rose:

You are welcome

I have the same problem. My computer hard drive is nearly full (stuffed with photos, most of which I will probably never want to look at again) I have been holding back for about a year. During this time they have grown in capacity from 500 G byte to 2 T byte for the same money. I shall take the plunge next week with a Seagate.

Brute.

I don't believe that being your solution about your hard drive full, there're website from companies that offer you storage on line, I believe that they are safety in your information, already what if they loss your information accidentally, you have a secure by your information loosen.

Now when you are acquiring other hard disk, you only will have more stored information in several disk and you have the possibility of suffer a damage in your computer and you can loss the information.

Then if you can check the website and if you have change to compare between a new hard disk and the secure of the website then, don't doubt ask them all the you need to know it.