External HD
 

So im in the market for an external HD.

From what I have researched already, im in the market for a "portable external HD" if that makes sense?
I do not want to carry around a AC adapter wherever I go, I would prefer to just be able to plug in the HD with a usb.
I guess size is important to me aswell, since I do not want to be carrying around a xbox sized HD everywhere I go.

I need the HD to be Windows and Mac compatible. I have been looking at the 500 gb / 1TB spec HDs, which should give me plently of room to operate with.

Friends that I have spoken to have told me Seagate is tops in the HD world, followed by WesternDigital.

So techies of CDC, which external HD do you recommend? or which brands should i stay away from?

I look forward to hearing your input

Thanks

For me I don't have favorites for brands for HD unless it's something like an SSD. I go for $$/GB since I don't really notice anything performance wise because it's only being used for data storage.

I can't tell you off the top of my head though but getting an HDD and then an enclosure may be cheaper than getting one that's already an external hard drive. They do the same thing except with the enclosure you'll have to put the HDD inside. $50 for a 1TB seagate at ncix if I remember correctly.

Also, I didn't know RS was CDC :whistle:

not to mention the warranties are usually longer if you buy them separately

Just get a western digital passport harddrive its compact and im pretty sure comes in 500gb

I've got a Seagate 250GB, a WD 320GB and a build your own enclosure with a 250GB drive. To be honest, they're all about the same.

The biggest benefit I see of going with a WD or Seagate (or any of the name brand ones) is the engineering that goes into it. Most of the name brand ones will work off a single USB connector. I'd say 90% of the "build your own" enclosures will require 2 USB connectors to power the drive. Also, cheapo enclosures usually contain substandard USB/SATA chipsets that will cause your connection to your PC to drop and corrupt your data so pick your enclosures carefully.

From your description, you're looking for the 2.5" drives. (as all the 3.5" drives all require external power and are larger than the 2.5" ones) If I'm not mistaken, notebook drives top out at 500GB so that's probably the ceiling in terms of capacity. (although I think there are some 12mm height drives that are of higher capacity but are few and far between so there's less selection).

largest 9mm atm is 750gb

my 9.99 'velocity' branded (memX's house brand) 2.5 enclosure works perfectly

only some of the name brand external drives have good engineering. a lot of them are just plastic. even my 9.99 was metal.

Buy a 2.5" enclosure and a 2.5" drive then you get a 5year warranty on the drive since most external combo's only have a few years warranty.

Well, first of all, you're DEFINITELY going to want a 2.5" external drive, because it's way smaller than the 3.5" external drives AND it is powered by USB... so exactly what you said you wanted.

Some options for you...
1TB WD for $99.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...l&promoid=1270

640GB WD for $79.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...l&promoid=1270

However, the ones above are a little thicker than your standard 2.5" drives.

If you want to pay a little more, I think this one is thinner...

1TB WD for $117.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...l&promoid=1270

I got a WD from Bestbuy yesterday for 99 bucks. 1.5TB

That's a 3.5" drive, that needs external power, right?

yeah sorry just read you need a 2.5 with no external power

LaCie Rikiki 500GB 2.5IN External Hard Drive USB 2.0 for Windows and Mac
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=49169&...ufacture=Lacie

LaCie Petit Design Aluminum 500GB External Hard Drive USB 2.0 for Windows and Mac
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=48793&...ufacture=Lacie

Good engineering goes beyond just a metal case. I was speaking more along the lines of drive selection (using a drive that doesn't draw more than the current that a single USB port can provide - 500mA) as well as using decent USB to SATA chipsets that doesn't cause drives to drop out.

A metal case while nice does very little for performance (well, it does help disperse some heat) but isn't the only thing to look for in an external drive. One of my first 2.5" enclosures was aluminum but would always drop it's connection because of the crappy chipset and a power hungry drive. Ended up corrupting the drive contents so badly it became unreadable.

A single power connector may possibly be preferable if you're plugging it into a laptop since there's usually a limited number of USB ports on the laptop. (Yes, you can use a powered USB hub but it's inconvenient and not everyone has one)