Storage External Hard Drive

Hi All

I am thinking of buying an External Hard drive for use such as storing files, games, music etc.

Minimum Size : 1 TB

My budget is £100

The Operating System on my PC is MS 7 64 bit.

I have been looking at the 3 models below:

1) Western Digital 1TB Western Digital My Book Elite Edition - Link

2) 1.5TB Iomega 34473 Prestige Desktop USB2 External Hard Drive Link


3) 1.5TB Verbatim USB 2.0 External Hard Drive - Link

I am after some advice as to which of three I should choose, or if there are any other external hard drives which are more reliable/better for me to choose. I look forward to replies.

Thank you.

 

None of the above.

Do this instead:

3.5" SATA External Black Aluminium enclosure with USB 2.0 & eSATA - £22.83

1.5TB Samsung HD154UI Spinpoint F2 DT EcoGreen, SATA 3Gb/s, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ - £58.69

Grand Total £81.52. If you don't need eSATA then USB only external cases are even cheaper. You could even go to a 2TB drive if you wanted and still more or less make your budget.

 

Thanks for a great suggestion.
I will look into the products you have suggested.

 

If you really have to buy a "branded" product, Scan have the 1.5TB Western Digital WDBAAU0015HBK-UESN Elements drive on Today Only for £71.09.

 

Thanks. No i don't have to buy the external hard drive branded or not. I was just looking to buy something and your suggestion is exactly what I was after. Much better than what I was thinking along.

 

I have the exact same external drive case with an F3 sammie 1TB over eSATA for backup.

 

I wouldn't buy a pre-built external HDD, they tend to use cheaper drives to maximize there profits. I'd build it yourself

 

I bought a Seagate 1TB Expansion, yes from Tesco's only because i was there at the time.

Might get something cheaper on-line, but consider the hassle of postage costs as well.

Its fast enough for storage of films, and backups. Plus Seagate warranty is pretty decent!

 

Be interested to learn how you got on with this

 

I have decided to go with the method which Fingers66 so kindly suggested.

I will go with the Icy Box HDD Enclosure, the hard drive I think I may choose a 7200 RPM one instead.

I am a little short of money at the moment, so will be looking to buy the above products from Scan within the next 2 weeks. I will update this thread again to give details about how easy it was to set up etc if you like.

 

I bought my Western Digital Elements 1TB for £55 at PC World. Brilliant for what I use it for (movies/music/software/games/backup)

 

How much difference does a cooling fan built into the enclosure make? I've been looking at getting a 5400RPM "green" drive to use for backups. I won't be needing it powered 24/7.

 

imo theres no point unless you use it heavily/have it turned on constantly

 

Agreed, my external drive doesn't have a cooling fan, I only turn it on to backup.