External hard drives - advice

[bakofoil 27]

I'm about to pack up my stuff ready to move to the US! Yay!

I need some advice on external hard drives. I'm a teacher, as well as being a bit of an amateur photographer, and I have a shedload of files on CD, my computer, USB flash drives etc. that may or may not come in useful later. Either way, there is a lot of work and memories and I would rather have a no hassle means of taking them with me, short of buying a new laptop with sufficient storage space before I get there. I've had hassles with USB flash drives before - the mounting has broken away from the chip from carrying around.

So, I was just thinking - what about an external hard drive with a fairly large capacity that won't be a waste of money. Can anyone offer me advice on which brands to steer away from, what care needs to be taken of them in transit (any problems with electromagnetism and the like) - basically I don't want to shell out £70 that I could put towards a laptop if people have had problems with them.

Your help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Dan J 277]

I'm about to pack up my stuff ready to move to the US! Yay!

I need some advice on external hard drives. I'm a teacher, as well as being a bit of an amateur photographer, and I have a shedload of files on CD, my computer, USB flash drives etc. that may or may not come in useful later. Either way, there is a lot of work and memories and I would rather have a no hassle means of taking them with me, short of buying a new laptop with sufficient storage space before I get there. I've had hassles with USB flash drives before - the mounting has broken away from the chip from carrying around.

So, I was just thinking - what about an external hard drive with a fairly large capacity that won't be a waste of money. Can anyone offer me advice on which brands to steer away from, what care needs to be taken of them in transit (any problems with electromagnetism and the like) - basically I don't want to shell out £70 that I could put towards a laptop if people have had problems with them.

Your help would be appreciated. Thanks

I think you have to worry more about dropping it than electromagnatism. But if you want to be really safe, put the drive inside a static bag.

Stick with drives from the major hard drive manuafactuers. Seagate, Western Digitial, etc.

On top of that, provided you have a fast enough internet connection, I would suggest that you use on online backup service like Mozy to also store a copy of your files, just in case something happens to your hard drive.

[GaryC 7]

We have a 120 gig Maxtor that I gave Luz. She used it for several years in the Philippines and when she moved she filled it up with her music and pictures and brought it here. We are still using it as a back-up and to watch movies downloaded from the internet on our TV. (our dvd player has a USB jack on it)

[sara..... 371]

I'm about to pack up my stuff ready to move to the US! Yay!

I need some advice on external hard drives. I'm a teacher, as well as being a bit of an amateur photographer, and I have a shedload of files on CD, my computer, USB flash drives etc. that may or may not come in useful later. Either way, there is a lot of work and memories and I would rather have a no hassle means of taking them with me, short of buying a new laptop with sufficient storage space before I get there. I've had hassles with USB flash drives before - the mounting has broken away from the chip from carrying around.

So, I was just thinking - what about an external hard drive with a fairly large capacity that won't be a waste of money. Can anyone offer me advice on which brands to steer away from, what care needs to be taken of them in transit (any problems with electromagnetism and the like) - basically I don't want to shell out £70 that I could put towards a laptop if people have had problems with them.

Your help would be appreciated. Thanks

I think you have to worry more about dropping it than electromagnatism. But if you want to be really safe, put the drive inside a static bag.

Stick with drives from the major hard drive manuafactuers. Seagate, Western Digitial, etc.

On top of that, provided you have a fast enough internet connection, I would suggest that you use on online backup service like Mozy to also store a copy of your files, just in case something happens to your hard drive.

ur absolutely correct in this advise ........i have one that i take every time i travel but i also have it in a special hard case made just for external hard drives and put plastic bubble wrap around it so far it has weathered many trips over seas as well as domestic here in the states........

[bakofoil 27]

Thanks guys for your responses. This is the info I was hoping for.

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

I'm about to pack up my stuff ready to move to the US! Yay!

I need some advice on external hard drives. I'm a teacher, as well as being a bit of an amateur photographer, and I have a shedload of files on CD, my computer, USB flash drives etc. that may or may not come in useful later. Either way, there is a lot of work and memories and I would rather have a no hassle means of taking them with me, short of buying a new laptop with sufficient storage space before I get there. I've had hassles with USB flash drives before - the mounting has broken away from the chip from carrying around.

So, I was just thinking - what about an external hard drive with a fairly large capacity that won't be a waste of money. Can anyone offer me advice on which brands to steer away from, what care needs to be taken of them in transit (any problems with electromagnetism and the like) - basically I don't want to shell out £70 that I could put towards a laptop if people have had problems with them.

Your help would be appreciated. Thanks

we got an external hard drive here about 2 months ago, a usb maxtor 160 gb for about $130. i wanted to have a drive that i could swap large files with easily between the computers but primarilyfunction as a backup system for both in case of fire or tornado - it stays in the safe room downstairs most of the time in the gun safe.

any major name brand of external drive should be good, i did compare the warranty on the ones i looked at, about all were the same.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There are solid-state hard-drives now that are more durable than traditional hard drives. Unfortunately they're incredibly expensive at the moment - Apple has one in the premium version of its Macbook Air. The difference in price, just because of the hard-drive is something like $1500!

We have a Western Digital Mybook, which works pretty well - though if you have a costco membership you might want to check out what they have. Some pretty good deals on portable hard-drives - and you can get pretty high capacities these days.

Check these out:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-9...able+hard+drive

[bakofoil 27]

I was weighing up the advantages of waiting to buy a laptop over in the US and buying an external hard drive here or just getting a new laptop now. Up until two years ago I had a laptop because it was more convenient to me as a student, once 'settled' (and before I met an American!) I bought a desktop PC. So, whilst my desktop PC is perfectly adequate for my needs it's got to go.

I do want something durable but can't afford to pay in the region of $1500. Those external hard drives look very reasonable and I'm sure, like others here have said, the drive will come in useful as a storage device anyway.

I'll check out those reviews and the brands mentioned on the thread and see if I can go to Currys, Comet or PC World and get a decent deal tomorrow. As ever I have left this to the last minute. Thanks everyone for your advice.

[SMB x2 0]

We have a 120 gig Maxtor that I gave Luz. She used it for several years in the Philippines and when she moved she filled it up with her music and pictures and brought it here.

Are you ever stopped at customs for that sort of thing? Not to kick off the whole jolly roger debate, but I've got some unlicensed anime here on my computer I'll be bringing over (it's a desktop, so shipped) which is probably a whole grey area regarding legality. Is it best to err on the side of caution and make sure anything present is above board?

Stu

[Ms. Squirrel 11]

I have a 500GB external hard drive and paid €80 on Amazon.de - I am really happy with it.

Here's the link Amazon.co.uk - external hard drive

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I LOVE my Western Digital MyBook; so easy to use, and heaps of memory

and they're getting cheaper! if you have time, check out ebuyer.com or Amazon... you'll get something really good for very little

[bakofoil 27]

Thanks everyone for your help. I got a Western Digital Passport 360GB (went for a compact design) plus a hard case and I'll wrap it in bubble wrap. Very helpful advice from you all.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Thanks everyone for your help. I got a Western Digital Passport 360GB (went for a compact design) plus a hard case and I'll wrap it in bubble wrap. Very helpful advice from you all.

Staples sells static free bubble wrap. I'm sure other places sell it too. I'd hate to see static from plastic hurt your HD.

[bakofoil 27]

Thanks everyone for your help. I got a Western Digital Passport 360GB (went for a compact design) plus a hard case and I'll wrap it in bubble wrap. Very helpful advice from you all.

Staples sells static free bubble wrap. I'm sure other places sell it too. I'd hate to see static from plastic hurt your HD.

ooh good point! Thanks!

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

Thanks everyone for your help. I got a Western Digital Passport 360GB (went for a compact design) plus a hard case and I'll wrap it in bubble wrap. Very helpful advice from you all.

Staples sells static free bubble wrap. I'm sure other places sell it too. I'd hate to see static from plastic hurt your HD.

kinda unnecessary when it's an external usb hard drive ain't it?