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External hard drives

Looking for a USB powered one, not fussed if this means its a bit slower for read and write, the bigger capacity the better.

Where abouts are the best place to buy? I've actually seen some really good random offers in Tescos, but theres a couple of random online tech computer shops that I used to use, but I have forgotten.
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    MrG wrote: »
    Looking for a USB powered one, not fussed if this means its a bit slower for read and write, the bigger capacity the better.

    Where abouts are the best place to buy? I've actually seen some really good random offers in Tescos, but theres a couple of random online tech computer shops that I used to use, but I have forgotten.

    mine was dirt cheap off ebay, 160gb for about 30-40 quid. try amazon, ebuyer,
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you want massive capacity then doing it yourself with an external caddy works wonders. The problem is sometimes you need seperate power as 3.5" discs need mroe than 2.5", and also its marginally less portable.

    mine is only 300gb but I could slot in a 1.5tb if I wanted.

    websites to try:

    scan.co.uk
    ebuyer.co.uk
    amazon as badboy mentioned
    novatech.co.uk
    yoyotech.co.uk
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'ver just ordered an Iomega 320GB off Overclockers for £50. Many offerings off eBay tend to be unbranded. If data means as much to you as is does to me, then I only seek branded drives e.g. Seagate and Western Digital.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ask yourself why you need an external hard drive first. If it's to backup your photos then at most you'd need about 4Gb, maybe 8Gb. If that's the case then get yourself a memory stick.

    Then consider an internal drive instead, I got a 1Tb internal drive for £50. The beauty of an additional drive means that if your PC fails you'll already have a ready made backup on the system.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maxtor-1-5TB-Basics-Desktop-USB2-0/dp/B001F4TFYW

    I got this although over priced on amazon I'd suggest looking around, maplin had it for £90ish and sign up to the newsletter you'll get a voucher to use, big, external and nice
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Its for use with a laptop, Im accuring data at an alarming rate. I have 20gb left on a 250gb hard drive.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have a 320gb Western Digital one, works fine for me! Think i paid about £55?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ive seen some nice (USB powered) tiny WD ones that fit in your shirt pocket for about £50 :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah mine is pretty small tbh, i think i got it off ebuyer.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Personally I find using USB powered HDD puts a drain on the computer and slows it down A LOT

    if your like me and normally use your laptop powered I'd suggest always using a self powered usb hdd,


    Also some of these drives are expensive I've seen, at present I pay about £1 per 10gig.


    ETA - I missed the first few words sorry didnt realised your looking for USB powered.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you buy a decent USB one with good wires you'll have no problem.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    500gb one from play.com, along with a big kickass dvd boxset for dads xmas present :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Always happy to help :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    Ask yourself why you need an external hard drive first. If it's to backup your photos then at most you'd need about 4Gb, maybe 8Gb. If that's the case then get yourself a memory stick..

    :eek2:

    I've got about 90GB worth of photos, each photo is 1mb to 2mb in size so I don't know where your "At Most" calculations come from.

    If you want the original photos at full resolution then they take up a lot more space.

    As far as drives go I've got both USB & FireWire drives - firewire is nicer - faster for sure.
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