Author Topic: Advice on buying an External Hard Drive, please! (Read 5723 times)

wz4jc3 · « **Reply #160 on:** February 5, 2012, 02:47:15 PM »

I am in the market for a 2TB external HDD. I have found the Western Digital Elements HDD on Amazon for £90, which is the best price I have found so far. Does anybody have any other recommendations? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

andymanlfc · « **Reply #161 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:09:50 PM »

Anyone got an external Hard Drive with a Macbook pro? Don't want to buy one which won't work on it.

Ginamos · « **Reply #162 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:21:08 PM »

Quote from: andymanlfc on March 26, 2012, 04:09:50 PM

Anyone got an external Hard Drive with a Macbook pro? Don't want to buy one which won't work on it.

They'll all work on a Mac, you don't need a special drive.

Bought a few Western Digital Elements drives over the past few years, they've been reliable, not very aesthetically pleasing, but quite cheap.

andymanlfc · « **Reply #163 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:38:02 PM »

Quote from: Ginamos on March 26, 2012, 04:21:08 PM

They'll all work on a Mac, you don't need a special drive.

Bought a few Western Digital Elements drives over the past few years, they've been reliable, not very aesthetically pleasing, but quite cheap.

Ah okay, thanks, didn't want to buy one and find out it wouldn't work.

shelovesyou · « **Reply #164 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:39:44 PM »

Quote from: andymanlfc on March 26, 2012, 04:09:50 PM

Anyone got an external Hard Drive with a Macbook pro? Don't want to buy one which won't work on it.

Make sure its FAT32 mate. Not NTFS.

DanFromMars · « **Reply #165 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:40:39 PM »

Quote from: andymanlfc on March 26, 2012, 04:38:02 PM

Ah okay, thanks, didn't want to buy one and find out it wouldn't work.

They won't work initially, you'll need to format them for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in disk utility to get the hard disk recognized.

andymanlfc · « **Reply #166 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:42:26 PM »

Quote from: DanFromMars on March 26, 2012, 04:40:39 PM

They won't work initially, you'll need to format them for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in disk utility to get the hard disk recognized.

Ahh right, is that easy to do?

Quote from: shelovesyou on March 26, 2012, 04:39:44 PM

Make sure its FAT32 mate. Not NTFS.

Ok mate will do, i'm sure it will say which it is in the specifications.

NatD · « **Reply #167 on:** March 26, 2012, 04:52:30 PM »

My 2TB WD Hard Drive is nearly full.

Should I start looking at something like a Network Storage Device or just keep on upgrading? It is connected to my HTPC and is generally full of movies - but I wouldn't mind being able to share them with other devices in the house.

Any help / suggestions?

zero zero · « **Reply #168 on:** March 26, 2012, 05:44:56 PM »

Quote from: andymanlfc on March 26, 2012, 04:42:26 PM

Ahh right, is that easy to do?

Dead easy. Don't worry about that

shelovesyou · « **Reply #169 on:** March 26, 2012, 07:29:16 PM »

Ive got a nice little Omega HD , but its NTFS, and in Uni im always using Macs for studio work and the like, so I want to partition it.
Any recommendations to do that pls ? And if I do do it will i lose all saved data on it ?
Thanks.

andymanlfc · « **Reply #170 on:** March 26, 2012, 11:08:55 PM »

Quote from: zero zero on March 26, 2012, 05:44:56 PM

Dead easy. Don't worry about that

Ah okay, nice one.

Cheers for all the help everyone

Liverlee · « **Reply #171 on:** April 13, 2012, 07:03:27 PM »

2TB seagate external hard drive from tesco direct for £67 delivered with this code TDX-H4JW if anyone's interested.

BazC · « **Reply #172 on:** April 13, 2012, 07:21:59 PM »

Quote from: Liverlee on April 13, 2012, 07:03:27 PM

2TB seagate external hard drive from tesco direct for £67 delivered with this code TDX-H4JW if anyone's interested.

That's brilliant, cheers!

Rattleduser · « **Reply #173 on:** April 13, 2012, 07:45:26 PM »

Quote from: Liverlee on April 13, 2012, 07:03:27 PM

2TB seagate external hard drive from tesco direct for £67 delivered with this code TDX-H4JW if anyone's interested.

not looked at the prices lately but that sounds a great price

Tepid water · « **Reply #174 on:** April 13, 2012, 10:01:36 PM »

2TB?

Fuck that seems an obscenely large drive.....

#whistfully remembers pentium 60 with 500mb hard drive.....

andymanlfc · « **Reply #175 on:** April 13, 2012, 10:47:45 PM »

Quote from: Liverlee on April 13, 2012, 07:03:27 PM

2TB seagate external hard drive from tesco direct for £67 delivered with this code TDX-H4JW if anyone's interested.

No way! Just bought a 1TB just before that!

DanFromMars · « **Reply #176 on:** April 14, 2012, 02:59:10 AM »

Externals are slow as anything though.

dave 5516 · « **Reply #177 on:** April 15, 2012, 06:59:53 PM »

Quote from: Liverlee on April 13, 2012, 07:03:27 PM

2TB seagate external hard drive from tesco direct for £67 delivered with this code TDX-H4JW if anyone's interested.

Ta la.Ordered 2 yesterday.

Liverlee · « **Reply #178 on:** April 17, 2012, 12:08:10 AM »

Ordered mine friday night and it arrived today, usb 3 too.

wz4jc3 · « **Reply #179 on:** October 14, 2012, 11:18:31 AM »

Has the price of external HDDs fallen in price again. Just found PC World selling a WD 2TB HDD for £69.99 delivered?

wz4jc3 · « **Reply #180 on:** December 27, 2012, 02:47:53 PM »

Quote from: wz4jc3 on October 14, 2012, 11:18:31 AM

Has the price of external HDDs fallen in price again. Just found PC World selling a WD 2TB HDD for £69.99 delivered?

Just picked one up from Currys for £69 for a 2TB - much better than the £120 12 months ago.

pazcom · « **Reply #181 on:** December 27, 2012, 03:08:29 PM »

Quote from: wz4jc3 on October 14, 2012, 11:18:31 AM

Has the price of external HDDs fallen in price again. Just found PC World selling a WD 2TB HDD for £69.99 delivered?

i believe so. They went up not long after the Tsunami in Japan. Would assume that as things have settled production has increased

G1 Jockey 4(betfair) · « **Reply #182 on:** December 27, 2012, 05:55:25 PM »

make sure you get one which extracts power from the usb source.

pain in the arse otherwise.

Sr Harvest Fiields · « **Reply #183 on:** December 27, 2012, 07:14:13 PM »

Quote from: G1 Jockey 4(betfair) on December 27, 2012, 05:55:25 PM

make sure you get one which extracts power from the usb source.

pain in the arse otherwise.

Explain mate as im after another hard drive, simple as a backup to my slave drive as id be destroyed if i lost a 100gb of music. Just one to copy it all onto and then put it in a drawer.

gods_left_peg · « **Reply #184 on:** December 27, 2012, 09:39:54 PM »

Quote from: Bad Santa Fiields on December 27, 2012, 07:14:13 PM

Explain mate as im after another hard drive, simple as a backup to my slave drive as id be destroyed if i lost a 100gb of music. Just one to copy it all onto and then put it in a drawer.

There are two different types of external drive you can get; usb powered or mains powered.

USB powered draws the power from your PC, and is commonly known as a portable external hard drive as they are smaller and you dont have to carry round a plug\power pack. For example:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/western-digital-elements-se-portable-hard-drive-1tb-black-10867078-pdt.html

Mains powered are bigger and need to be plugged in to work. However, if you are looking for a large amount of storage 1tb+ they are normally cheaper. For example:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/western-digital-elements-external-hard-drive-2tb-black-03781559-pdt.html

Before anyone jumps in, I'm not suggesting buying from PC world as you will get something cheaper off Amazon, Dabs, or Ebuyer. But it was easier to link to

Tepid water · « **Reply #185 on:** December 27, 2012, 10:58:31 PM »

Sea gate reckon that within a few short years, we will be up to 60tb hard drives....

That would store all the written information on the planet up to about 100 years ago (ok this is a bit of a guess on my part, but I can't see how it isn't true) 60TB!!

Sr Harvest Fiields · « **Reply #186 on:** December 28, 2012, 08:44:18 AM »

I got me a 120gb SSD and fuck me thats fast, shame they are so expensive for such a small drive. I guess in time 1tb SSD' will be cheap and HD are today. Hate to think where we will be in 20 years time technology-wise, mindblowing.

Twelfth Customer · « **Reply #187 on:** December 28, 2012, 09:53:20 AM »

I've had about a dozen, WD, Seagate and currently using a Samsung Story, it is the only one that has lasted longer than 5 years. One feature to look for is an on/off switch, the WD MyBook series look nice but don't have one and would often not be picked up by Windows.

ps. I have an 126GB SSD (intel) and 256 GB SSD (OCZ Vertex), they are fricking awesome for gaming.

G1 Jockey 4(betfair) · « **Reply #188 on:** December 28, 2012, 01:11:15 PM »

Quote from: Bad Santa Fiields on December 27, 2012, 07:14:13 PM

Explain mate as im after another hard drive, simple as a backup to my slave drive as id be destroyed if i lost a 100gb of music. Just one to copy it all onto and then put it in a drawer.

a lot of portables hve to be plugged into the mains as well as the usb

got an intenso 750gb which doesnt need mains power

Mark Walters · « **Reply #189 on:** December 28, 2012, 07:42:06 PM »

Quote from: Twelfth Knight on December 28, 2012, 09:53:20 AM

I've had about a dozen, WD, Seagate and currently using a Samsung Story, it is the only one that has lasted longer than 5 years. One feature to look for is an on/off switch, the WD MyBook series look nice but don't have one and would often not be picked up by Windows.

ps. I have an 126GB SSD (intel) and 256 GB SSD (OCZ Vertex), they are fricking awesome for gaming.

You've had about a dozen SSDs? I've just ordered a 128GB OCZ Vertex 4. What affects the life of the drive because mine is likely to be powered on 24/7/365?

Growler2 · « **Reply #190 on:** January 14, 2013, 10:56:59 AM »

Some advice required if possible. Is it posible to buy an external hard drive with a viewing screen/small monitor. I am plugging straight into a music system via USB port so need to be anbe to select the tracks.

El Lobo · « **Reply #191 on:** January 15, 2013, 11:01:22 AM »

Quote from: Growler2 on January 14, 2013, 10:56:59 AM

Some advice required if possible. Is it posible to buy an external hard drive with a viewing screen/small monitor. I am plugging straight into a music system via USB port so need to be anbe to select the tracks.

A laptop?