External Hard Drive

[Regnis]

Hey guys i'm on the lookout for a reliable external hard drive 1tb. Looking at spending $250 max. any recommendations

[IanB]

One of AP's major sponsors http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/ I use them

[ricktas]

Seagate have a 1tb one for around $150.00 from a lot of stores. Try officeworks!

[Regnis]

Thankyou guys

[charton]

Seagate have a 1tb one for around $150.00 from a lot of stores. Try officeworks!

That is where we got our seagate from a few months ago.

[yarnella]

I have a 1TB Seagate USB external hard drive and can highly recommend it. You won't have to pay anywhere near $250.

[dbax]

I've got a small Seagate 120G, had it for about 5 years, never missed a beat

[wideangle]

If you really want to know what you are buying, just go and get yourself a HDD and a case. It is as easy as to insert the HDD and it's ready to go. Try AP sponser, Scorptech - you can pick up a ESATA case (way faster than USB2) for around $50 and a 1TB drive for around $110.

[pgbphotographytas]

If you really want to know what you are buying, just go and get yourself a HDD and a case. It is as easy as to insert the HDD and it's ready to go. Try AP sponser, Scorptech - you can pick up a ESATA case (way faster than USB2) for around $50 and a 1TB drive for around $110.

I have done this myself in the past but the cost saving is not worth it any more and if you buy a complete unit warranty is much easier.

I had a case at work where somebody purchased a case and drive separate and then had problems a few months later, the drive supplier tried to blame the case and the case supplier blamed the drive. In the end they purchased a complete unit and have not had a problem since. We tested both the case and drive for a while and could not get them to work for longer then a few hours at a time

[wideangle]

I have done this myself in the past but the cost saving is not worth it any more and if you buy a complete unit warranty is much easier.

I had a case at work where somebody purchased a case and drive separate and then had problems a few months later, the drive supplier tried to blame the case and the case supplier blamed the drive. In the end they purchased a complete unit and have not had a problem since. We tested both the case and drive for a while and could not get them to work for longer then a few hours at a time

Suppose it's experiences and preferences really. I have 3 external hard drives that I have made myself and none of them have ever played up. Like all electronic pieces it is just a matter of time when they do, whether that's a bult it yourself or purchase it from the shelf. I too have found the cost savings to be good in comparison to buying an external off the shelf, especially when it comes to getting one with an ESATA connection - a must for large file transfers, unless one wants to wait forever for files to transfer. And I cannot find any that are ESATA in shops, only USB2

[maccaroneski]

Wideangle I've considered that - but do they require an external power supply or can you get models that will draw power from the eSATA ports? Do the eSATA ports even have that facility? I've got a couple on my MB and am starting to wonder what they are all about.

[wideangle]

Wideangle I've considered that - but do they require an external power supply or can you get models that will draw power from the eSATA ports? Do the eSATA ports even have that facility? I've got a couple on my MB and am starting to wonder what they are all about.

When you purchase an external case they come with a power supply pack already. ESATA is basically the SATA ports inside of your computer that run your hard drive E stands for "external" so as you can have the benefit of utilizing the full hard drive speeds that your internal drives do. You would get around 20mbs on a USB2 conection, whereas eSTATA is going to give you around 70 or so. So around 3 times faster in my experience. And that makes a massive difference when transferring large volumes of files.

[maccaroneski]

Oh I know that they come with an external pack... but that's the problem. I think my powerboard is full already....

[wideangle]

Ahhhh....well that might be a problem. May have to go down the USB2 route - in that case like Rick said you can pick one up for $149 now at main stores for around $150.

[nisstrust]

I have 3x astone eSata cases, they are ok and do the cheap job at $30 each, but the power supply just died on 2 of them !

Going to get a dedicated 4 bay Raid enclosure now.

[peterb666]

I have a WD USB2 external hard drive. It was cheap and it is good - I would buy again. I have always preferred Seagate drives as I have never had a dud Seagate drive (mainly with respect to building PCs as I have been doing for over 20 years). I would recommend either.

One point to note about external hard drives that don't have an external power supply is that they can be fussy over the quality of the USB connnection, especially when connected via a hub. Short, good quality cables and direct connection to the PC will overcome most problems.

[Kym]

MSY.com.au have low cost drives inc Seagate.

Seagate 3.5” Desktop 500G/1TB/1.5TB/2TB $95/$135/$179/$255

The ugliest web site ever - its designed to keep Mum and Dad away
You can never complain about service from MSY, they have none. You have to know what you want.
They are good with warranty etc.