What should I look for in an external hard drive to back up my computer?

by meg Posted 2012/08/08 02:59:13

Related Topics: Computer, Music, Movie, Pictures, Video, Videos, Picture, Games

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Something to back up my music, videos and movie, pictures, games, and documents. I went through my computer and totaled what I would like to back up and it came to about 165GB but I think it would be a good idea to go a bit higher. What are some other things I should look for, and how big should I go?

Radical Ed 2012/08/09 21:22:45

i'd suggest a seagate or WD 1-2TB drive. they are pretty cheap in most specialist stores.

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Cunning Stunts 2012/08/09 10:34:57

I'd go with a 1 or 2TB drive. They aren't the latest but they are heavily revised.

Avoid prepackaged kits and get a 3.5" drive (a 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green is lower speed but enough for an external at around $50) and an enclosure with a supplied DC power pack.

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Dan 2012/08/08 03:26:26

I just bought a relatively cheep 500gb one it's a slim version so you can stick in a pocket I'd say something like that.

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Rob Williams 2012/08/08 03:14:59

Go as big as you can afford!

I think that when you get a large back up drive you lose the discipline to delete old files. I've currently got 6Tb and I'm starting to run out of space again!

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Rob Wil... to Rob Wil... 2012/08/08 03:19:57

I've got two of these...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/2tb-s...

... and two 1Tb ones. My problem is available USB sockets! Talking of which... maybe you should start thinking about USB 3.0?

http://cdn.arstechnica.net/US...

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meg to Rob Wil... 2012/08/08 04:44:31

Well I can't afford much I'd like to stay below $100 preferably in the $60-$80 range.

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Rob Wil... to meg 2012/08/08 08:11:51

+1
Well just go to your equivalent of Maplins or PC World. preferably when there's a sale on, and say "I've got $X... what's the biggest external hard drive I can get for that?"

That should keep you going until you can afford somrthing bigger.

Oh... just be glad that things have moved on!

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Quasineutrality 2012/08/08 03:05:43

http://www.amazon.com/Transce...

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