Best external hard drives to buy right now?

So, I really need to grab a new drive. Since I’ve got this sweet laptop, there isn't much sense in anything other than an external one, right?
I'm looking for some solid recommendations—something that won't break the bank, maybe around $333. I'm thinking somewhere in the 250 to 300GB capacity range.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this Seagate Expansion 250GB for about $250 and was wondering... is it actually any good?

I’ve actually spent some time messing around with a 500 GB Western Digital Elements—the 7200 rpm version via FireWire—and honestly, it runs like an absolute beast. I'm guessing your specific model is the USB version since the price point is significantly lower, so if you aren't obsessed with raw transfer speeds—meaning, if you're mostly just using it as a glorified digital junk drawer—then go ahead and grab it.

So, it’s kind of like this—I’m actually looking into getting an external drive myself. I’ve been weighing the pros and cons of just grabbing a standard external unit versus buying a 2.5'' drive and popping it into an enclosure. I’d probably need somewhere in the ballpark of 160 to 200 GB, so I was wondering what you guys might suggest... I’m also working with a laptop that only has about 120 GB of internal space.

Look, at the end of the day, it’s just an external drive in a case—whether it's a 2.5" or a 3.5" doesn't really change the fundamental concept. Those first ones tend to be a bit more compact, sure, but you're paying a premium for that small footprint, which feels like a bad deal when you realize they're pricier for the exact same storage space. The larger ones? They're faster and pack way more capacity anyway. As I recall, those smaller 2.5" models are topping out at maybe 160 GB right now, which is honestly pretty underwhelming.

So, I just stumbled onto this pretty sweet deal for a 320GB Razer drive. Honestly, I don't know anything about their gear, so I was wondering if anyone here has actually used one before? Is it worth picking up, or should I pass?

http://www.itpromo.ro/promo/112157.jpg

Razer just handles the enclosures, they don't actually make the drives themselves.

So if it isn't actually the drive, then what even is it? 🤔

Like, whose drive is sitting in there then?

http://www.itpromo.ro/promo/hdd_canyon_320gb~112157

There’s a disk in there—honestly, I have no clue who it belongs to—so you might want to check with the guy running the shop to see if he knows what's up. 😁

😁

I mean, there’s basically zero info floating around online about that, so I pretty much just crossed it off my list. Total dead end, right? But anyway, I got most of that stuff sorted out. Ended up grabbing that WD drive you were talking about earlier, and honestly, it’s working great so far. It’s got a two-year warranty too, so hey, whatever happens, happens.

Thanks, Benjamin King2 👍

Jason Richardson5 said:😁

I couldn't find a single thing about that online, so I pretty much ruled it out as an option. But hey, I did get most of this sorted—ended up grabbing that WD drive you mentioned earlier, and honestly, it’s working great so far. It comes with a two-year warranty, so whatever happens, happens, right?

Thanks, Benjamin King2 👍

It's not a bad drive per se... but when you realize a random enclosure from $67 paired with a standard internal drive gives you basically the same speed—and at least a year more of warranty coverage—then suddenly things look a little different...

It doesn't even matter anymore, everything's sorted out. Honestly, I've been cruising along just fine for the last two years. Besides, this thing is really just a backup plan since I'm planning on picking up a desktop soon anyway. My laptop is starting to feel pretty limited, and there’s just zero room to upgrade anything. 🙂

I'm looking to pick up a high-capacity hard drive for storing my photo library and video files. I've been browsing some deals online, but this one on this LINK seems like the most sensible option...

Does anyone have any better recommendations? 🙂

Look, there isn't anything bigger than 2TB available right now, and if you absolutely have to go external, just grab the cheapest option in my opinion...

http://www.nabava.net/cvrsti-diskovi...400rpm__638871
or
http://www.nabava.net/cvrsti-diskovi...-cache__597171

When it comes to storage, capacity is king. These have plenty of space, and honestly, the speed difference is negligible... though you'll definitely feel it over $167.

I just picked up an external hard drive, but my computer isn't recognizing it at all. If anyone can step in and help, what steps should I take
in this situation? Since I have absolutely no clue how this works, I’ll need a detailed explanation...

Right-click on "This PC" and head over to "Manage," then select "Disk Management."
Once you're in there, look for the specific volume that doesn't have a designated drive letter next to it—like C: or D:—and it’ll likely be labeled as "unallocated space."
From there, you'll want to initialize the disk first (you can find that option by right-clicking the field), and then go ahead and format it—which is tucked in that same menu. After that, you should be all set to assign it a letter via the "Change Drive Letter and Paths" option.

@Nathan Reyes59/">@@Nathan Reyes59 thanks for the reply. I’ll give it some thought, but honestly, the sheer speed at which massive amounts of data get moved during the transfer is really starting to bug me... I can't help but wonder just how significant the difference actually is. 🙂

If speed is actually a priority for you, just get a drive with an eSATA interface. Trying to move dozens of gigabytes over USB is pure torture... slow and painful. 😱

You might also want to look into buying the drive and the enclosure separately. Something like this:

For about a hundred bucks, you can snag a 2TB eSATA drive, whereas those WD Elements ones only offer USB.

Or even grab a docking station like this. You can swap out both 3.5" and 2.5" drives, it supports hot-swapping, and it even has one-touch backup.

Thanks for the tip. So you're saying I could just go with something like this incorporating a built-in drawer? Honestly, that seems like a much smarter, more budget-friendly move... 🙂

Then again, those WD units look a lot more compact than anything like that.

You can pick pretty much any drive you want... just make sure the enclosure has an eSATA connector, otherwise you're wasting your time. If you're sticking with USB, honestly, just go with a WD solution—they're better quality.

And if your PC doesn't have eSATA, you can just fix that using this and that...

Alright, I think I'm going to roll with that hard drive and the drawer setup with those connectors. Hopefully, the guys at Best Buy will know if they have 🙂 thanks