Best external hard drives to buy right now?

Benjamin King2 said:The issue is the player, not the disc. 🙂

It’s all about the "angle of approach." 😁 ...from where I'm sitting, the disc is the culprit. 😛

Anyway, thanks for giving it a shot. 👍

Is it

or perhaps this one

— or should I be looking at a third option entirely?

I specifically highlighted these two because they come with a 36-month warranty. To be honest, my main focus is on the Adata model; I am not particularly well-versed in their storage drives. I currently use an 8GB Adata USB drive that is quite sluggish—so, I find myself wondering, could their hard drives suffer from similar performance issues?

When you're looking at USB sticks, memory speeds can be all over the place—honestly, you can usually tell what you're getting just by looking at the price tag. You aren't going to snag a high-speed drive for pennies. Now, if we're talking hard drives, they're mechanical, running at 5400 rpm and doing their thing, but there isn't much of a massive difference between them. If I had to pick, I’d probably go with a SanDisk—it's got a pretty robust, shock-resistant casing, though I wouldn't exactly go throwing it against a wall for fun. 😁

I find myself in need of some guidance regarding a hard drive recommendation—specifically a 1TB capacity—for both my desktop and my laptop. My current drives are... well, they are quite exhausted, if I'm being honest. They simply aren't performing as they once did, and I need something reliable for downloading torrents while the old ones finally retire.

Benjamin King2 said:When you're looking at USB drives, the memory speeds can fluctuate wildly—you can usually tell just by looking at the price tag, as you won't find high-speed performance in the budget bins. As for the hard drive, it's a mechanical unit spinning at 5400 rpm, so there isn't a massive distinction between the models. If I were in your shoes, I would opt for the SanDisk Extreme series; it features a fairly robust, shock-resistant casing, though I wouldn't suggest treating it like a football. 😁

Hehe, I think I'll pass on that. Thanks for the input. In that case, I'll likely just go with the Seagate model and call it a day—unless, of course, you have a completely different recommendation in mind?

Look, I’m no tech guru, but I’m in desperate need of a 2TB external hard drive—something portable enough to toss in my bag when I'm traveling and whatnot.
Can anyone point me toward some solid options currently available on the US market?

I found this one at Best Buy, but it only comes in 1TB:
However, what I’m actually hunting for is this 2TB version: http://www.saturn.nl/mcs/product/WES...tml?langId=-11

redbison18 said:I need some solid recommendations for a 1TB hard drive—something for both my desktop and my laptop—specifically to handle torrenting, because the ones I’m using right now are absolutely trash.

What’s the logic there? If the computer is actually powered down—and I mean fully shut off, not just sleeping—then nothing is downloading. Period. It's just basic physics at that point.

swiftmoose20 said:Heh, I'm good, thanks for the answer. So, if that's the case, I can just grab an Ada and call it a day without worrying about it—unless you’ve got some other totally different suggestion up your sleeve?

I don't have much else to add to the conversation—honestly, when it comes to peripherals, my whole strategy basically boils down to one thing: I'm always hunting for the longest warranty possible. It’s just common sense, really—why bother with gear that’s going to die on you in six months when you can grab something with a solid three-year coverage? It's all about minimizing the headache later on.

stormyharbor73 said:Look, I’m no tech guru—definitely not an expert by any stretch—but I’m hunting for a 2TB external hard drive. Just something portable enough to toss in my bag when I'm traveling or whatever, nothing too crazy, just something that works.
Can anyone point me toward some solid options that are actually worth looking at on the market right now? I'm talking about what's currently performing well here in the States—nothing too outdated, just the stuff that actually holds water today.

So, look—you can actually find this one here in the States, and it’s got the 1TB version: I was just scrolling through some online shops—you know how it goes, falling down those endless rabbit holes at 2 AM—and I stumbled upon this specific item. It’s one of those things that looks perfectly fine in the photos, almost too perfect, if that makes sense. You see these products listed with all the bells and whistles, looking like they belong in a high-end showroom in Manhattan or maybe a boutique in Chicago, but then you actually look at the specs. It’s interesting—really—how much effort goes into the presentation versus the actual utility of the thing. We live in an era where everything is polished to a mirror shine before we even get a chance to touch it. It’s a bit cynical, honestly, but that’s just how the market works these days. You find something that catches your eye, you think "hey, that might actually solve my problem," and then you realize you're mostly just paying for the aesthetic. Anyway, just a random thought while I was browsing. Nothing major, just one of those little observations that sticks in your head for no particular reason.
Honestly, I’m leaning toward the 2TB model—it just makes sense. http://www.saturn.nl/mcs/product/WES...tml?langId=-11

I was scrolling through some procurement sites today—you know, those endless rabbit holes of government contracts and supply orders—and I stumbled onto a search for "MY passport 2TB." Now, if you aren't tech-savvy enough to realize that's an oxymoron, let me break it down for you—it’s like looking for a "high-speed" turtle or a "diet" double cheeseburger. A passport is a tiny little booklet used for identity and travel, not a massive external hard drive meant to store your entire digital life. Unless someone is trying to smuggle a literal library of data inside a government document—which, honestly, sounds like the plot of a mediocre B-movie you'd see on cable at 2 AM—the search term is just nonsensical. It’s one of those moments where you realize the internet is basically just people typing things they don't understand into search bars and hoping for a miracle. Just a weird, digital glitch in the matrix, really.

Benjamin King2 said:How can you think that? If the computer is powered down, then absolutely nothing is being downloaded.

I believe I recall reading somewhere on this forum—perhaps it was a different thread entirely—that someone suggested using an external hard drive specifically for running BitTorrent clients...
Assuming my memory serves me correctly, at least...

It was probably some kind of NAS device—something like this one that comes with a built-in torrent client:

The thing is, that’s going to be a bit of an upfront investment—you could probably find cheaper options out there, I guess, but you should definitely budget for at least $500 plus the cost of the hard drives separately.

A standard external drive without a computer hooked up to it is basically just a glorified brick—it’s completely useless on its own.

Thanks, Benjamin King2, this one caught my eye: WD My Passport Slim™ 2TB:
http://www.amazon.com/details/example-link

Has anyone here actually used these WD My Passport drives? Are they actually fast, or am I just dreaming?

And honestly, it’s pretty quick—those 5400 rpm drives you see shoved into laptops are actually faster than most cheap USB sticks out there. I mean, really, what kind of insane speeds do you actually need?

Look, let’s say I’m moving around 50 GB of audio files and I want that process to be over before my coffee even gets cold.
Am I asking for the moon here?

You’re looking at transfer speeds of roughly 50 Mb/s—which works out to about 3 GB per minute, if you're doing the math. So, give or take, you'll be looking at maybe 20 minutes to move that much data.

So, I've got a question for you guys. A buddy of mine borrowed my old external drive—you know, that little 300GB WD one you used to get bundled with your Comcast service back in the day. Well, he went ahead and wiped everything on it. He was messing around with his Windows installation and had to move stuff around, so he just dumped his own files right over mine. Now I'm sitting here wondering: is there actually any way to get my stuff back, or am I just staring at a digital graveyard?

Look, the Help Service section is absolutely flooded with threads about this exact thing—maybe try actually using the search bar once in a while? Your question doesn't even have anything to do with hardware:

Anyone know where I can pick up an HDD my Book AV-TV (WDBGLG0010HBK) around here?

So, I’ve got this old laptop from about eight years ago that still runs like a champ, and I’m thinking it’s finally time to grab an external hard drive just to keep all my stuff backed up safely.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m definitely not some tech wizard or anything, and I stumbled upon these two different listings online:
1-Seagate 120 GB 2,5" Pat
2-Deskstar 160 GB Sata
The whole thing is tripping me up because I honestly have no clue what the deal is with Pat versus Sata and whether either of these will actually work with my laptop or if I'm just throwing money away.

Where exactly do you plan on housing this external drive? Every external unit comes with its own specific enclosure, and every enclosure utilizes its own set of connectors. Some drives are soldered directly into the casing, which means you have zero option to swap out the internal hardware.

The options you are looking at right now are standard drives featuring two distinct connector types. SATA is the current industry standard, whereas PATA is completely obsolete; you would simply be wasting your time and money trying to track down a compatible enclosure for it. If you decide to go with the other offer, you will be forced to purchase a separate enclosure just to make the thing functional.

Brandon Davis7 said:I have an 8-year-old laptop that still runs perfectly, and I am planning to buy an external hard drive to use for backups.
I am certainly no expert, and I stumbled upon these two offers in some online classifieds:
1-Seagate 120 GB 2,5" Pat
2-Deskstar 160 GB Sata
The terms Pat and Sata are confusing to me, and I am unsure if they will even work with my laptop.

Just grab any external USB drive like. You will get much faster transfer speeds if you plug it into a modern USB 3.0 port. My advice is to stay far away from used hard drives found in classified ads.

David Price5 said:just grab any decent external USB drivelike.you'll get much faster copy and write speeds if you plug it into a modern USB 3.0 port..avoid buying used HDDs from random online classified ads.

Look, my laptop is eight years old. Unless I plan on dropping a fortune on a new machine anytime soon, USB 3.0 isn't even a factor here.

Ultimately, buying a used drive is a gamble, especially when you're picking something up from a site like Craigslist. You should consider what David Price5 suggested and look for a solid deal at a reputable retailer instead.