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Best external hard drives to buy right now?

Started by Jason Richardson5 · · 👁 19 views · 633 replies

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Participants Jason Richardson5Benjamin King2Ethan Gomez61Frank Wilson2Aaron Stewart7Sandra Garcia5vividskipper15Casey Long2darkowl72Sarah Turner98coppertrucker11Jamie Ramos5Jeremy Fisher78Taylor CoxAngela Long62shadowridge9Christian Harris79Thomas Castillo6redeagle42Zachary Parker84crimsonlynx1rustyranger6Noah Sanchez39Walter Vaughn4 …
Brandon Davis7 Brandon Davis7 Newcomer
8 messages
joined Oct 2014
#501 ·
Whoops, looks like I totally misspoke there—what I actually meant was an external USB hard drive, you know, the kind you just plug directly into your computer's USB port.
Honestly, even something in the ballpark of 200 GB would do the trick for me, but it seems like everything available lately starts at 500 GB or higher.
lonecyclist11 lonecyclist11 Newcomer
3 messages
joined Mar 2014
#502 ·
It doesn't really matter. If you're just using it for backups, all that matters is that it's fast enough and reliable. You should check out Newegg, since their prices tend to be about 25% lower than the other retailers. I guess if you aren't on a tight budget, you shouldn't skimp too much; I've had my fair share of bad experiences with those ultra-cheap HDDs. You get what you pay for, I suppose. Good luck 🙂
Jerry Lopez87 Jerry Lopez87 Newcomer
4 messages
joined Apr 2014
#503 ·
Can anyone give me some recommendations on which hard drive I should pick up? I’ve been running solely on an SSD lately, so I’m looking to grab a traditional hard drive to run alongside it.

Right now, I'm using an SSD Kingston 120 GB, 2.5", SATA
My motherboard is an MSI H61M-P20-G3, s1155, D3, S2, U2, DVI, mA

The power supply is a Corsair VS series VS450, 450W

It doesn't really matter to me if it's an external or internal drive, and I don't care if it's 500GB or 1TB since I don't play games or store movies or anything like that.
Budget-wise, I'm looking at around $133. Since the motherboard isn't exactly top-of-the-line, what would be the best value for my money here...
Benjamin King2 Benjamin King2 Active Member
138 messages
joined Apr 2007
#504 ·
You could probably grab this one if you aren't planning on lugging it around everywhere:

Honestly, the motherboard doesn't even matter—as long as it has a SATA connector, you're golden.
Jerry Lopez87 Jerry Lopez87 Newcomer
4 messages
joined Apr 2014
#505 ·
I'm thinking about picking up an internal hard drive.
Can someone tell me how much the cache memory actually matters?
Is there even a noticeable difference between 32 and 64 MB of cache?

Since I don't really have a ton of data to fill it up, I don't care if it's 500 GB or 1 TB, but looking at the prices, they're basically the same, so I might as well just go for the 1 TB one.

It looks like the price fluctuates based on the warranty length too. It seems like those WD Black drives come with the longest warranties.

So, what’s the smartest move here? Should I just grab whatever has the longest warranty and more cache memory?

Up to about $150.
Sarah Roberts80 Sarah Roberts80 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Apr 2014
#506 ·
I need some advice on picking up an external drive. Looking for something around 2TB. It’s just gonna be for dumping family photos and videos onto... so I don't really care about speed, size, or how pretty it looks. It’ll basically just sit in a closet and wait for me to dump new files on it once in a while.
What’s actually the safest, most reliable way to store all those precious family memories long-term? I don't want to lose everything...
These two look like decent deals to me:
Benjamin King2 Benjamin King2 Active Member
138 messages
joined Apr 2007
#507 ·
Jerry Lopez87 said:I'm thinking about picking up an internal drive.
Tell me—how much does cache actually matter here?
Is there even a noticeable difference between 32 and 64 MB of cache?

Since I don't really have anything massive to fill it up with, capacity isn't my main concern—whether it's 500 GB or 1 TB doesn't move the needle for me—but looking at the prices, they're basically identical, so I might as well go for the 1 TB one.

It looks like price fluctuates based on the warranty, too. Apparently, these WD Black drives come with the longest coverage.

So, what's the smartest play? Grab the one with the longest warranty and more cache memory?

Up to $150.

Look, cache might actually show up in some specific RAID setups, but on a standard desktop? You aren't going to notice a damn thing. Those Black drives are performance drives—they're great if you're doing heavy lifting like video editing where you're constantly dumping data. If you just need a place to stash files, there’s zero advantage other than that longer warranty. Though, honestly, you won't find a Black drive at that kind of price point easily. Usually, a 2-year warranty is pretty much the industry standard for drives right now.

Sarah Roberts80 said:I need a recommendation for an external drive. Looking for something around 2TB just to store family photos and videos—so speed, size, or aesthetics don't really matter. It'll just sit in a closet and be used occasionally to dump new photos onto it.
What's the most reliable and long-term way to save family photos?
These look like decent deals:

You could also grab this one; it's cheaper than the options over at E-DIGITAL:

The absolute safest and most durable way to do this is to have at least one backup copy. 🙂 Honestly, burn your photos onto DVDs—they'll probably outlast a hard drive any day.
Jerry Lopez87 Jerry Lopez87 Newcomer
4 messages
joined Apr 2014
#508 ·
Benjamin King2;49439949 said:You could grab this one if you aren't planning on lugging it around everywhere:

So, I stumbled upon this one with 64MB cache, and honestly, it’s actually cheaper than the one you suggested. Since it comes with a 3-year warranty for those $113 dollars, I guess it might actually be worth picking up.

My other thought is this WD Black, but really just because of that long warranty period.

Which one would you go with? Personally, I think this Toshiba is a pretty solid deal for the price.
Benjamin King2 Benjamin King2 Active Member
138 messages
joined Apr 2007
#509 ·
I’d probably go with Toshiba—the only exception being Black if I absolutely needed that extra performance boost, regardless of whatever warranty situation is going on.
Sarah Roberts80 Sarah Roberts80 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Apr 2014
#510 ·
Thanks, Benjamin King2!

I've already got my photos burned onto DVDs, but I really need a disc for video files. So, what... there just isn't a better way to store videos and pictures long-term? How long does an average DVD actually last compared to a hard drive?
Jerry Lopez87 Jerry Lopez87 Newcomer
4 messages
joined Apr 2014
#511 ·
Thanks, I think I'll go ahead and grab that Toshiba.

Hey Sarah Roberts80, if you're really set on picking up that external drive, I’d honestly suggest staying far away from that E-DIGITAL shop. I had a nightmare of an experience with them. They don't even have their own service center here in the States; they ship everything over to a facility in Mexico, so if anything actually breaks, you're going to be waiting forever. I personally spent two whole months just waiting around before I finally managed to get my money back.
You should probably do some digging on the forums to see what kind of horror stories other people have with them...
Benjamin King2 Benjamin King2 Active Member
138 messages
joined Apr 2007
#512 ·
Sarah Roberts80 said:Thanks, Benjamin King2!

I’ve already got my photos on DVDs, but I need a solution for video. So—is there really no better way to store videos and pictures long-term? How long does an average DVD actually last compared to a hard drive?

Optical media will last a lifetime if you don't wreck it—you know, keeping it in a case so it doesn't get scratched up, avoiding heat, humidity, and all that fun stuff. I actually have some CDs at home from twenty years ago that still work perfectly fine. Just one rule: never, ever lend your DVDs to anyone. 😁 As for hard drives, well, there are a million ways things can go sideways—electronics, mechanical parts... there's no such thing as a guaranteed lifespan. It is what it is.
Nathan Wood80 Nathan Wood80 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Dec 2018
#513 ·
I've come across several options for external drives—roughly $167 1TB capacity, USB 3.0, spinning at 5400 rpm—from all sorts of different manufacturers. I find myself wondering if there are any truly significant differences worth worrying about, or if there's some secret trick to picking the right one?
adata - WD - SEAGATE - Transcend - Toshiba?
Brenda Jackson52 Brenda Jackson52 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Apr 2014
#514 ·
Benjamin King2 quick question for you: which one would you go with? The SEAGATE Samsung M3 1TB external hard drive or the
Toshiba Store Basics 1TB model?
Also, if a drive takes a physical hit, is everything on it gone for good? Or is there still a chance to pull the data off myself without having to call in a forensics expert?
Noah Sanchez39 Noah Sanchez39 Member
30 messages
joined Mar 2010
#515 ·
@ Michelle Wells40: Look, just make sure you grab a longer warranty. Ideally, aim for 3 years (36 months).

@ Brenda Jackson52: For instance, Seagate It comes with a three-year warranty. Toshiba Just two years. That's it.

P.S. I finally bit the bullet and replaced my two external drives. One was from 2006 and the other from 2008. It was about time. I'm thinking about picking up a new, smaller drive with more capacity—something in the 2 TB range. All data transferred successfully. Finally got rid of that mess of extra cables and bulky power supplies. It takes up almost no space on my desk, and honestly, it's dead quiet. 🙂
Physical damage and data loss? It’s always a possibility. I haven't been unlucky enough to deal with that yet, fortunately. 😁
Benjamin King2 Benjamin King2 Active Member
138 messages
joined Apr 2007
#516 ·
Benjamin King2 hit the nail on the head regarding the warranty—neither of those drives has any serious protective casing, so please, for the love of God, don't go banging them around. 🙂 As for the damage... well, it really depends on what we're talking about here. If your PC actually recognizes the drive once you plug it in, you can usually just jump in and rescue your data yourself.
Brenda Jackson52 Brenda Jackson52 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Apr 2014
#517 ·
Thanks a lot to both of you 🙂
stormyharbor73 stormyharbor73 Newcomer
4 messages
joined Feb 2014
#518 ·
So, I finally pulled the trigger on this one:

Can any actual experts out there weigh in with a critique? On another note: I have a smaller external drive that I’ve mostly used for basic copy-pasting files, but now I’m considering installing the full software suite on it. Is that actually worth the hassle, or am I just inviting unnecessary headaches?
Carl Sanchez40 Carl Sanchez40 Member
15 messages
joined May 2012
#519 ·
What are your thoughts on this Is it actually a solid machine, or is there something out there that's better and won't break the bank?
Thanks!

ios / tt
Joshua Garcia3 Joshua Garcia3 Active Member
70 messages
joined Jun 2008
#520 ·
Maybe this one.

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