Best external hard drives to buy right now?

I can't quite recall the exact model, but I know for a fact it gave me massive headaches.

First off, according to the server admins, some nasty virus crawled onto it that just wouldn't budge. After that, it started making these bizarre noises and then just kicked the bucket.

The one I'm using now is also a Seagate, and it’s already making those same weird sounds. I decided to grab an external drive to move everything over just to be safe. I have way too much precious data on here to risk losing it all again.

restlessbear34 said:I can't recall the exact model, but I had major issues with it.

First, according to the tech support guy, it caught some kind of virus that was impossible to scrub. After that, it started making weird noises and then just died.

The one I'm using now is also a Seagate, and it's making creepy sounds too. Decided to grab an external drive to move everything over just to be safe. I have way too much precious data on here to risk losing it all again.

Fine, buy an external, but how is that any safer than an internal if the issue is actually the drives themselves?

Two failing drives in the same PC points toward a system issue—maybe the motherboard or the power supply? In that case, it isn't a Seagate problem.

I'm in the market for a 2-3TB external hard drive, primarily to handle PC backups and act as a storage hub for my movie collection.

A few years back, I picked up a Western Digital Elements 2 TB, and it turned out to be a total disaster—over 2,000 bad sectors right out of the gate. It was essentially throwing money down the drain.
I haven't had much hands-on experience with Transcend, Seagate, or ADATA.

The sales clerks, predictably, tried to insist that Western Digital is the gold standard and that I shouldn't judge the entire brand based on one single failure. But since I got burned so badly by that Elements drive—which became nothing more than an expensive paperweight—I’m really not feeling the urge to go back to Western Digital. On the other hand, I've been using a small 250GB version from Verbatim for ages now, and it’s still chugging along perfectly fine. That doesn't exactly guarantee a 2TB Verbatim model will be any better, though.

What should I actually be looking for here?

Salespeople tend to just tell you whatever sounds good in the moment or whatever happens to be sitting on their warehouse shelves right now. 🙂
At the end of the day, even if those statistics regarding failure rates versus units sold are actually accurate, you’re still essentially relying on pure luck, so I don't see much point in stressing over the numbers—it’s much better to just buy two drives and make sure you’re backing up your data religiously. As for that issue you had with bad sectors, it’s really nothing to worry about; if it happened while the drive was still under warranty, you just file a claim and they’ll swap it out for a new one.
Regarding Verbatim, they don't actually manufacture the disks themselves, so the internals are usually just Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, or Hitachi (which, by the way, is actually owned by Western Digital)... for instance, looking at the small 2.5" Verbatim drives I have lying around, they contain Seagate drives, while Transcend and ADATA typically use Western Digital hardware.
If you aren't specifically looking for portability, then the larger desktop drives (the 3.5" models with their own dedicated power supplies) are generally more budget-friendly and offer a much wider selection of capacities beyond the 2TB mark.

I recently picked up a 2.5" Transcend 25 H3P (USB 3.0, 2TB, which houses a Western Digital drive inside) featuring a rugged rubberized casing, and all things considered, the value for the money is quite decent (it's currently around ~$250).

There are tons of options out there and honestly, most of them are solid. You won't find many bad ones. Western Digital is everywhere because they have the widest range and manufacture their own drives, so naturally, you're going to see more of them popping up in warranty claims just due to sheer volume. Then again, with those massive production runs, you might occasionally get stuck with a slightly subpar batch. Who knows...

Major players like Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba all have their own proprietary solutions. Most come with a standard 2-year warranty, though some offer 36 months. As for the rest of the pack, I’d highlight Samsung—they often use Seagate drives in their products, offer a 36-month warranty, and the pricing is usually great. They come in both 3.5" (D3 series) and 2.5" (M3 series) formats.

http://www.nabava.net/vanjski-ekster...0774,45,210956

I haven't heard anyone complaining about those specifically. They consistently pull good test scores and reviews, plus they aren't breaking the bank. So yeah, maybe look into one of those...

You really can't go wrong with any of the others either—just prioritize the longer warranty. Both ADATA and Transcend offer 36-month coverage, and Transcend has those colorful, ruggedized "military grade" shells. Also, worth mentioning is LaCie if you want something designer-focused; they're pricier, but the build quality is top-tier. Man, the selection is overwhelming... 😬

restlessbear34 said:I have zero experience with Samsung. To me, Western Digital has always been the gold standard for reliability, whereas my history with Seagate hasn't been particularly kind. I’ve actually had to swap out an internal Seagate drive twice.

It is interesting how things work out, because my experience is almost the exact opposite. I’ve had poor luck with internal Western Digital drives, yet their external ones have been solid. Conversely, I am perfectly satisfied with my internal Seagate drive, though even that eventually succumbed to bad sectors after eight years. As for external options, one should probably mention LaCie; they make excellent drives, albeit at a premium price. They hold their own against Western Digital, if anything. That said, when it comes to internal Western Digital drives, I will admit that only the Black series earns my respect.

Edward Stewart said:At the end of the day, even if you find some statistical breakdown of sales versus failure rates, you’re still essentially gambling on luck. It’s a bit of a fool's errand to obsess over those numbers...

Exactly. It all boils down to pure luck.

Edward Stewart said:Regarding Verbatim, they aren't actually manufacturing the platters themselves. They're sourcing drives from Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, or Hitachi (which, for what it's worth, is owned by Western Digital). For instance, looking at the small 2.5" Verbatim drives I have on hand, they contain Seagate drives; Transcend and ADATA tend to use Western Digital components, and so on.

Well, look at that. I had absolutely no idea. Consider me educated today. 😬
Thanks for the insight. 🙂

darkowl72 said:There are plenty of them out there, and honestly, they're almost all solid choices. You really can't go wrong...

If I had to pick a standout from the pack, I'd point to Samsung. They tend to utilize Seagate drives in their setups, offer a very reasonable price point, and back them with a 36-month warranty. They come in both 3.5" (the D3 series) and 2.5" (the M3 series) formats.

That said, you won't make a mistake with any of the others—just prioritize the length of the warranty. Both ADATA and Transcend offer 36 months, though Transcend has those colorful, ruggedized, quasi-military-grade enclosures. Then there's LaCie, which targets the design-conscious crowd; they're a bit pricier, but the build quality is top-tier. It's an overwhelming amount of choice...😬

Good grief. 😬
Balance the price against the warranty coverage. Got it.
Thanks; at least now I have a roadmap for when I actually need to buy something. 👍

We’re down to just three major players left in the HDD game: WD, Seagate, and Toshiba. From what I can see, Toshiba—the oldest of the bunch—is likely going to be the first one to ditch mechanical drives entirely in favor of SSDs.

As for Hitachi, they teamed up with IBM to form HGST, which Toshiba eventually swallowed up to handle their 3.5" and WD 2.5" drive production. That whole stretch between 2009 and 2012 was a massive shakeup; Toshiba picked up Fujitsu and Seagate grabbed Samsung... Honestly, if we're looking at history, Seagate is the absolute king of acquisitions. They’ve managed to gobble up everyone from Control Data Corporation and DEC to Maxtor, Conner, Quantum, and Samsung.

Hey there!

I’m finally ready to pull the trigger on an external drive. I tried those cheap, unbranded 128GB thumb drives from random sites, but man, was I unlucky 😁—they were total junk. I’ve got maybe 100 to 200 GB of stuff to store, and honestly, looking at the prices, what’s the difference between a 500GB and a 1TB HDD? Not much, right?
My absolute priority is longevity—basically, how long is this thing going to last and what kind of warranty am I getting? Let's say price isn't my biggest hurdle. I see options starting around 400-$167, but if there's something even better in the 700-$267 range, I wouldn't even hesitate.
This is strictly for archiving. I just want to tuck away some old personal files a few times a year until my internal drive starts acting up or chugging along.

Can you guys help me narrow this down to a few solid choices? The selection out there is just way too massive... it's overwhelming!

So I picked up a 1 TB WD 2.5 drive, but when I plug it into my TV, nothing happens. The TV just won't recognize it at all, whether it’s empty or full. Could it be a power issue? Like, does it just need more juice to spin up? Maybe I could try using one of those special USB cables with extra power, or is it something else entirely? Just a heads up, I formatted it to exFAT (or whatever the non-FAT version is)

Dana Reyes4 said:I bought a WD 2.5 1 TB external drive, but when I plug it into my TV, nothing happens. It doesn't matter if it's empty or full—the TV just won't recognize it. Could it be a power issue? Like, maybe it needs more juice to spin up, so I should try using one of those special USB cables with extra power, or is there something else going on? Just so you know, I formatted it to exFAT (or whatever it's called, definitely not FAT)

It's likely NTFS, and you probably need to use that Y-cable for extra power.

Most external drives pretty much always need their own power brick to run like that...

analogtiger19 said:Most external drives actually need their own power supply to work that way...

A buddy of mine has the exact same drive and just plugs it right into his TV and it works perfectly...
Which cable should I get? Any tips on where to find one that'll definitely work?
Thanks guys! 🙂

Check if that drive happens to be GPT by any chance. I dealt with the exact same headache once. If it is, just convert it back to MBR. Grab MiniTool Partition Wizard Free or maybe GParted.

Hey everyone!

I've been lurking here for a while trying to figure things out, but I'm still stuck... anyone got some advice?

I'm looking for an external hard drive—somewhere between 1-3TB—to store a massive collection of cartoons and movies. Is there anything available here in the States similar to https://goo.gl/vFcyZB

Basically, I want a drive that connects via Wi-Fi (or whatever) so multiple devices can tap into it—mostly so my kids can binge their shows...
The plan is to keep the drive by the TV in the living room, then have the bedroom TV connect to it over the network.

I'm a total amateur at this stuff, so any help would be huge... 🙂

Cheers 🙂

What’s your take on this external drive?

https://www.amazon.com/example-drive-link-1TB/

Or perhaps this one...

https://www.amazon.com/example-drive-link-2TB/

I’m still weighing my options regarding the capacity—not quite sure how many GBs I actually need yet... 😁

They're solid 😁

I’m in desperate need of an external drive because my collection of raw files is getting out of control... I don't just want some digital graveyard for storage, though—I actually want to be able to edit photos directly off the drive without everything crawling along at a snail's pace. I'm just not sure how much speed I really need here. My camera spits out RAW files around 25-30MB, and once I convert them to TIFF, we're looking at roughly 150MB per file. Definitely needs to be USB 3.0 at least.

I was checking this one out, but honestly, if there's something similar that's faster but won't absolutely wreck my bank account, I'd love a recommendation... At the end of the day, capacity is my biggest priority.

https://www.amazon.com/external-hard-drive

analogtiger19 said:Most of the time, those external drives actually need an extra power source to work that way...

Man, I just plugged in my brand new drive and it’s acting like it isn't even connected! Nothing! Zilch!
It only comes with one cable—one USB end for the PC and then a double connector on the drive side.
Is that really enough juice? I don't have any other ports left to use!😁

It really depends on what you're plugging it into... if it's going straight into a PC, you should be fine because those USB ports usually pack enough juice to spin up an external drive.
If you're hooking it up to a TV or a Blu-ray player, then it’s a toss-up—depends on whether that specific device puts out enough power through its USB port or if the drive needs its own dedicated power brick...