Best external hard drives to buy right now?

If my goal is to secure a 1TB external 2.5" USB powered drive, I find myself weighing a few different configurations. Which of these paths would you recommend taking:

1. A single 1TB unit:
2. Two separate 500GB units:
3. Another pair of 500GB units:

Looking at the current pricing for 1 TB 2.5" drives, I’d actually prefer picking up two 500 GB units instead—though not necessarily the specific ones you mentioned, but rather the Western Digital Elements Portable 500GB. It feels like a much safer bet, plus it's quite a bit easier on the wallet than what you'll find over at Best Buy...

Casey Long2 said:Given how much they're charging for 1 TB 2.5" drives lately, I’d honestly prefer picking up two 500 GB units instead—though not the specific ones you mentioned, but rather the Western Digital Elements Portable 500GB. It feels like a safer bet, and frankly, it's cheaper than what you'll find at Best Buy...

Thanks for the heads-up; I just discovered that those Western Digital externals come pre-loaded with some incredibly annoying proprietary software that you can't even get rid of 😢
. For my purposes, an external drive is strictly for storing DVX files—mostly movies and series—rather than acting as a primary backup, so having a straightforward, no-nonsense drag-and-drop functionality is absolutely vital to me.

What are your thoughts on this one?

http://whitehouse.gov/product_info.php?products_id=6880
Essentially
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...sion_portable/

It actually has 1.5TB capacity, 😍
and from what I gather, "portable" implies it runs entirely off USB power, which is fine because I have zero interest in dealing with an extra wall outlet.

It’s not just running off USB power here—this is a full-sized 3.5" drive that requires its own dedicated power brick. As far as I know, you won't find a 2.5" drive larger than 1 TB that can be powered solely through a USB port right now.

Western Digital Elements Portable 500GB doesn't come with any bundled software on the drive itself. Now, Seagate has been known to include some backup utilities with certain models, though...

The second link I shared actually features USB power, so it doesn't appear to be the exact same drive mentioned over at whitehouse.gov
This is the one I had in mind:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...sion_portable/
It specifies a capacity of 1.5TB.
And under the overview section, it notes it is USB powered.

I spotted an identical model on eBay, though this one is listed at 1TB:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1TB-Seagate-Ex...item2c551574ee

Does anyone know if you typically have to deal with customs duties when ordering hardware like this from overseas?

It’s actually not the same thing.

They come in several different sizes, ranging from 250GB up to 1TB
And they run directly off the USB power.

As far as I know, you can't even find a 1.5 TB model in that smaller 2.5" form factor.

Casey Long2 said:They aren't the same thing.

As far as I am aware, they don't even manufacture a 1.5 TB version in the 2.5" form factor.

The product overview states it comes in capacities ranging from 250GB up to 1TB.
However, if you look at the top right of the image, there is already an icon for the 1.5 TB model, which apparently is available for purchase here in the States.

But it's really not that important..
What do you think about this 1TB model I found on eBay?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1TB-Seagate-Ex...item2c551574ee

I honestly wouldn’t recommend buying hard drives online. Relying on the mail to deliver sensitive storage is just asking for trouble—it's far too risky for something so fragile. Plus, when you factor in the shipping costs, plus the inevitable customs fees and import taxes, you end up paying a premium for nothing. And don't even get me started on the lack of a reliable warranty; at the end of the day, it’s just not worth the headache.

I appreciate the advice; I think I'll steer clear of any imported options for now.
I am currently looking at this 😁
http://www.amazon.com/index.php?option...kl=051.520.213

That’s honestly a massive rip-off for just 750 GB, especially if we're looking at the price of a 500 GB Seagate Expansion Portable 320 GB $150 because, when you actually sit down and crunch the numbers, those extra gigabytes end up costing you an absolute fortune per unit. 😉

And what would a 250 GB external drive run me?

SanDisk 250 GB — if you're paying cash, you'll get it for $128
. But honestly, if you want more bang for your buck, you can actually grab 320 GB for even less: Seagate Expansion Portable 320 GB

Casey Long2 said:I’ve been sitting here staring at this SanDisk 250 GB, trying to wrap my head around the sheer absurdity of it all, and frankly, I'm not entirely convinced we aren't just spinning our wheels in a digital void. It’s one of those things where you think you have a handle on the hardware, you think you know exactly what kind of performance you're going to get, and then reality decides to take a sharp left turn into a ditch. There’s a certain level of frustration that comes with expecting a smooth experience only to be met with something that feels like it was engineered in a basement, though I suppose that might be an overstatement—if we're being generous. Regardless, the whole situation is just... well, it's a lot to process when you're just trying to get things done. If you're planning on paying in cash, we can certainly talk about a better price. $128
Look, if you actually care about getting your money's worth instead of just throwing cash at a shiny box, you can snag a 320 GB drive for a lot less than what they’re asking for these other options. I’ve been sitting here staring at this Seagate Expansion Portable 320 GB, wondering if I should just toss it into a drawer and call it a day, or if there's actually some utility left in such an aging piece of hardware. It’s one of those drives that feels like it belongs in a museum of early 2000s tech rather than on my desk, yet here we are, still debating its merits.

You can find it over at Best Buy, and honestly, it’s actually cheaper there.

EDIT: alright, here’s some more. It’s significantly more affordable.

od $116.🙏

I'm looking to pick up an external drive, ideally something like a WD 1TB model with its own dedicated power supply.
Does anyone have any solid recommendations or, better yet, some hands-on experience to share?
Also, is it actually worth it to leave one running 24/7 without any breaks?

Casey Long2 said:SanDisk 250 GB. Cash price: $128
You can get 320 GB for less money: Seagate Expansion Portable 320 GB

Appreciate the response.😉

Christian Lee8 said:I’m looking to pick up an external drive, preferably a WD 1TB model with its own dedicated power supply...
Does anyone have any solid recommendations, or better yet, some actual hands-on experience to share?
And honestly, is it even worth it to just leave one of these things running twenty-four seven??

Take a look at this WD or maybe the WD My Book.

It really shouldn't be an issue to let it run through the night, since they're designed to "spin down" automatically whenever they aren't actively reading or writing data.

What are your thoughts on this particular setup:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-S2-U.../dp/B003UT2QTQ

I have a question. What's the standard format for these new external drives? Is it exFAT or
NTFS? If it's NTFS, can I just reformat it back to exFAT and vice versa?
I need exFAT because my Infinity receiver only supports FAT, and I really don't
want to mess with its firmware since it's still under warranty.

You can format it however you want 🙂

Just right-click the drive, hit properties, and select format...
Then just pick whichever one you need.

That should do the trick, at least...

Then you've got exFAT, which is fine, but if you’re looking to move massive files around without any of the usual headaches—think high-res movie rips or Blu-ray ISOs—you really want NTFS.
It’s just a matter of whether Infinity actually bothers to push out a firmware update to support NTFS properly.