Best 1TB portable HDD recommendations?

Hey there,

So, I’ve been staring at my late 2009 iMac—it's sitting on a 500GB drive right now—and honestly, it’s absolutely bursting at the seams because I have far too many movies saved on it, and even my old portable hard drives (those 500GB 2.5" Memline ones) are completely maxed out, which has led me to the conclusion that I really ought to pick up a 1TB portable drive. However, I find myself wondering exactly what one should be looking out for during the buying process, you know? My primary goal is simply to secure 1TB of space for home use as an extra storage unit, though I must admit that speed is also a factor I care about quite a bit. Since my Mac doesn't support USB 3.0, unfortunately, I'm stuck looking at 2.0 options, but then again, if the price difference is negligible, would it even make sense to grab a 3.0 drive just to future-proof things?
As for brands, which ones are actually reliable, and which ones tend to offer the most robust warranties? Also, I have to ask, is there any actual value in picking up one of those no-name drives from China, or is that just asking for trouble?

EDIT:
What's the verdict on these specific models here:
- Western Digital's My Passport 1 TB $133
- General Electric 1TB USB 3.0 Canvio Basics $133
- Apple M3 2.5'' 1TB USB 3.0 approximately $133

USB is compatible according to the specs below, so you should definitely grab a 3.0 version; even if you just plug it into another machine later, it’ll run much faster. It’s possible you might stumble upon an older 2.0 model, but honestly, there isn't much point in that unless you hit a massive sale where the price difference is actually significant. As far as capacity goes, if you can swing it, stretching up to 2TB usually gives you a much better bang for your buck regarding the price-to-capacity ratio.

Looking at those three options, there isn't much deep philosophy involved—I'd say just pick the one with the longest warranty. Since you're mostly using this at home, you don't really need a ruggedized, heavy-duty casing.
However, on the other hand 🙂, if that sort of thing matters to you, you should check which model features a standard internal SATA drive with full connectors versus those that don't (meaning they have a drive with a USB connector soldered directly onto the board). In the event of a hardware failure, having a standard connection makes data recovery significantly easier, provided you can plug it into a computer using the right external enclosure and all that. The real headache is that manufacturers rarely disclose this information, so you often have to do a little digging for every single model to find out what kind of actual drive is tucked away inside.
Western Digital usually uses those "tricky" ones, General Electric tends to use standard drives, and Apple is known to sometimes use standard Seagate's drives (since they acquired the HDD division). There are plenty of manufacturers out there that essentially just assemble parts, much like how Verbatim operates—often utilizing Seagate's drives—or brands like AData and Transcend (I own a few, and they all contain genuine Western Digital's drives).

Thanks so much, but I was wondering if you might be able to point me toward some specific recommendations?
And honestly, do you think jumping up to 2TB is actually worth the investment? Like, what kind of price range should I even be looking at to pick them up?

A buddy of mine is running a 4TB Toshiba portable drive, and man, those temps are getting pretty high.

Carl Sullivan22 said:thanks, but could you recommend some specific ones?
do you think getting a 2TB drive is actually worth it? and roughly how much do they go for these days?

Looking at what’s out there recently, I have a Seagate Expansion Portable, which is currently sitting just under $750.
It isn't a massive leap in performance, but it does feature a thick, multi-layered rubberized casing that makes it quite a bit more shock-resistant than your standard drives, and inside, it's just a standard Western Digital's 2TB drive.
I was just checking prices on Best Buy, and it looks like there's an Apple M3 2 TB available at Telebit for $680, though I'm a bit skeptical about the internal hardware; sometimes those cheaper models come with a soldered USB connection instead of a standard interface.

update 🙂 ... since I was curious myself, I did a little digging, and it seems likely that this Apple drive uses a 2TB capacity without traditional SATA connectors inside, but while I was looking, I stumbled upon a new 2.5" 4TB model for $119 on Amazon (until recently, 2TB seemed to be the ceiling for 2.5" drives) which should house a "standard" Seagate's ST4000LM016 drive inside.

Based on the suggestions provided, I am assuming you are looking for something compact, a 2.5" model that doesn't require an external power brick? Because what Chris Robinson25 mentioned (that 4TB option) is almost certainly a 3.5" drive, which, aside from being physically larger, requires its own dedicated power supply—much like those bulky laptop power bricks. If you don't mind the extra bulk, the 3.5" drives actually offer better value per gigabyte and give you plenty of options beyond the 2TB mark.

Honestly, these little drives might actually do the trick, provided I can just plug in the USB and call it a day.

I was browsing Amazon earlier and noticed that the 2TB models are hovering around $180, which feels like a much smarter investment in the long run... though I can't quite tell if they actually offer free shipping on those.
I did stumble upon a 1TB option with free shipping to the States, but it’s sitting at about $170, which honestly doesn't make any sense because even here in the US, you can find them cheaper than that.

Does anyone happen to know of an external 2TB HDD that comes with free shipping and stays right around the $183 mark?

When I’m ordering from outside the US, I generally stick to small, inexpensive items just to steer clear of any potential headaches at customs. I'm honestly not entirely sure how the process works for more significant purchases, so if anyone here is familiar with the specific procedures for high-ticket items, I would truly appreciate some insight into what to expect. Even though there might not be direct import duties on IT hardware, one could still get hit with sales tax if the package undergoes a formal customs inspection—plus, I have this nagging suspicion that the prices listed on their websites are actually net amounts, which means a direct price comparison might be somewhat misleading.
Furthermore, hard drives are such delicate pieces of equipment; if you happen to run into a failure, the entire cost savings could evaporate instantly because shipping an item back for a warranty claim would likely be prohibitively expensive... in my estimation, it is often wiser to purchase these types of components from local retailers. The price I mentioned earlier for the 4TB 2.5" drive was intended merely as an illustration; I suspect that once it hits our local shelves, it will be priced around $150 or perhaps slightly more, which remains quite a reasonable value considering it offers four times the capacity.

Edward Stewart said:When I order from outside the USA, I usually stick to tiny, low-value trinkets just to dodge any potential headaches, so I'm honestly not sure; perhaps someone here understands the actual procedure and could explain how things work for more expensive items, because even though there aren't customs duties on IT gear, you might still get hit with sales tax if it ends up going through a customs inspection (plus, I suspect the prices listed on their websites are net amounts, so a direct price comparison might actually be a bit misleading).
Another thing to consider is that hard drives are incredibly delicate pieces of hardware, and if one fails, the whole idea of saving money goes right out the window because shipping it back for a warranty claim would be prohibitally expensive... I truly believe it’s better to buy these kinds of things at local US retailers. That price I mentioned for the 4TB 2.5" drive was really just meant to illustrate my point, but I assume once it hits our local stores, it'll be around $150 or something similar, which is still quite a deal considering it offers four times the capacity.

Oh, man... I completely blanked on the customs aspect... and then there's Amazon.de (Germany). I actually have family over there, which might make dealing with warranties a lot easier...
I'll dig into this a bit more... wait, am I seeing correctly that these 2TB models often come with 16MB of buffering?! Does that directly impact the transfer speeds?

I think I’ve finally made up my mind to just go with a 1TB drive, and honestly, I’ll probably pick it up while I'm traveling through the States since I noticed some pretty decent prices listed there. I’m still weighing my options on which specific model to grab, though, so I'm currently looking at these:

Seagate BarraCuda 1TB
Western Digital Elements 1TB
Adata AHV100 1TB
WD 1TB Elements
Crucial MX500