Need a good new External Hard Drive

[JohnHKart]

Any recommendations? Looks like Seagate is good.

I guess it doesn't matter which, because now that the one I bought crashed which thankfully the most important stuff was backed up, Im not going to trust one again..Only going to put wave files for the Ipod on it- these are already backed up on the original Cds, so I don't care if it dies...which they all seem to do. The one I had that lasted about a year was a Maxtor. Crap!

JH

[extramundane]

I've had no end of bad luck with Maxtors, both at home and at work.

At home, I've got a Seagate FreeAgent docked on a Pogoplug Dockstar unit and it has run like a charm for over a year now. I've also got a several year old Western Digital 125GB drive (bought back when 125GB was pretty amazing) and it's been bulletproof, despite a couple of pretty rough drops. I'd buy either Seagate or WD again in a heartbeat.

[SurfaceUnits]

USB 2 or 3 or eSATA or NAS desktop or portable

Seagate Expansion 2TB External Hard Drive ST320005EXA101-RK

USB 2.0 1 year Manufacturer Warr... Form Factor: 3.5\"
Interface: USB 2.0
Dimensions: 8.15\" x 4.96\" x 1.57\"
Weight: 2.25 lbs.
Model #: ST320005EXA101-RK
Item #: N82E16822148503
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Was: $119.99
Now: $89.99
Free Shipping

[nrc]

I have a ReadyNAS Duo that I'm very pleased with. It's a NAS unit with mirrored drives that are available via a variety of protocols anywhere on the network.

I generally prefer Western Digital drives with Seagate an acceptable alternative.

[cameraman]

I've done very well with OWC drive enclosures.
www.macsales.com

They have all manner, every connection type and size. Either with or without drives. I use the esata mirror raids myself.

[Elmo T]

My Western Digital seems pretty much bulletproof.

I recently picked up a Seagate portable drive for carrying all my instructor presentations and "on the road" copies of all my emergency information. It is fast and compact. Yet to be seen how much abuse it can take.

[dando]

I have a couple of WDs and they have been running great for a couple of years now.

-Kevin

[rosawendel]

I have an Iomega Prestige 1tb usb drive that has held up well for the past two years. I'm considering upgrading to the 2tb one.

I also have a small simpletech 160gb drive that I use on the office machine to hold my itunes library (can't have that sort of stuff on the servers).

[Insomniac]

I have a WD Elements SE Portable. I like it because it does not require a power adapter. There are a lot of 2.5" external drives like this.

What are you doing with the drive?

I don't recommend brands, I think I've had a drive (or more) from every manufacturer fail so I buy drives based on the purpose they serve and try and back-up (expecting an eventual failure).

[JohnHKart]

Thanks for these responses. I'm just going to put my files for Ipod on it. If the drive goes it's not a big deal because any music files can be either re downloaded or re burned from a CD.

[Ankf00]

have a western digital elements 2TB drive, supposedly their value line, know many people with the same WD product line too. bought mine for similar reasons as you, it's not critical to me, but it's needed.

physically it's a sturdy plastic enclosure, minimal flex if any. it's survived a few 3 feet falls w/ no damage that i've had to experience yet through lost data

[racer2c]

Another vote for WD. I have an old WD iBook, 500GB that I beat to death with ProTools LE. Still rollin'.

[JohnHKart]

Fry's had a WD and Seagate both 500gig sale this week, just picked both up. Should have got two last time. I got really lucky when a drive failed recently, as my most important pics from my 2009 Webber's first win trip to Deutschland were left on my SD card so they are safe.