[Numb Remxed]

Hi, I'm in need of an external hard drive. I browsed through some of the stuff on Amazon.com and read some good reviews and some bad ones as well. I'm totally clueless. I don't really want to buy one and turn out having it crash on me. So can anyone recommend me a brand name or a specific one thanks!

I'm looking for something under $200 and around 120-160 gigs.

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Check http://www.pricewatch.com/ for prices, stick with name brands (such as Seagate, Maxtor, Hatachi, etc.) and well rated companies. One thing to look for the good price point for the price vs. size, it looks to be around 160Gb right now. You don't save much going for a smaller drive and in some cases you can pay more for less.

If you like deals and are willing to deal with rebates, check out http://bensbargains.net/, they show deals that have been found (search for "cache drive" to find the disk deals). There are some good deals that expire soon, as in tomorrow.

One example: BestBuy.com has the Seagate 120GB ST3120026A-RK UATA100 8MB Cache Hard Drive for $40 with free shipping. No rebates. All Seagate hard drives carry a 5-year warranty (might be sold out)

Another example: CompUSA.com has the Seagate Barracuda 160GB 8MB Cache Drive for $110 - $70 rebates [Exp 12/17] = $40 after rebates. Free shipping on $150 orders.

I would stick with drives with the 3-5 year warranty.

[Kemasa]

Check http://www.pricewatch.com/ for prices, stick with name brands (such as Seagate, Maxtor, Hatachi, etc.) and well rated companies. One thing to look for the good price point for the price vs. size, it looks to be around 160Gb right now. You don't save much going for a smaller drive and in some cases you can pay more for less.

If you like deals and are willing to deal with rebates, check out http://bensbargains.net/, they show deals that have been found (search for "cache drive" to find the disk deals). There are some good deals that expire soon, as in tomorrow.

One example: BestBuy.com has the Seagate 120GB ST3120026A-RK UATA100 8MB Cache Hard Drive for $40 with free shipping. No rebates. All Seagate hard drives carry a 5-year warranty (might be sold out)

Another example: CompUSA.com has the Seagate Barracuda 160GB 8MB Cache Drive for $110 - $70 rebates [Exp 12/17] = $40 after rebates. Free shipping on $150 orders.

I would stick with drives with the 3-5 year warranty.

[Numb Remxed]

thanks a lot for the reply. I'll those out.

[Kemasa]

Opps, I forgot the mention that you would also need an external case, which a good price is around $30 or so. Make sure that you get it externally powered too.

[austin_o]

IMHO the best way to go is to get the case of your choice (either USB2 or firewire, or combo of the two if you want). Get a case with a power supply and cooling fan. Then get the EIDE hd of your choice and put it in the case. I have configured 4 such devices, all work well and are plug and play on my WXP Pro and W2K Pro systems. Do a google search for hard drive enclosure. From what I have read about the off the shelf pre-configured units, I am glad I chose the other option.

[Numb Remxed]

huh? I need a case for an external hard drive? I had never even heard about that. Is it entirely necessary to get one?

Edited by Numb Remxed, 17 December 2005 - 09:47 PM.

[austin_o]

You have two options. 1. Get an external hd "off the shelf" in it's own case. Maxtor, Western Digital, Seagate, Simpletech are a few that come to mind. 2. You can get a hard drive enclosure of your choice, either USB2 or fireware or a combination of the two for between $20 to $50 US, and then put the EIDE hd of your choice in it. Google is your friend. Start doing some searches and you will soon see exactly what I am trying to explain.

[Numb Remxed]

ok i get it now. I'm just planning on getting and external hard drive off the shelf.

[Kemasa]

Ok, but is often cheaper to put it together yourself and then you also know what is in the case, as well as ensuring a good warranty. Also, if you go this route then you know how to install the drive and so you can replace the disk if you want.