Portable Hard Drives?

Lan Hikari

Did anyone notice that portable hard drive prices increase by about 50% this year? I bought a WD 1TB MyPassport last year from Best Buy for $99. I was just shopping for another one today and the cheapest I could find it was for $149. Anyone know why?

Answer
Nearly half of the world's hard drives are manufactured in Thailand. Due to months of flooding and natural disaster hard drive manufacturing has been disrupted. Less supply means demand goes up and so do prices.

$149 is still a lot of money though. You could definitely find something at about the $99 dollar range if you were to wait for a sale or something.

Reliable portable hard drives?

bdankul

i find it ridiculous that you need to back up your back ups. So, pleasee, can anyone give me some more information about reliable portable hard drives? I just need one so that i could, once a year, store my bulk of photos and maybe music. Thank you!

Answer
I use a Toshiba portable hard drive. its small, it fits in my laptop case, and it has a shock absorber built in( when i say shock absorber, it may be able to withstand a drop from about 2-3 feet, not off the top of a building or something). Toshiba and western digital are both really good brands, I would go with either one, Toshiba just happened to be the one on sale when I bought mine. I'm also going to say to back up a MINIMUM of once a month. NOT once a year.

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Need fast portable hard drive?

mauiwahine

What is the best, easy, light, and fast to use. I know there are WD, iomega, and more. But I want to know the Best type with high speeds that last longer and won't fail.

Answer
The black Friday can get you going with many brands on sale. Any type of portable HD will get you going. Both of Iomega and WD are fine, and you can consider Simple-Tech, too.

Help! Question about External vs Portable hard drive?

Its Me

I'm about to go to Staples and I desperately need the Anwers! community's help! I'm pretty knowledgable about software and internet stuff, but I'm totally dumb when it comes to hardware, so I need you to help me pick the best item for my needs. Here's my situation.

My computer: Dell Optiplex 755 PC with 74.4 GB harddrive and Windows XP.

I don't have (and don't want) a lap top, so the only way to move files from place to place is with a flash drive (I have a 16GB). I live half the year in one state and then the other half of the year in another state. I have a monitor at both places, so I have to take my harddrive tower back and forth with me. I also have my computer cram packed with photos and video (I'm a photographer/videographer) and though I back up everything on discs, I HATE having to go through all of those discs to find anything. I want to be able to keep a copy of all of that stuff on my computer for easy access, and to able to easily transport it all.

SO..... there are three things on sale at Staples that I believe might help and I need you guys to choose the BEST one for me (these are the only options so please don't recommend "better" things):


IOMEGA PRESTIGE 1TB External Hard Drive
[This has a very sleek and small casing - easy to move]

SEAGATE GOFLEX 500GB Portable Hard Drive

IOMEGA EGO 320GB Portable Hard Drive

Prices are irrellivant to me.

So, I know the 1TB is great, but it is an external hard drive... vs. the PORTABLE 500GB and 320GB hard drives. Is it better for me to have a portable or external?

OK... and second question.... do I just plug these in to my main hard drive tower with a USB or something? I mean, maybe the issue over external vs. portable is irrellivant if they are both easy-plug-in by USB because the external unit is easily portable. But I don't know about these things. Does the external unit have to internally wired into my main harddrive?

I'm so confused I do not know what to do..... and we are leaving in 25 minutes to go to Staples so it's now or never.


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!
Just to reinterate...
I have a DESK TOP - not a LAP TOP.

Answer
The portable is just smaller in size, with less capacity.

The external is often used for people with desktops whose computers don't really move. You can use them with laptops though.

Both accomplish the same thing though. And yes you attach them via USB.


That said, my vote is for the Seagate 500gb Portable HDD based on what I know of Seagate and its reputation.

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Need fast portable hard drive?

mauiwahine

What is the best, easy, light, and fast to use. I know there are WD, iomega, and more. But I want to know the Best type with high speeds that last longer and won't fail.

Answer
The black Friday can get you going with many brands on sale. Any type of portable HD will get you going. Both of Iomega and WD are fine, and you can consider Simple-Tech, too.

Help! Question about External vs Portable hard drive?

Its Me

I'm about to go to Staples and I desperately need the Anwers! community's help! I'm pretty knowledgable about software and internet stuff, but I'm totally dumb when it comes to hardware, so I need you to help me pick the best item for my needs. Here's my situation.

My computer: Dell Optiplex 755 PC with 74.4 GB harddrive and Windows XP.

I don't have (and don't want) a lap top, so the only way to move files from place to place is with a flash drive (I have a 16GB). I live half the year in one state and then the other half of the year in another state. I have a monitor at both places, so I have to take my harddrive tower back and forth with me. I also have my computer cram packed with photos and video (I'm a photographer/videographer) and though I back up everything on discs, I HATE having to go through all of those discs to find anything. I want to be able to keep a copy of all of that stuff on my computer for easy access, and to able to easily transport it all.

SO..... there are three things on sale at Staples that I believe might help and I need you guys to choose the BEST one for me (these are the only options so please don't recommend "better" things):


IOMEGA PRESTIGE 1TB External Hard Drive
[This has a very sleek and small casing - easy to move]

SEAGATE GOFLEX 500GB Portable Hard Drive

IOMEGA EGO 320GB Portable Hard Drive

Prices are irrellivant to me.

So, I know the 1TB is great, but it is an external hard drive... vs. the PORTABLE 500GB and 320GB hard drives. Is it better for me to have a portable or external?

OK... and second question.... do I just plug these in to my main hard drive tower with a USB or something? I mean, maybe the issue over external vs. portable is irrellivant if they are both easy-plug-in by USB because the external unit is easily portable. But I don't know about these things. Does the external unit have to internally wired into my main harddrive?

I'm so confused I do not know what to do..... and we are leaving in 25 minutes to go to Staples so it's now or never.


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!
Just to reinterate...
I have a DESK TOP - not a LAP TOP.

Answer
The portable is just smaller in size, with less capacity.

The external is often used for people with desktops whose computers don't really move. You can use them with laptops though.

Both accomplish the same thing though. And yes you attach them via USB.


That said, my vote is for the Seagate 500gb Portable HDD based on what I know of Seagate and its reputation.

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What's the difference b/w portable & external hard drives?

portable hard drives for sale image

Peachez_10

I'm trying 2 figure out what's the difference b/w an external hard drive and a portable hard drive... And if there's no difference, why are each of them listed under 2 categories...?

Answer
Some external hard drives are too big to be portable and they are not advertised as such. "Portable" is kind of an ambiguous term. A lot of things are small enough to be portable, but they are not easily portable. My external hard drive is small enough to be portable, but it requires an A/C adapter, so wherever I go, if I want to take it with me, I need to use it where there is an A/C power source. This is not practical if I am somewhere where my laptop can run off its own batteries and there is no other source of power, like on a bus, car, train, public place or airplane that doesn't have an A/C power outlet. Plus, I would have to pack a bulky A/C adapter and power cord in addition to the USB cord that connects it to the PC. A truly portable hard drive is one that is small enough to carry and is powered by the USB jack on the computer. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of supposedly "portable" external hard drives don't care about how easy it is to transport and use their products, they just want you to buy them and use them. If they can get you to buy them by saying they are portable, even though it is a pain to do so, then they make a sale.

What is better Seagate freeagent go or western digital my passport essential?

trevttk123

Iâm trying to decide what portable hard drive to buy, the Seagate Freeagent go or Western Digital's passport essential. Does either need any type of outside power source, like a battery? Do I need to buy a forked USB cable in order to have enough power?

Answer
Based on my variety of experiences, I'd choose Seagate unless you are planning on dumping some money for WD Raptors.

Experience from 20 years ago isn't going to help you, but Seagate's reputation took a dive after they bought Connor. :) Infact, the whole company took a dive with layoffs and being spread too thin overseas.

But they've gained a large market share since and have remained very strong in company / business sales all the while. Their current consumer line of drives seem very reliable as the ratio of bad Seagate drives vs good ones seems lower than bad Western Digital vs. good ones. I don't have numbers, but that's just the way it looks after working on thousands of computers.

My personal experiences with Seagate have been flawless. No problems. I cannot say the same for WD. But again, it is all subjective and luck of the draw...

Also from my personal experiences, I might include Samsung if it is available at a low price as well.

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What's the difference b/w portable & external hard drives?

portable hard drives for sale image

Peachez_10

I'm trying 2 figure out what's the difference b/w an external hard drive and a portable hard drive... And if there's no difference, why are each of them listed under 2 categories...?

Answer
Some external hard drives are too big to be portable and they are not advertised as such. "Portable" is kind of an ambiguous term. A lot of things are small enough to be portable, but they are not easily portable. My external hard drive is small enough to be portable, but it requires an A/C adapter, so wherever I go, if I want to take it with me, I need to use it where there is an A/C power source. This is not practical if I am somewhere where my laptop can run off its own batteries and there is no other source of power, like on a bus, car, train, public place or airplane that doesn't have an A/C power outlet. Plus, I would have to pack a bulky A/C adapter and power cord in addition to the USB cord that connects it to the PC. A truly portable hard drive is one that is small enough to carry and is powered by the USB jack on the computer. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of supposedly "portable" external hard drives don't care about how easy it is to transport and use their products, they just want you to buy them and use them. If they can get you to buy them by saying they are portable, even though it is a pain to do so, then they make a sale.

What is better Seagate freeagent go or western digital my passport essential?

trevttk123

Iâm trying to decide what portable hard drive to buy, the Seagate Freeagent go or Western Digital's passport essential. Does either need any type of outside power source, like a battery? Do I need to buy a forked USB cable in order to have enough power?

Answer
Based on my variety of experiences, I'd choose Seagate unless you are planning on dumping some money for WD Raptors.

Experience from 20 years ago isn't going to help you, but Seagate's reputation took a dive after they bought Connor. :) Infact, the whole company took a dive with layoffs and being spread too thin overseas.

But they've gained a large market share since and have remained very strong in company / business sales all the while. Their current consumer line of drives seem very reliable as the ratio of bad Seagate drives vs good ones seems lower than bad Western Digital vs. good ones. I don't have numbers, but that's just the way it looks after working on thousands of computers.

My personal experiences with Seagate have been flawless. No problems. I cannot say the same for WD. But again, it is all subjective and luck of the draw...

Also from my personal experiences, I might include Samsung if it is available at a low price as well.

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