# External HD's advice



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

The son and I have been trying to decide which external HD's are the best - reliable, sturdy, price (in that order)

Not sure we want to pay for solid state 

He is definitely set on no power cord - just USB, I'm ambivalent

other preferences are USB 3 & 1T

Auto back up to cloud not a priority, connector flexibility not high priority

Anyone have experience and recommendations ?


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## ReNt A PaInTeR (Dec 28, 2008)

If bikerboy were here he would say "carbonite".

I wonder who pissed off Dale. He doesn't even post on FB anymore.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

ReNt A PaInTeR said:


> If bikerboy were here he would say "carbonite".
> 
> I wonder who pissed off Dale. He doesn't even post on FB anymore.


Blame me. It's all my fault.

We all know I have the power to chase the best people off the internet


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## ReNt A PaInTeR (Dec 28, 2008)

daArch said:


> Blame me. It's all my fault.
> 
> We all know I have the power to chase the best people off the internet


Whaat?? Lol.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

ReNt A PaInTeR said:


> Whaat?? Lol.


sure.

NEPS, Xmark, Bender, Bikerboy, AJ, and so many more, I've lost track

We should start keeping score :thumbsup:


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

I use a western digital passport , works for me


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

chrisn said:


> I use a western digital passport , works for me


That's on my list.

I'm also thinking of another WD MyBook (we have a 1T) - needs AC Power, which I don't think I'll mind. But then again . . . .

now I'm thinking I should get a 2T

too many choices, too much ADD to make a decision


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

This was recommended to me and I have used this for the past 5 months with excellent results. Auto backup, its very fast, and it sits flat. $70 for 1TB.


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## Hines Painting (Jun 22, 2013)

There's a reason it's rare to see a hard drive with more than a 3 year warranty.

It's fairly common for them to break. Especially when they are sitting inside an enclosure with no fans. At max you can probably safely expect 5 years if it isn't being used all day every day.

SSD is pointless for an external. You buy SSD for performance and minimizing power consumption, certainly not lifespan.

What you really need to be evaluating is what you will use it for. If it is for important things like family pictures that can't be replaced, etc. Then a cloud backup is probably your safest option. Which, I can't recommend anyone specifically, again it depends on your needs.

If it is just for movies, tv shows and other things that can be reacquired then plan on getting the cheapest one you can find and just understand that it will eventually break.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

I know drives, internal and external, wear out. I do not keep my externals plugged in all the time. 

You are correct about cloud storge for the IMPORTANT stuff, OR another HD. 

At about $120 for a 2T, why not ?

This all came about last night when I discovered I had 1.5 gig left on my OS partition (out of 50gig). That HDD is a 300 gig that looks like I inappropriately partitioned. So I started looking at 1T internal drives, and then .......

well now, I think I should make a leap and buy a whole new computer, but I don't want to support Dell or Windows. But I have NO IDEA what to configure for a barebones.

HALP !!!!

Gotta love the computer age :thumbsup:


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## MDHpainting (Mar 4, 2014)

Why are you looking for an external HD? 

Just looking to keep a backup in case your computer gets fried? Better to store important documents online than to have to backup your computer all the time in my opinion.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

MDHpainting said:


> Why are you looking for an external HD?
> 
> Just looking to keep a backup in case your computer gets fried? Better to store important documents online than to have to backup your computer all the time in my opinion.


A) You have to back up online just as many times as you need to backup to an HDD

B) Takes longer uploading to cloud

C) I bought a WD MyBook 2T $119

D) new software auto back ups when any file changes or created - and if you know how to run xxcopy, backing up new stuff is quick and thorough,

E) I don't trust The Cloud. With what hackers do now-a-days, who can promise security ?

As you see, I'm not sold that your way is "better". But thanks for answering my question as to which external drive you prefer.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

daArch said:


> A) You have to back up online just as many times as you need to backup to an HDD
> 
> B) Takes longer uploading to cloud
> 
> ...


I bought one of these back in December. It's pretty sweet. I only have two of the bays filled with 2t each. Have it set up as a raid system so in case one goes out I don't loose anything. If one drive goes bad, then it will re build it when you slide a new one in. Many more features also.

Pat


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

That looks awesome

My late brother attempted many times to persuade me to build a RAID system, it was beyond my scope.

Definitely the way to go. 

Now I guess you can get one off Amazon


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

daArch said:


> That looks awesome
> 
> My late brother attempted many times to persuade me to build a RAID system, it was beyond my scope.
> 
> ...


Yea Raid stuff is a great way to protect stuff. Bad side is 4tb only = 2tb when using that system.

I paid close to $600.00 for that including the 2 2tb drives. I have allot of granny p0rrn I don't want to loose..

Pat


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

*Speaking of back ups, cloning, and restoring.. . .*

Does anyone know of Clonezilla?

This is both an informative and inquisitive question. 

Open source partition and disk imaging/cloning program similar to True Image® or Norton Ghost®

I'll probably be testing it out soon

along with the MyBook I also bought a 1T WD Black internal HD. I know if I go to WD's site, they will have for free a TrueImage cloning application to use, but I do love open source.


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

daArch said:


> Blame me. It's all my fault.
> 
> We all know I have the power to chase the best people off the internet





daArch said:


> sure.
> 
> NEPS, Xmark, Bender, Bikerboy, AJ, and so many more, I've lost track
> 
> We should start keeping score :thumbsup:


Thanks for the compliment, but don't flatter yourself belieber


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