What to look for in an EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE

dt9546

Well i want it to be 320gb/500gb
i understand 7200 rpm is better because its faster right ?

but i dont understand this cache stuff and "8mb"

can someone please help me find a reliable and decent priced external HD ???

i saw this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NZOBYS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

and it seems like a good one... but ive read the reviews and some are saying its quite rubbish

help please !!!

esuhl

The "8MB" bit is the size of the cache. If you save loads of stuff from your computer to the external hard disk, the disk might not be able to write data at the same speed that it receives it, so it uses the very fast 8MB cache as a buffer. The larger the cache, the faster the drive should work, though it won't make much of a difference if you're just transferring small amounts of data. 8MB is probably a reasonable amount, though if you can get 16MB for the same price go for it!

Most 3.5" drives ("normal" size drives, like the ones in desktop PCs) run at 7200rpm, although some will be slower. Western Digital make a (very over-priced) version that runs at 10,000rpm. 2.5" drives (like the ones in laptops) generally run at 5400rpm, though again there are exceptions. For decent performance, without wasting money, go for a 7200rpm one.

I can't make any specific recommendations, but I would *definitely* go with a respected brand when buying hard drives - Western Digital, Seagate, Matxor, etc.

Hope this helps..

dt9546

that was great help thanks

mother_hen_2

helped me also thanks

Marty999

I don't know about the Seagate drive other than it's a good make. But I bought this Western Digital drive a couple of weeks ago and I'm very pleased with it.