External hard drive

Carmen

Hi Techie's,
I need to buy a external hard drive.
I am out of my comfort zone with this and need some advice please.
Western digital has been recommended to me, maybe 500gb. It has taken me 8 years to fill existing.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Carmen x

iamadave

I prefer Western Digital but see what you can get for your £, if you really want 3.5" external ones then you will need to power them at the mains.

It might be worth looking at a passport drive or portable 2.5" version which means it just needs USB to power - Bit more pricey than above ones but depends on your needs. 500GB is plenty unless your a download adddict for films etc.

Carmen

I would prefer that I can just plug in with usb (easier for a numptie like moi) I have a desktop with windows xp, will this need to be taken into consideration?
Carmen x

DCFC79

Seagate are good for hard drives as well,

DCFC79

Carmen wrote: »

I would prefer that I can just plug in with usb (easier for a numptie like moi) I have a desktop with windows xp, will this need to be taken into consideration?
Carmen x

your not a numptie, if you had 1 that plugged into the mains its easy to do but saying that just plug into the usb are good as it means you dont need to find a spare plug for the mains plug

LeeSouthEast

I have a Western Digital My Book Mirror Edition (2TB, 1TB usable for storing stuff). It's absolutely brilliant. Another thumbs up for WD from me. After a few months I reviewed it on my blog. If you'd like my views on it (and some pictures of the "idiot proof" setup guide!), click here.

Carmen

Thanks guy's!
Big boost to my confidence Lee, thanks.
I have never had a negative response on this site....I'm loving it :T
Carmen x

Taffybiker

Another vote for Western Digital. They have always had a good track record.

aliEnRIK

Western Digital, Seagate or Hitachi are where id be looking
Personally, I have seagates mostly (Also used in PS3s and ive NEVER heard of one breaking down yet). One of my seagates runs 24 hours a day under serious pressure at times and its been like that for 3 years now

Carmen

It's still a mine field out there!
Where should I start looking...online or high street?
Thanks
Carmen x

Taffybiker

The high street is all well and good if you a) need it now, or b) want the ability to return it with minimum hassle.
Most things can be found online cheaper though. Amazon sell a WD 500gb very reasonably.