External hard drive recommendation please

ChiefGrasscutter

I would support WDC elements portable as a choice.
It comes preformated NTFS.
It does not come with any backup software pre installed etc - it's simply an external hard disk.
It takes its power from the USB conn, so no external mains power supply is needed or provided.
I'm using it under XP - I plug in the USB and it recognises it instantaneously.
The USB lead is provided though it is rather short (approx 400mm) - I supose to minimise the possiblilty of data errors.

I have a couple of 500MB sized ones - used for alternating backups
How well they will last over time---- who knows --- mind you I do treat them as delicate pieces of equipment and do not drop them etc!

Hope this helps

closed

The WD/acronis disk imaging backup software is here

http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&type=download&wdc_lang=en

hethmar

Any views on this Seagate one please. I noticed that the WD portable drive has some issues with the micro connector. And this seagate one has a five year warranty.
http://www.play.com/HOME/HOME/6-/Search.html?searchstring=seaqgate+go+portable&searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0

Richie-from-the-Boro

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

I would support WDC elements portable as a choice.
It comes preformated NTFS.
It does not come with any backup software pre installed etc - it's simply an external hard disk.
It takes its power from the USB conn, so no external mains power supply is needed or provided.
I'm using it under XP - I plug in the USB and it recognises it instantaneously.
The USB lead is provided though it is rather short (approx 400mm) - I supose to minimise the possiblilty of data errors.

I have a couple of 500MB sized ones - used for alternating backups
How well they will last over time---- who knows --- mind you I do treat them as delicate pieces of equipment and do not drop them etc!

Hope this helps

You are right, any HDD can go anytime even the day you open the anti static box but in real terms "" How well they will last over time---- who knows ""

They last ( relatively ) almost forever, if as stated for backup only. The quoted MTBF is meaningless. The drive is not connected to power / signal / static / heat / etc. It's not spinning / bearings / etc so the workrate of the drive is almost zero. It does less work in a year than most drives do in an hour.

stevenewton99

My harddisk blew up recently and although I had backups on another drive, I wasn't very good at keeping them up to date. (I mean you have to plug it in and copy files across and everything). Has anyone considered internet solutions for backing up files or are these not worth the bother?

weegie.geek

Has anyone considered reading threads or is it not worth the bother?

The OP specifically stated that they were ditching their online backup solution.

For small amounts of data, online backup can be ok. For anything over a few GB it becomes more expensive than having a backup locally. Proper large-scale, low-cost cloud storage isn't available at a reasonable price yet. Prices are insane, in all honesty, and people don't have the upload speed to make it very efficient either.

1TB isn't an uncommon amount of data for a person to have any more. For the cost of 1TB of online backup, you could buy two spare 1TB drives every month.

cybergibbons

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

The USB lead is provided though it is rather short (approx 400mm) - I supose to minimise the possiblilty of data errors.

Where's that theory come from? If the USB drivers in the host and device can't reliably transfer data over a 2m USB cable, there is something wrong with them.