Can anyone recommend a reliable external hardrive please?

Lady_K

I want to get an external hardrive for back up but there are so many and so many that say they lost all thier data its hard to know which one to go for. Probably 500gb or more but give or take, so long as its reliable

Not really bothered about if its portable or not its if it saves the data and keeps it safely. I'm wondering if the normal sized ones might be better as they would probably have a better cooling system?

pbryd

I bought one of these for backing up stuff from my PC.

Very impressed with the build quality and the added benefit of the on/off switch on the front means you can turn it on an off easily when needed.

Samsung Story 1tb for £65 from Amazon

kabayiri

I have a Medion portable 500Gb, and I have a Samsung portable 500Gb.

The Samsung feels more robust, but then so did a Freecom Toughdrive which broke extremely easily!. The 3yr warranty on the Medion means nothing in terms of data security.

My suggestion?
To be honest, I'd aim to get 2, given the price they are now. Then keep important files on both (alternate backups perhaps). You also have the option to keep one in a separate secure location to the other [work perhaps].

althas

I find Seagate to be ok. I have two

redcard

Seagate Freeagent here, never had any problems.

I also have a SATA dock, that allows you to swap HDs in and out - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SATA-3-5-2-5-HDD-Dock-Caddy-Enclosure-Case-USB-eSATA-/260655597747?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL&hash=item3cb048c8b3#ht_6351wt_989.

Might be a better option if you have any spare disks lying around.

JJ_Egan

No drive can ever be 100% reliable they all have a lifespan of xxxx and can fail for many reasons .

Do not take it for granted that any precious data will be safe if its mission critical it wants a second copy .

Seagate Western Digital Samsung all much of a muchness in terms of reliability as the manufactures of hard drives .

Reason i post is you used the word reliable and a recent poster had to spend £500 recovering cherished pictures from a failed drive as she had no other copy's .

jje

Knarf44

As JJ says above any brand of hard drive, internal or external can fail suddenly and without warning irrespective of its age. Always keep copies of your valuable and precious docs/photos on different media so there's no risk of losing them.

That said you could take a look at Toshiba's range of external drives. As far as reliability goes, Toshiba is generally regarded as a brand to trust.

hethmar

I have the Western Digital Passport hard drive - got it from amazon and bought the cute little holder for it too. It seems to be the easiest and I need it easy

Denty23

Ive been using External hard drives for a long time now, i have 2 external drives i use everyday. I have a Maxter 300gb that i have had for about 2 and a half years and i have never had it fail on me yet and i have a 1TB Seagate Hard drive that i really do like you dont have to worry about turning it off when you power down your Pc it turns off by its self when your not using it. So i think ill be staying with Maxter and Seagate for a long time to come.

DCFC79

1 here for £46 from amazon and its western digital which is a good make, i was going to get 1 myself but thought it put it on hold for a bit so i can see if the 2 sata drives i have work

bengalknights

Seagate and Western Digital are the better manufactured and more reliable external hard drives just avoid hitachi drives as based on experience they tend to corrupt quickly.