Good value 2.5" external hard drive

feival

I am after an external hard drive that is small enough to be easily protable. I bought the well advertised PC World Seagate 320Gb drive but it is enormous so I will now be getting rid of it to replace it with a far smaller 2.5" drive. I know they cost more but they are much smaller and for me this will be a back up that I keep in the office for off site storage. Anyway... can anyone advise on a decent one to get?

I have seen the following on savastore that seem relatively good value.

http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10293046&pid=207&rstrat=3101

nintendosensei

Well you could just make one yourself with a laptop hard drive and buy an enclosure. Then you can have whatever size you want.

[Deleted User]

The same model 2.5" drive is 10 pounds cheaper at Dabs... i actually think that is cheaper than buying the drive on its own, cheapest i can find a 160gb 2.5" drive is 110 quid

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=345215

You might want to go for one of these instead:

LaCie 160GB 2.5-inch Hi-speed USB 2.0 Mobile Hard Drive
http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=144224&partner=froogle

feival

Thanks for your advice. I have since found a 160Gb one for 99.99 http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/computing/storage/harddrives/browse?sort=3&saved_products=0&search=160gb&price_min=&price_max=&a_3867=&a_4502=Yes&a_842=USB&a_1249=Extern&a_841=&a_846=2.5%22&a_843=&autofilter=on&filter=Filter+search which seems ok - obviously a lot compared to teh 3.5" ones but...

EDIT - just seen the expansys one which is a bit cheaper even after allowing for their postage charge - how does this compare to the Freecom one? All I know is that I hvae been told to avoid Western Wireless?!

As to making one myself I have no idea what is required. Please can you help me out. I want it to be USB connected and ideally BUS powered too.

Little_John

To make one you buy the enclosure and the drive seperately. The main benefit is if you have an old drive lying arround for about £8 you can buy an enclosure and put the drive in it and bobs your uncle. The other is if you find you need more space later on you just replace the drive again. my laptop drive started to go over christmas infact christmas day I got a few BSOD's so I removed my 40 gb from the enclosure and put it in my laptop and away I go.

some enclosures also have aditional features like this one has on the go transfer copy stuff without a pc from digital cameras etc. you can get a 120GB drive for about £60 the 160's are pretty new so are expensive bt if you need the space you will need to pay. the drives tend to be about double maybe slightly less than the next smaller drive and I dont think it is worth it.

All you need normally is a screwdriver drive and enclosure using the 120gb and enclosure I linked to your talking £90 for a 120GB drive inc postage. if your local o scan you can go and pick it up and save postage.

The 2.5" enclosures also tend to be bus powered, mine has 2 ways of connecting for date firewire or USB and it can power from ps2 or usb ports or use 2 USB ports pretty flexable really It came from scan but they no longer sell it but it cost me a fortune when I got it

nintendosensei

LittleJohn has you covered!

feival

Thanks you have convinced me since that will be ideal with my digital camera when on holiday. I am assuming this is the best fit case for me. Are you able to recommend a good quality and priced hard drive that is 120Gb. There are so many I have no idea where to start. I have selected this combination which although 40Gb smaller than the freecom drive does allow me to use this with a camera without a PC (well worth having)

LN13629
Thecus YES nano N1050 Black USB2 2.5" Ext Storage with OTG (On The Go) USB & AA Battery £15.95 £18.74
LN14416
120 Gb Toshiba MK-1234GAX Notebook, 2.5" IDE (PATA), 5400 rpm, 8MB Cache, 12 ms £48.04 £56.45