External hard drive best buy???

emms_mum

Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone can give me a bit of advice as I'm not sure where to start! I'm looking for an external hard dive for new pc, to use mainly for storing photos at the moment and perhaps video (when I figure out how to get it onto the pc!). I'd like to get the best value for money in terms of capacity of hard drive. It doesn't matter about the size or being portable etc as it's only for at home. Any ideas of good offers or recommendations very gratefully received Also, this may be a dumb question but are external hard drives compatible with any operating system? (Laptop is Windows Me and Pc is Vista). Many thanks in advance

Millionare

Dont go for the cheapest, buy the most reliable one esp for photos and movies that cant be replaced.

Ive got the Mybook Pro and its very good but its got firewire 400/800 which I use and you might not want so the Mybook Essential might suit your needs which is USB connection.

These are compatible with Vista and Me

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=232

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/search/?qfind=mybook+pro

emms_mum

Thank you Millionaire, I must admit I was tempted to go for the cheapest! I'm going to have a look at the ones you suggested in a moment. What is the firewire 400/800? Sorry- I'm a novice when it comes to these things

wakandem

You should be able to get one at 250gb for around 70-80 quid. As stated the cheapest may not be the best but there is no need to spend loads. Some of these drives get quite warm and this shortens the life of the drive. Make sure you position it with this in mind.

I would always advise a copy of all photos & music & other important docs are backed up to cd/dvd as a hard drive will eventually fail.

firewire is just another way of connecting the device to a pc. Your pc will need it as well. As long as you have usb2 you should be fine

emms_mum

Thank you Wakendem, that's all useful I'll make sure I save things onto cd or similar as well. It's really good to know a bit more before I buy one! Many thanks.

Millionare

emms_mum wrote: »

Thank you Millionaire, I must admit I was tempted to go for the cheapest! I'm going to have a look at the ones you suggested in a moment. What is the firewire 400/800? Sorry- I'm a novice when it comes to these things

Yes the "Firewire" is just another standard for connecting devices. Usb 2 will be fine for what you want.

The Mybook Essential is £57.25 for 250GB drive on Ebuyer.

mostly

look no further than this

chrisw

mostly wrote: »

look no further than this

It gets a strange mix of reveiws, either 5 stars or 1 star. I guess it either works or it doesn't.

mostly

I'm running 2 at the moment & touch wood alls ok.