external hard drive recommendations

scotty1971

i have 2 old desktop pc's and a laptop that i would like to donate to a charity or something,but they all have pictures and videos of the family on them,looking to get a external hard drive to put them all on before i give the hardware away,anyone have any recommendations on what i should purchase as i have had no experience with them.

thanks

scott

A.Penny.Saved

There are lots of options available. The connection it uses will narrow it down.

You could use eSata or USB, USB 2.0 or preferably USB 3.0. A USB 2.0 connected drive will be bottlenecked by the interface. A PC card to add a suitable connection either eSata or USB 3.0 might would be worth doing if your PC has neither of these connections, both are very fast.

Getting a docking station and an internal 3.5" hard drive and plug the drive in when you want to backup should do it. Then you can store the drive securely when it is not in use. Doing it this way means that you can always purchase new backup bare drives as they are needed and not pay for a case that only serves the one drive. Bare drives are usually cheapest.

Startech make quite a few, some having both eSata & USB 3.0 connections. The prices are available much lower on the web than on the startech site and other brands cost less but are not quite as good IMO. If the docking station supports 2.5" drives then you can use SSD's in them if you want/need to set one up. If the ol PC's and laptop only have USB 2.0 ports then they could still be connected to a USB 3.0 docking station but at a slower speed, whereas you can use it with your main PC at full speed if it has a USB 3.0 port. UASP support provides the fastest possible speed.

What colour do you need? Black or White/Silver?
http://uk.startech.com/HDD/Docking/?page=all

***This*** is the one that I want to get in the next week or so, it costs about £71 whereas it's £117.59 from startech.

VoucherMan

Also depends how much memory you need/want, and are you likely to want any more in the future?

I've got a 2TB Samsung portable, which is great for me. Currently down to £65.99 at Amazon. Or there's a 1TB for £45.99.

scotty1971

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/data-storage/portable-external-hard-drives/wd-my-passport-ultra-portable-hard-drive-1-tb-black-10030370-pdt.html

this one any good?

John_Gray

scotty1971 wrote: »

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/data-storage/portable-external-hard-drives/wd-my-passport-ultra-portable-hard-drive-1-tb-black-10030370-pdt.html

this one any good?

Western Digital My Passport Ultra 1TB is the same price (£50) at Amazon, and £75 for the 2TB version.

prowla

(If you do decide to keep the physical drives yourself, to remember to put the fittings back with the computers though; a laptop with no hard disk and without its fittings/caddy to hold a new one is worthless.)

Crinkmeister

John_Gray wrote: »

Western Digital My Passport Ultra 1TB is the same price (£50) at Amazon, and £75 for the 2TB version.

Another vote for WD My Passport. I use one as my backup drive. Small and reliable (so far!).

Nodding_Donkey

I use one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/All-in-1-Dual-SATA-IDE-Hard-Disk-Drive-HDD-Dock-Docking-Station-Stand-/361007931098?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL&hash=item540dbfdeda and any old hard drive I have laying about.

scotty1971

bsod wrote: »

unless you know of a charity that is actually going to make use of them, buy a usb caddy and keep the drives - it will also save you the job of cleaning your personal data from them.

If you are planning to trust important data to one drive only, it could prove unwise.

i would no have no idea how to remove the drives or what they looked like!!!

[Deleted User]

I bought this one last month, Which rated Buffalo as best for reliability.

scotty1971

bsod wrote: »

The internet is a useful tool in such situations, as is a screwdriver.

thanks for this advice,will certainly take it on board!!