Hi, does anyone have any external hard drive recommendations?

boombox

I'm a student so it needs to have as much disk space as possible for as cheap as possible. Minimum of 100gig but bigger would be better.

Also, I'd like one that isn't too bulky (slimline would be great) and is able to plug into any pc's usb drive and work instantly rather than installing drivers and all that rubbish.

Any quidco cashback would be great too.

Any help greatly appreciated.

ABH_3

boombox wrote: »

I'm a student so it needs to have as much disk space as possible for as cheap as possible. Minimum of 100gig but bigger would be better.

Also, I'd like one that isn't too bulky (slimline would be great) and is able to plug into any pc's usb drive and work instantly rather than installing drivers and all that rubbish.

Any quidco cashback would be great too.

Any help greatly appreciated.

I would probably go with http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?qfind=passport&x=0&y=0 I would avoid 'Lacie' branded drives and anything containing a Maxtor drive, especially if you're looking for durability or data integrity.

Alternatively, you could always buy a 2nd hand 2.5" hard drive and put it into a cheap caddy: http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?strSearch=&bolShowAll=true&intCatID=4&intSubcatUID=242&bolShowAll=true&intPage=2

HTH

inmypocketnottheirs

ABH wrote: »

Alternatively, you could always buy a 2nd hand 2.5" hard drive and put it into a cheap caddy:
HTH

That is what I would do. I salvaged a 2.5" hard drive from an old laptop and bought a cheap case. Works perfectly.

jazzy

If you do use ebuyer. I purchased a Formac 160GB USB2.0 External 2.5" Hard Drive from ebuyer. I found out that some systems will not run this drive and need an additional power supply, which is only mentioned in the instructions that came with the drive. I wish this was explained on their webpage.
I had to send the drive back because it was not portable like advertised.

vertical_fool

I'd also go with the cheap caddy (2.5" only though as can be usb powered). Stick in a cheap laptop drive and your laughing. I wouldn't worry too much about getting over 100gb though. If theres stuff you must keep then burn it onto a dvd especially for movies etc that you just want to keep hold of.

Vertical

boombox

Thanks for all the help guys. The hard drives posted by ABH seem to be cheaper on amazon, as you get super saver (free) delivery. So, western digital is a good make? Will they definitely work straight away on any computer without installing drivers from a cd? Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks again.

isofa

I've just tested a 250Gb WD Passport drive for a small project, and it's tiny, light, USB powered, it is £84 inc free delivery from Amazon, it was a top pick in a recent set of reviews in PC Pro and I'm not disappointed with it.

Everything you need is in the box, it even has some additional backup/sync and encryption software included.

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000RG11E6/