I'm thinking of buying an external HDD to backup my computer. Do I need to buy one with a backup software included? What brand is better? Thanks for any advice
Advice on external HDDs
I'm thinking of buying an external HDD to backup my computer. Do I need to buy one with a backup software included? What brand is better? Thanks for any advice
there are alot of factors.....
1) What is your price range?
2.) How much storage do you need? I recommend at least 100gb.
3.) What interface? Usb, firewire, etc.
4.) What brand would you like? The brand I highly recommend for hard drives, weather external or internal, is Western digital and Toshiba. Both companies make excellent drives. Try to stay away from Seagate as many people have problems with there drives.
I own a Toshiba 160gb external hard drive. Usb interface
You can find my product here.
You do not have to buy one with backup software, I simply just drag and drop to backupHowever software works just fine if you wish to use that.
Last edited by 129260; 2009-03-18 at 14:07.
1) My budget? I think it's S$100-$250(not sure of the amount is USD$, sorry)Originally Posted by 129260
2) I heard that it's best for the external HDD to be twice the size of the HDD of the PC or laptop. But i think i need around 250GB to 500GB.
3) USB 2.0 or Firewire would be best. But i prefer USB 2.0 more.
4) Not sure of the brands available in my country. But maybe Maxtor or Toshiba.
msbackup/ntbackup (the one included with Windows) is fine to back up a system state even (though it got less useful on Vista imho), I never needed an extra backup solution since Windown 2000. Can do incremental updates, adding only changes, so that multiple updates wouldnt double the used space.
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Treat your life for what it's worth, and live for every breath
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Personally I feel Seagate is better (maker of Maxtor). Next comes is Western Digital.
Seagate has a slick backup manager that automatically syncs your documents whenever you want and it also enables encryption (it takes double that time compared to no encryption backup).
A 320GB would be around 80-90$USD (convert it). So Seagate is pretty decent. Seagate made one of the thinnest external hard drives that is available on the market right now, that can fit in your back pants pocket.
Western Digital is more on the "eco/green" side but it's backup manager interface is horrible like Windows ME.
Well, I prefer my documents to be synced rather than drag and drop cause it's a bit difficult comparing the two folders and tell which one was updated or not.
Choice is yours.
I prefer Seagate aka Maxtor. Good bundled backup software. But what's the market price for a typical 1TB hard drive?? (1TB=1,000GB) I came across a WD external HDD going for about SGD$170 during an IT fair last week... The rest (250, 320 & 500GB) were like around SGD$90, 110 & 135 respectively... Should i be concerned more for the cost per GB or the cost for quality??
The market price for a 1TB (it's really huge) might cost around $200-400USD. I'm not so sure about it because I've never seen any that was available in my local retail store.
I recall that 1GB of space was usually sold as $0.40. So a 320GB unit might cost around $128 (maybe rounded down).
I see... I'll think i'm going to get a 320GB (or more) HDD.
Does that apply for the system files too?? Like what PepiMK said.
Last edited by chewdz; 2009-03-21 at 09:22. Reason: Additional info
Seagate is pretty good, but my experience with those is mainly with "internal" disks..
I have many usb "Lacie"s.. Cheap, and problem free, I've had them "on" 24/7 for YEARS without a single issue. I own many variations of "Lacie" and all work well..
WD (western digital) hard disks, on the other hand, have given me some problems lately. They seem to heat up a lot.. The WD "books" are unstable, usually very noisy.. The WD NAS disks are also bad, in my experience...
I see... I think i'm going for the Seagate Freeagent GO 320GB hard drive. Have to check my budget...
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