external hard drive brands

so i need to get a new (second) external hard drive, because i have a ton of stuff needing backup, and i can't really miss any of it.

but this new drive is most likely to be kept inside a drawer, in case i need it to replace lost data, so i want something as large as possible and cheap.

my only experience is with Western Digital, and so far i am very happy with my hard drive. but i have seen cheaper and better brands out there.

what would you recommend?

Cheaper gets you what you pay for.

Western Digital or Seagate.

Western Digital; got a 4yr old 250gb that's still going strong

bought a 1TB Iomega and it wouldn't switch itself off and broke after three months which was due to a cheap internal PSU, as an internal drive its fine

Don't buy Seagate -- that's the only advice I can give you. I've had two of them making loud clicking noises before dying in a matter of weeks.

It's a well-known problem and stores are trying to get rid of them by lowering prices. For reference check out this 39 page thread at Seagate's official forum:

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Other-External-products/Seagate-Expansions-producing-loud-clicking-sound/td-p/30962

Oh and don't buy externals with cases. Buy the HDD and then buy one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066

Best thing ever.

And I've never had a problem with a Seagate drive, it's the enclosures they make which suck balls.

As with most hardware a lot of it is down to luck (or bad luck). I would just go for one of the big brands. WD, Lacie, Freecom, Iomega.

Just remember to always backup!

I've got a seagate and it's been nice to me up to now.

Maybe I'll buy something else and back up my back ups. It's bloody cheap to get one now of any make, model etc so definately worth it. 1TB for under £100. Good dealeo!

i don't know what brand mine is. it's not super expensive i think middle range. no problems really but its been 2 years? i think...... when i have excess cash i'm going to buy another drive, back up some stuff. i've lost music and photos before and it sucks.

  On 11/19/2010 at 11:59 PM, chenGOD said:

Cheaper gets you what you pay for.

Western Digital or Seagate.

these

Are you Mac or PC? I bought a 320GB Seagate with firewire 800, it's pretty much silent... vs my old Lacie 250GB this thing shits all over it (Lacie clunked to no end, and I find the firewire to be quicker when transferring alot of files at the same time), I really don't like the idea of having a powered drive as I usually lug my laptop around and struggle for even one power socket, so maybe see if you can get away with 500GB WD or Seagate if this is relevant.

EDIT: price isn't much of an issue these days obviously, but I think you should suss out what's the most quiet drive, multiple connectors, intuitive/precarious buttons etc (my flatmate has a drive with a touch button on the back that needs to be held down for 10seconds to power on/off, and the power cord slips out really easily - i think it's WD - be careful of that). Anyway I'm rambling, but u get the idea

wd

I can only recommend Iomega for externals... I have seen way too many WD/Segates/Maxtors die in my young IT career.

I've got a Seagate 250Gb that I've had for about three years now-- I really only use it for backup, but it hasn't given any indication of being anywhere near failing.