USB 3.0 external harddrive suggestions?

I'm looking to buy an external harddrive that utilizes USB 3.0 so that I can back up some files I plan to keep for sometime. I'm new to USB 3.0 and external harddrives so does anyone have any suggestions? Inexpensive =\= cheap and I am looking for something that has been proven to work.

Size: As far as size, ~150GB sounds reasonable (give or take 50GB). As a bare minimum, 75GB is the lowest I can go for my needs.

Price range: ROUGHLY between $0-$300.

SDD or HDD: I may have to go with SSD just because I need the reliability but I guess I could have been lead astray by the SSD hype.

Edit: Does anyone suggest going with this one below?

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...ef=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics

Any gripes or praises for Western Digital?

 

Do you want a portable 2.5" that is usb powered or a 3.5" one that plugs into the wall if it'll be stationary. Also, i doubt that you will find anything that small, 500GB and up is much more common these days.

 

If you want an external drive for back up you need one that will hold your entire data and then some. Although I think USB 3.0 for this purpose is overkill. Unless money is no object, I'd save that for a flash drive, or for when you need data to be transfered fast and light.

My backup drive is my old 5400 RPM OEM in a separately purchased external HDD case. I have another external 320 GB 7200 RPM in the same case but use my eSATA port for a bit more speed. Finally, I just purchased the 64 Kingston HyperX 3.0 USB thumb drive for ultimate fast and light.

This is not by any means a standard (everyone is different) but I find it works well for my use.

 

Does this one look okay?

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...ef=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics

Oh, I don't have any substantial objections to more capacity. I just kept it that low because I know SSD aren't that inexpensive yet for the capacity (in comparison to HDD).

I would like a portable one that doesn't require an AC adapter for power.

=P USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 are my only options since I don't have eSata on my laptop.

 

Yes, that one would work, just as any USB3 2.5" drive will do. You can also consider the DIY option with an enclosure and drive bought separately. Like this enclosure: Newegg.com - Vantec NexStar CX SuperSpeed 2.5" SATA to USB 3.0 External Hard Drive/SSD Enclosure (Supports 7mm, 9.5mm, 12.5mm HDD/SSD) - Model NST-200S3-BK and a drive of the capacity you want. I'd go for usb3 as it is backwards compatible with usb 2.0.

 

I don't think there would be any noticeable speed difference between an ssd/hdd connected via usb 3.
Correct me if I'm wrong though as I'm not too sure a standard 7200rpm drive could max out the bandwidth available on usb 3.

 

In sequential performance, yeah, random would still remain higher on the SSD. That being said, a SSD would be overkill for backup so go with a plain standard HDD for backup.

 

Funny you mention this. I was just reading Laptop Mag and they gave Buffalo's 150gb external hard drive editors choice. It was also the fastest of the 5 they tested.

 

And the cost of said performance? Buffalo products are typically in the stratosphere.

 

Not bad at all. It's in the same price realm of others.

Newegg.com - BUFFALO 1TB USB 3.0 Black External Hard Drive HD-PCT1TU3/BB

 

You mean performance wise? It depends on the job: Some can be marginal, while other parameters can be significant. you have to first determine what duty is most important to you, then pick the drive that best performs the task in that category.