Advice on External Harddrives 1TB

NBR teamsters,

Firstly, ignore the title, my lousy typing skills gave way to being able to edit the '1TB' part out. I understand 1TB with a 2.5 is still unavailable and only require a minimum of 500GB. Being pretty new to external HDD's I'm asking for advice on the most reliable drive available at the moment. Please read the points below to help you out:

• 500GB to a 1TB.
• Upgradable (swap out HDD's with relative ease)
• Noise doesn't bother me so much but reliablity does.
• 2.5" Drive though 3.5 maybe consider depending on the other criteria.
• Preferable withn a budget of £100 ($180) and is possibly available in the UK.

That maybe it, this list maybe updated if I think of anything else. I've been looking at the WD My Book and elements range but have heard some headence in regards to them. A friend has also suggested the Maxtor range but I'm really open to any suggestions.

 

good read:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=685

cheers ...

 

How about a HD docking station - gives you USB and eSATA (which you may not have now - but quite probably will in the future), the ability to use 3.5" and 2.5" drives and it's simplicity itself to swap drives.

Then you can get a 1.5TB drive (for a total of £107) or a 1TB drive (for a total of £88).

The only problem is that it doesn't look very neat - but I'll sacrifice neatness for versatility.

 

I was going to suggest a dock as well because it fits exactly what you asked for.

Easy to swap out, support for both 2.5" and 3.5" if you get the right one, and you can then just- get cheaper internal drives to use with it.

I am not familiar with UK dealers but here are some examples of what I am suggesting you look at.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EN391-S2&cpc=SCH

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817816009

And then just get a nice reliable internal HDD to use with it.

Something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152173

 

...A link to WD harddrive. Not quite on topic but err, thanks?

Infact the 500GB version is the one I already have!

Mmm, to be considered. The idea of using an exposed HDD scares me a little as a would need something travelworthy and so, slightly robust.

Don't worry about eSATA. I know of it as does my lil laptop I have - an M860TU.

 

His link was showing that 1TB hard drives exist in the 2.5" form factor. It's just that they're most useful in an external form due to the 12.5mm thickness.

 

Okay, I see where your going, apologies qhn.

However, the reason why having a 2.5 would be more useful is is I want to install a 2nd HDD caddy in the DVD bay later on. Though to be fair most DVD caddy's have enough headroom for this sized drive.

Any suggestions on what to house this in then?

 

Okay, having come around to the ideas suggested I think the HD docking station makes sense. What do y'all make of this?

EDIT - Unlike a lot of the people leaing questions on that page, I know I'll have to buy a HD too.

 

I didnt know you want to take it around with you, but a HD dock is still not out of question, just get a nice case/bag to hold it + hdds with.

The great thing is when you get multiple HDDs you dont have to have a ton of external drives or keep paying the $$$ for enclosures. Also if you work on computers its invaluable for testing hard drives and making file transfers and stuff like that.

A HDD dock basically allowed me to make DVD's obsolete at my house. Instead of a case full of DVD's that take forever to sift through, I can have a case of HDD's that lets me search for my files and rewrite data as needed.

At some point I am going to evolve into a Windows Home Server and let it hold all my data though.

 

I love my Fantom 1TB Greendrives. SATA, Fanless, cold, spacious and cheap. I got 8 of 'em.

 

Mmm, very hippiesque. But can you replace the actually HDD itself with ease?

Especially as I'm considering one of these to later use in a customised 2nd bay caddy.

 

Okay, I did some research and found this - The Akasa Integral NMAX.

Thinking of buying it from OCUK.

Any alarm bells at all?

eSATA, USB-powered, no software installation requires, hot-swappable and it fits 12.5mm drives (like the WD10TEVT)

 

Looks good. I have the previous version (doesn't fit 12.5mm drives) and it does what it says on the tin.

 

Top stuff! The only critical review I've seen of it was from someone who tried to cram a 3.5" in to once and said there was barely enough room for it.

Thanks for your words. It's final, a 1TB WD shall be ordered along with this. Kudos will be given to those who handed out the most sage of advice here.