Getting an external Hard Drive

My main purpose for getting one is just to have a place to store all my music and movie files. I do not plan on even keeping it hooked up to my computer at all times, just a place to store them because i wont be access them too often.

I was looking at the Western Digital 500GB External Hard Drive on newegg but reviews say you cant transfer files over 4gigs at a time. You cant just drag your whole music library and walk away. So im not so sure about this one. Im not sure if i should go for a name brand or if those really matter when it comes to external harddrives especially one for my purpose. Can any 1 recommend a good one 500gb preferably 150 or under.

Also, whats the deal when i first get it, ive heard if you format it you want to make sure you keep the drivers it comes with. What drivers do i need? I just want to be able to plug it in, drag files over and store them on there. I dont really need to run anything from it. I know nothing about external hard drives, obviously, so any info would be helpful. Thanks

 

The 4GB limitation on the WD external drive is for a single file, due to it being formatted as FAT32 for cross platform compatibility. Unless you have very large files (DVD image files for example) it shouldn't be a problem. If it is, then reformat the drive as NTFS and you should be set.

Most "name brand" external drives come with various backup applications and/or drivers pre-installed when you first get them. 90% of the time they're not necessary or if they are, they're readily available from the manufacturer's website.

I own a 500GB WD MyBook Premium and I'm very happy with it.

 

yeah same thing TedJ said. i have an old WD external passport hard drive, and i can transfer more than 4gbs at a time.

 

If you're using the external drive to transfer large amounts of data, consider a Firewire drive instead of USB. Make sure your laptop has a firewire port like most modern laptops do.

Firewire is waaaaay faster than USB. 1.5x to 2x the speed.