Which portable external drive to buy?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...=product&tab=2&id=1177112314630#productdetail

(Hitachi 160gb)

or

(WD passport 160gb)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8132807&type=product&id=1158322069857

or

(seagate free agent go 160gb)

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeAgent-External-Drive-ST901603FGA1E1-RK/dp/B000ND75CU

or do you guys know something better? Looking for something real portable like these.

Oh and does anyone know if best buy, j&r, and staples come with cases with their external drives?

 

Costco for the 250GB WD. It should come with a soft fabric case.
Or you could build your own with a 2.5" enclosure of your choice. I used a Vantec eSATA/USB enclosure, it came with a case (not very small though).

 

Costco is the best deal now huh? but 250 is way more then I need though. Is the WD the best out of the 3 drives.

 

i own 2 wd externals and couldnt be happier.. i haven't owned the other 2 brands as externals so i cant really speak about their quality first hand... based off my own experiences and what i hear from friends i would go with western digital as it is a very solid brand

 

It may be way more than you need but it's always better to have more than find out later on you don't have enough.

 

I have the Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini.

Inside is a Momentus 160 GB 7200 RPM SATA notebook drive. In a pinch, I could put it in my Toshiba U305 laptop.

 

you may not need the storage now, but I'm pretty sure you will one day. if the price is right, get the biggest there is. also, you may want to consider speed and whether or not the external solution has an power brick or if it's inside the case. I would much prefer to have it all in one and never worry about doodad's and thingamajigs hanging out and having to be transported!

 

Not sure about the Hitachi one, but between the WD and the Seagate, I would take the WD one anyday.

The WD only requires one USB port, while the Seagate requires two usb port because it uses more power. Then again,, the Seagate one would probably be faster, but convenience is more important for me with the WD one.

 

Just bought the Seagate FreeAgent desktop 500GB - very impressed - almost silent running, fast tansfer speeds - I would recomend it

 

You gain storage space by going with a 3.5" drive but you also have to lug more around (power adapter brick) and it is heavier than a 2.5" drive. It's a tossup as to what is more important.

 

The FreeAgent Go does not use a power adapter brick so you cant beat that for portability

I use 2 FreeAgent Pro's, one Esata and the other Firewire and they are great. Every Seagate HDD I have owned has not failed me yet and I have 3 that are over 5 years old.

I have gone the route of bare drive and external enclosure and they keep the HDD way to hot and shorten its life drastically unless you buy one of the expensive enclosures.

 

Because it is using a 2.5" drive. Largest 2.5" SATA drive I'm aware of at this time is the WD 320gb.