# Just got a 1 TB external HDD **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980 "2009-11-10T01:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/1 "2009-11-10T01:26:58Z")
What amuses me is that back in the early 1980s when I got my first 286, it had a huge 10 MB HDD. As I has been using 5 1/4 floppies, this was staggering, and I wondered how I could ever fill it up. My 120 GB external drive was getting filled up with backups, so looked at 500 GB drives, and then found for a few bucks more I could get a 1 TB drive for only $97, shipping included. Thufferin’ thuccatosh, a 1 terabyte drive. How will I ever fill that up? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lunar\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lunar\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lunar_elf)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/2 "2009-11-10T01:39:30Z")
My hubby was remarking at the price of HDs just yesterday. I used to work at a computer shop in the mid/late 90s, and remember paying $300 for a 300MB hd. Yeesh! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/3 "2009-11-10T01:39:59Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > How will I ever fill that up? 😃 Said by everyone who’s purchase a top-of-the-line hard drive for the last thirty years… As always, the answer will be “more quickly than I expected”. I have a 500 gig drive just for backups, and another TB I use to store video and audio I’m done with. I’m scarily close to filling that one up. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/4 "2009-11-10T01:41:00Z")
I wonder how many people who once met civil war veterans are now using their very own 1 terabyte drives? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/5 "2009-11-10T02:01:08Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > found for a few bucks more I could get a 1 TB drive for only $97, shipping included. Whereabouts? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/6 "2009-11-10T02:16:29Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > Thufferin’ thuccatosh, a 1 terabyte drive. How will I ever fill that up? 😃 Mine was full within a year. Automatic incremental backups, you know. I just ordered a computer with a _two_-terabyte drive. And I recently read an article that mentioned the possibility of a yottabyte storage array. I’ve never seen the word ‘yottabyte’ used in any context that implied some degree of reality before. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/7 "2009-11-10T02:18:51Z")
I’m waiting for an Avogadrobyte drive. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/8 "2009-11-10T02:23:10Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’ve never seen the word ‘yottabyte’ used in any context that implied some degree of reality before. In IT uneducated, are you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/9 "2009-11-10T02:28:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > In IT uneducated, are you. Hey, gimme a break! I mostly did RF communications! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/10 "2009-11-10T02:43:27Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Hey, gimme a break! I mostly did RF communications! A smart ass Yoda joke, it was. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/11 "2009-11-10T02:49:34Z")
Pish, it’ll be full full by Xmas. Why didn’t you spend an extra $29 and get a 1.5 TB’er? 😃 I have 2.9 Tb on the fileserver…and I _just_ upgraded to a hi def camera. I suspect it won’t be enough. (and another 1 Tb in the Time Capsule) (cite: 129 in cart: [Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB USB 2.0 3.5" External Hard Drive Silver - Newegg.com](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148357) ) ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/12 "2009-11-10T08:51:31Z")
I’ve had a 1.5TB drive for six months now. Already down to my last 800GB! What chews up the space are videos. High quality videos take up a lot of space. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/13 "2009-11-10T13:48:15Z")
I got a 500GB drive in July for my server. Haven’t even filled up 100GB yet. Mainly use it to offload videos from my DVR for “watching later”. Yeah right. So I think I’ll be safe for a while. I’m going thru my old computer junk and throwing out things. But it gets weird. I have a 850MB drive from years ago sitting in a bin. Utterly useless in size. I drove a long ways to buy it and got a “double discount” on it. So I was thrilled to have it back then. It was such a great thing and now it’s junk. Paid 3 times as much for it as my new drive. But it still has to gotta go… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/14 "2009-11-10T13:55:28Z")
I have about 8 TB in external hard drives, including two 2 TB drives. (I collect a lot of anime episodes). ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/15 "2009-11-10T14:05:40Z")
I’ve got 2.5TB of internal storage and an another TB in external storage through a NAS. I’m not sure if I like the NAS though. I bought it to do backups, and in particular so I could back up other machines on the network. (A second computer and a Macbook Pro.) Problem is it’s bloody _slooooow_. I got a chance to try out an Apple Time Capsule on my system but it wasn’t much better, even running at N speeds. Maybe I’ll just get an external USB or eSATA and share it with the rest of the network and backup that way. It’s definitely weird with all that space compared to when I got my first computer, which consisted of a 180K 5.25" floppy drive running on a 1.79MHz computer with 64K of RAM. My first real hard drive was 30 megs. Woo! And then I hacked together a 250MB RLL drive (5.25" full height! Sounded like a jet engine!) using the guts of the old hard drive enclosure (it was external) and some soldering to a new PSU. (The external one had a 30W PSU which wasn’t enough to power the jet engine…) The good ol’ days… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/16 "2009-11-10T14:14:13Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > The good ol’ days… The first computer that I ever had anything to do with used punched paper tape for external storage. I don’t think it even had magnetic tape drives, even though those were around in the early 60s, because this computer was built in the 1950s. I wonder how many forests you’d have to chop down to get 1 TB on paper tape 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/17 "2009-11-10T14:27:13Z")
About 10 or so years ago I attended a talk given by the president of the leading energy apps and data company talking about adressing the industry’s future needs. Specifically it was on how soon his customers, companies like Exxon, BP and Shell, would be working with terrabytes of seismic and well data, a substantial increase over what they’d required before. It was the first time I’d ever heard the term terrabyte and it was associated with an industry and responsibility so far beyond my own as to be near incomprehensible. That talk came to mind the other day as I stood at best Buy shopping for a back-up for our home computer. We’d had an “imminent failure” note on our 750 GB drive so I bought a 1TB external to back it up and a 1TB hard drive to replace it with. Here the measure needed by a multinational oil giant just a decade before was now available for my PC. Thing was they were relatively inexpensive, not much more than the replacement cost of what it came with, so why not? Other things may go wrong but memory will never be an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/18 "2009-11-10T14:38:19Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The first computer that I ever had anything to do with used punched paper tape for external storage. I don’t think it even had magnetic tape drives, even though those were around in the early 60s, because this computer was built in the 1950s. I wonder how many forests you’d have to chop down to get 1 TB on paper tape 🙂 I don’t think something like ENIAC could even conceive of numbers in the terabytes. 🙂 But if one had to speculate, I’d say we’d have to learn to breathe carbon dioxide real quick. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/19 "2009-11-10T22:33:27Z")
I had a similar theard, I bought two Hitachi 2TB hard drives(internal) from Dell for only $140.00 each. Check Dell every so often as the specials come and go quickly Also [ZipZoomFly](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Home.jsp) is a great place to get deals. I have three 1TB drives from them all work great (knock wood) I use my drives to record TV, boy when you record HD it really eats up space ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980/20 "2009-11-10T22:38:26Z")
Like the parsec, we will need a new mega-unit eventually. I suggest measuring storage devices in LOCs or “Libraries of Congress.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-a-1-tb-external-hdd/516980.md?page=2)