I’m looking to add an external backup to my system in the 160-200 GB range. Does anybody have any recommendations? Horror stories?
Seagate? Western Digital? Maxtor? Ion?
Any faves? Any brands more economical? Good bang for the buck?
What features should I look for?
I have two 120-GB external hard drives - one Maxtor and one Western Digital. I’ve had both for about a year and a half. They have both performed well, though they both have a tendancy of running a little on the warm side. Both use USB2 interface and I’m running Windows 2K.
I ended up buying a USB/Firewire hard drive enclosure and a $50 80GB drive (a whole 3 months ago when they were that expensive 
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I have found the enclosure to be handy because I can take the drive out and put a different drive in there. When Computer 1 caught a virus, I took out its hard drive, put it in the enclosure (removed the one that was already in there), made my backups on Computer 2, wiped Computer 1 clean and reinstalled the HD. Was nice to not have to take Computer 2 apart and unplug a drive and then install this drive to get the info off.
Also if and when I run out of space on this 80GB I can just consider it “storage” and get myself a new, bigger drive to put in the enclosure.
I think I saved a few bucks going this route.
Note tho that alot of external HDDs have special extra tools and buttons that make backups and the like easier. So if you want an easy way to do it, an enclosure and a drive might not be your best option. For me, it was just about storage.
Thanks, guys. I had considered getting one of those “network memory hubs,” just so I can share everything on my network, but eh, I think I’ll just stick with a straight backup drive.
Also, the one or two “horror stories” I’ve heard about external backups were about Maxtor drives. You obviously have had no problems with them, Waterman. Anyone else?
Any other opinions?
Good luck with Western Digital drives (USB2.0, 80-120GB). No horror stories to share about other brands - but we’ve had good enough luck with WD drives at work that we use them exclusively.
Thanks, all. I went looking for a WD drive, but ended up settling on a Seagate 160 GB drive. The price was right, and it has been rated as an acceptable performer. Not spectacular, but reliable. Also, I trust Seagate. I also trust WD, but didn’t find any in my price range.
I have a Freecom USB hard drive - only 60GB - mostly because it’s a bus-powered model, but I have purchased a couple of their larger products for other folks and heard back no complaints. Same story with LaCie.
I’ve hard problems with Fujitsu external devices though - even when externally-powered, they intermittently go missing from the hardware manager, or even seem to cause other devices on the same USB hub to fail.
Generally the HD inside is a standard disc with a USB adapter. At our office we handle loads of laptops and PCs for our clients - the guy who handles the hardware won’t buy Maxtor due to the high failure rates. (And when a laptop on a rig in the middle of nowhere goes down, it’s a real PITA for all concerned).
Seagate. Nothing but Seagate. Seagate warranties all internal drives for five years. The vast majority of Maxtor and Western Digital drives only carry a one year warranty. I could not find a 3-year Maxtor for sale anywhere. WD drives can be found with a 3 yr but not easily.
Buy an internal Seagate drive and an inexpensive USB, Firewire, or combination box for it. You can usually find 3.5" boxes for $25-35 online. If you buy one of Seagate’s preassembled external drives, you’ll only get a one year warranty. Build it yourself and get the best of everything. Most external cases come with decent documentation so installing the drive is relatively simple.