external hard drive question

[jholdaway]

I've been thinking about getting an external hard drive for my movies and videos. I'm thinking I'll be needing 1.5 or a 2 T drive. My budget is $120 max. I had a 500g external that ended up crapping out on me and I lost some of my home made videos from the holidays. So does anyone have any suggestions on a decent external that won't blow up after a couple years? I know WD's are pretty good but are any of the other brands out there that are better?

[vesseblah]

External HDDs will always die faster than internal ones because those are moved around more. 2,5" discs are usually more durable than the bigger 3,5" discs because those are built for more rugged use on laptops but come in smaller capacity.

If you want to be sure you wont be losing data, best way is to get cheap-ish NAS box where you stick two discs into RAID1 mirror configuration. Box that accepts 3+ discs for RAID5 are significantly more expensive.

[jholdaway]

I found this one on amazon but I know nothing of the brand. http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-...495012&sr=1-23

[Xuvial]

Question, will you be moving that drive around a lot or carrying it to other locations? Because after cycling through several external HDD's (WD and Seagate) I'm incredibly sick of them dying and their performance going down the drain in a matter of months.

I would recommend getting an external enclosure (or dock) and putting a Western Digital Caviar Green (2TB or 3TB) drive in it. That way you know you're putting in a quality drive and the enclosure will provide you with eSata & USB3, some of them can even act like a NAS.

A dock/enclosure costs peanuts, usually in the region of $15-30...see here: http://www.newegg.com/External-Enclo...?Order=REVIEWS

On Amazon you can grab a WD Green 2TB for $99 or 3TB for $130.

Excellent overall value, eh?

But if you're going to carry the drive around a lot then a dock/enclosure won't be very convenient. In which case I would personally recommend something like a Western Digital MyPassport (USB powered, no power brick needed!) for ultimate mobility. Or a WD MyBook 2TB/3TB.

[jholdaway]

I will be moving it around a little since my girlfriend likes movie night and refuses to drive. So about once or twice a week. I've been driving over to pick her up and bring her back to my house. But that is just costing me too much in gas. Also kills time that we can be using for other things.