When it comes to personal data, nobody can afford to lose any of it. In this information age, a…
External hard drives are a great way of backing up your files, photographs, music and videos to…
External hard drives are a great way of backing up your files, photographs, music and videos to keep them safe if the unthinkable should happen and your computer decides to wipe everything from its memory. Choosing an external hard drive can be a challenging task, and this article aims to guide you on how to compare external hard drives.
The first and most basic choice for you to make when choosing an external hard drive is the size of the device you are looking for.
For those of us wishing to store vast amounts of music, videos photographs and files the most sensible choice is to go for larger storage capacities. A
250 GB external hard drive can store up to 57,000 mp3 songs, 40,000 photographs or even 100,000 text files, although these values depend on file formats etc. Of course, if you have more data to store than that, a larger size may be necessary – 500gb external hard drives are available, and even 1 tb external hard drives, with the equivalent of 1000gb.
Unfortunately, even with falling prices of memory in recent years, such large external hard drives do come at a price. Expecting to fill a 1 tb external hard drive when you have only 250 GB of data is going to be an expensive way of backing your data up. As such, be aware of how much space you actually need.
Power options for external hard drives are also vital. Cheap external hard drives or those which are designed to be used in conjunction with desk top computers often rely on a separate power cable to connect them to the mains. However, if you plan to back up data on a laptop, having a power hungry external hard drive attached to it is sure to cause problems. Most decent (read: not the cheapest) ‘laptop’ external hard drives are powered by the USB which connects them to the laptop in the first place.
The ergonomics of your external hard drive also need to be considered – as mentioned, hard drives designed to be used in conjunction with desktop computers often rely on mains supplies, making them bulky and difficult to carry around if the need ever arose. Most external hard drives nowadays are light, small, portable and most vitally, tough – meaning you will not lose all of your data if you drop it by accident when running to get to an important meeting.
Choosing the right external hard drive to store your personal data can be difficult, but considering the factors highlighted in this article is sure to help you.
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Western Digital My Cloud 3TB |
Western Digital External Hard Drives | ||
NAS – 3000 GB – USB 3.0 – Ethernet
 2 reviews – 1 news – 4 photos
Western Digital My Cloud 3TB NAS for $150 + free shipping
CNET Marketplace | Find Today’s Best Technology Deals… —
11/10/2014
Buy.com via eBay offers the Western Digital My Cloud 3TB NAS , model no. WDBCTL0030HWT-NESN, for $149.99 with free shipping . That’s that’s the lowest total price we could find by $29, although we… Hide
Western Digital My Cloud 3TB NAS for $150 + free shipping | Read more
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£55 to £370
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Western Digital My Cloud 2TB |
Western Digital External Hard Drives | ||
NAS – 2000 GB – USB 3.0 – Ethernet
 3 reviews – 2 news – 3 photos
Western Digital My Cloud 2TB
PC PRO – Today —
04/02/2014
WD’s My Cloud 2TB takes network storage and makes it easy Hide
Western Digital My Cloud 2TB | Read more
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£53 to £370
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Western Digital My Cloud 4TB |
Western Digital External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 4000 GB – USB 3.0 – Ethernet
2 reviews – 1 news
Refurb Western Digital My Cloud 4TB NAS for $160 + free shipping
CNET Marketplace | Find Today’s Best Technology Deals… —
25/06/2014
Western Digital offers its factory-refurbished My Cloud 4TB NAS , model no. RWDBCTL0040HWT-NESN, for $159.99 with free shipping . That’s $40 under the lowest total price we could find for a new unit. Hide
Refurb Western Digital My Cloud 4TB NAS for $160 + free shipping | Read more
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£55 to £370
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LaCie CloudBox 1TB |
LaCie External Hard Drives | ||
NAS – 1000 GB – Ethernet
 39 user opinions – 2 photos
Easy to use and very reliable
Ciao —
09-2011
This is a great and affordable solution for cloud backup. It’s not just a piece of hardware but also a professional cloud service for secure backup. The price is quite reasonable. I’ve been using… Hide
Easy to use and very reliable | Read more
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£240 to £560
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LaCie CloudBox 2TB |
LaCie External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 2000 GB – Ethernet
39 user opinions – 2 photos
Excellent Storage Solution
Ciao —
12-2011
…backup with the help of LaCie Back Assistant software that came with the drive, and now all my data is backed up to the Cloud without any effort on my part. The files are accessible on the cloud… Hide
Excellent Storage Solution | Read more
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£721 to £1,398
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LaCie CloudBox 3TB |
LaCie External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 3000 GB – Ethernet
39 user opinions – 2 photos
Excellent Storage Solution
Ciao —
12-2011
I have accumulated a small but a very valuable archive of photos, which I would not want to lose. I have considered differnt backup options, and all the Cloud storage solutions that I’ve come accross… Hide
Excellent Storage Solution | Read more
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£52 to £330
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LaCie CloudBox 4TB |
LaCie External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 4000 GB – Ethernet
39 user opinions – 3 photos
Excellent Storage Solution
Ciao —
12-2011
I have accumulated a small but a very valuable archive of photos, which I would not want to lose. I have considered differnt backup options, and all the Cloud storage solutions that I’ve come accross… Hide
Excellent Storage Solution | Read more
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£90 to £390
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Corsair Voyager Air 1TB |
Corsair External Hard Drives | ||
2.5" – 1000 GB – USB 3.0 – Ethernet – WiFi
 6 reviews – 28 user opinions – 1 news – 3 videos – 22 photos
Back up your data – Series 19: Episode 5
The Gadget Show —
24/03/2014
Mr Jon Bentley is delving into the world of backing up your data. With nearly a third of PC users loosing files due to events beyond their control and 1 in 20 suffering data loss every year he shows… Hide
Back up your data – Series 19: Episode 5 | Read more
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£63 to £338
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Corsair Voyager Air 500GB |
Corsair External Hard Drives | ||
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2.5" – 500 GB – USB 3.0 – Ethernet – WiFi
1 review – 21 user opinions – 1 news – 1 video – 8 photos
Corsair Voyager Air 500GB Wireless Storage Device Review
ChewOnTech.com – ChewOnTech —
24/05/2013
Affiliates Reviews: If you like us to post your site’s reviews on our website, please contact us at [email protected] We first had a peek at the Voyager Air at CES 2013 and at first glance it… Hide
Corsair Voyager Air 500GB Wireless Storage Device Review | Read more
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£63 to £338
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Seagate Central 3TB |
Seagate External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 3000 GB – USB 2.0 – Ethernet
3 reviews – 11 user opinions – 3 news – 17 photos
Save 20% on Seagate Central 3TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS
Amazon Discount Codes Center —
17/02/2014
Save 20% The post Save 20% on Seagate Central 3TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS appeared first on Top Hot Deal from Amazon . Hide
Save 20% on Seagate Central 3TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS | Read more
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£110 to £180
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Apple AirPort Time Capsule 2TB |
Apple External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 2000 GB – USB 2.0 – Ethernet – WiFi
1 review – 5 user opinions – 12 photos
Apple AirPort Time Capsule review
PCPRO —
07-2013
Straightforward set-and-forget backup for Apple users, but little appeal for anyone else Hide
Apple AirPort Time Capsule review | Read more
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£60 to £800
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Apple AirPort Time Capsule 3TB |
Apple External Hard Drives | ||
NAS – 3000 GB – USB 2.0 – Ethernet – WiFi
 2 reviews – 7 user opinions – 17 photos
Apple AirPort Time Capsule review
PCPRO —
07-2013
Straightforward set-and-forget backup for Apple users, but little appeal for anyone else Hide
Apple AirPort Time Capsule review | Read more
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£60 to £135
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Seagate Central 4TB |
Seagate External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 4000 GB – USB 2.0 – Ethernet
4 reviews – 11 user opinions – 16 photos |
£90 to £120
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Seagate Central 2TB |
Seagate External Hard Drives | ||
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NAS – 2000 GB – USB 2.0 – Ethernet
3 reviews – 11 user opinions – 17 photos |
£53 to £90
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Patriot Aero Wireless Mobile Drive 1TB |
Patriot External Hard Drives | ||
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2.5" – 1000 GB – USB 3.0 – WiFi
1 review
The Aero Patriot offers a versatile hard drive solution for mobile devices
TechRadar —
05-2013
Most portable hard drives lack glamour. They’re tiny workhorses, useful for doing backups and transporting large files and little else. Patriot’s Aero goes way beyond those basics, offering WiFi… Hide
The Aero Patriot offers a versatile hard drive solution for mobile devices | Read more
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£190 to £580
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Western Digital My Passport USB 3.0 500GB |
Western Digital External Hard Drives | ||
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2.5" – 500 GB – USB 3.0
415 user opinions – 2 videos – 108 photos |
£45 to £370
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Iomega eGo Portable USB 3.0 1TB |
Iomega External Hard Drives | ||
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2.5" – 1000 GB – USB 3.0
1 video – 7 photos |
£39 to £240
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Western Digital My Passport Essential 1TB |
Western Digital External Hard Drives | ||
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2.5" – 1000 GB – USB 2.0
29 user opinions – 2 news – 9 videos – 25 photos
Western Digital My Passport Essential SE WDBABM0010BBK 1 TB: My passport to an organised life
Dooyoo —
02-2014
Recently I have had to move files from my pc to my laptop and have wanted to have a back up copy. My old external drive was rather bulky and very heavy and needed its own charger so my husband… Hide
Western Digital My Passport Essential SE WDBABM0010BBK 1 TB: My passport to an organised life | Read more
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£55 to £340
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Western Digital My Passport Essential 250GB |
Western Digital External Hard Drives | ||
2.5" – 250 GB – USB 2.0
 2 reviews – 54 user opinions – 8 news – 2 forums – 8 photos
Huge Offers On Storage By Pixmania!
Buy Products Online —
02/03/2009
Pixmania have just released details of their 10 Days of Great Deals on Digital Storage Promotion! See individual offer for details. Western Digital My Passport Essential 250 GB USB 2.0 Portable… Hide
Huge Offers On Storage By Pixmania! | Read more
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£78 to £370
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Buffalo MiniStation Lite 500GB |
Buffalo External Hard Drives | ||
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2.5" – 500 GB – USB 2.0
1 review – 2 user opinions – 1 news – 1 video – 3 photos
Buffalo MiniStation Lite 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Disk Drive (Black) – Europe
Component Warehouse —
24/01/2011
MiniStation Lite USB 3.0 is a slim and lightweight portable USB Storage device utilising cutting edge USB 3.0 technology and with a data transfer speed of up to 78MB/s. The combination of the TurboPC… Hide
Buffalo MiniStation Lite 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Disk Drive (Black) – Europe | Read more
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£175 to £441
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