I'm not a computer person at all, but I want to buy an external hard drive to backup my computer's files, programs, etc.

I've heard you can get a good 350GB+ hard drive for $30-40. Anyone have any experience or recommendations for this?

do I need to keep the hard drive continuously hooked up to my computer? a co-worker of mine said something about how his personal computer crashed a few months ago and he was able to get it back up and running like nothing ever happened within 30 minutes.

any help is appreciated

1/7/2011 11:54:14 AM

do you want a desktop or portable drive?

$40 is on the "that's a really good deal" side of things (if you're buying new)...i'd count on spending $50

1/7/2011 11:58:08 AM

yeah, $50 is fine, I just dont want to spend hundreds of dollars or anything. And I guess a portable drive would be best since my personal computer is a laptop.

1/7/2011 12:18:16 PM

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/jan-0-2011/storagesale06/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL010611&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL010611-_-EMC-010611-Index-_-Header-_-ClickHere

Use promo code: EMCKJKD37 and get 10% off any portable hard drive.

I use Seagate and Western Digital drives and have zero problems with either. For $50 you're probably not going to get more than 500GB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136466
This one is kinda big but you get a decent amount of storage.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149179
Smaller form factor bust also smaller storage capacity.

1/7/2011 12:42:41 PM

Quote :

"do I need to keep the hard drive continuously hooked up to my computer? a co-worker of mine said something about how his personal computer crashed a few months ago and he was able to get it back up and running like nothing ever happened within 30 minutes."

this is more contingent on the backup method you use...drives are dumb. in general though, yes.

1/7/2011 1:01:35 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Portable-WDBAAR5000ABK-NESN/dp/B002CZQ4GU/

1/7/2011 1:51:24 PM

That's the same drive I posted. Newegg is cheaper and has unparalleled customer service.

1/7/2011 3:02:52 PM

^ the one you posted is the full size model, not the 2.5" USB powered version.

This is the model of the one I posted above on Amazon - but on Newegg ($9 more expensive on Newegg)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136388&Tpk=WDBAAR5000ABK-NESN

1/7/2011 3:24:39 PM

Unless you need the little 2.5" one, there's no compelling reason to get one. The $/Gb is generally much better on the full-size(desktop drive-based) ones.

1/7/2011 3:32:57 PM

I like that you don't have to worry about power cables on the USB powered models, as well as being 1/3rd the size of the 3.5 drives - and for $10 more than the full sized model @ 500gb its worth that to me

1/7/2011 4:06:10 PM

I will always go to newegg before Amazon. Amazon is still too much like ebay to me. At least with Newegg, I know I'm getting a new product and I know that I won't have any problems returning it if its defective or faulty.

Some of Amazon's sellers are pure shit.

1/7/2011 4:53:20 PM

Get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139147

Someone on amazon is selling it for $320, which is less than half the price anywhere else, so I don't know how that's possible:
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Datatraveler-310-Flash-Drive/dp/B0039PBFNE

I remember in 2006, a 64 GB flash drive had just been released, highest at that time, and it cost $8,000. Now you can get 4 times that capacity for less than a 10th of the price, for a price per unit space less than 1/40th from just 4 years ago.

1/7/2011 5:19:47 PM

Quote :

"I will always go to newegg before Amazon. Amazon is still too much like ebay to me. At least with Newegg, I know I'm getting a new product and I know that I won't have any problems returning it if its defective or faulty. Some of Amazon's sellers are pure shit."

buy directly from amazon, not one of the third party sellers, you'll never have a problem

1/7/2011 5:32:05 PM

yeah, amazon's customer service (if you're buying directly from amazon and not from one of their sellers) is stellar...they send you a prepaid UPS label for return (without requesting it, as i've always had to do with newegg) and credit your account just as quickly as (if not more quickly than) newegg

1/7/2011 8:21:32 PM

Quote :

"buy directly from amazon, not one of the third party sellers, you'll never have a problem"

yep. ebay and amazon aren't that comparable...if you don't like 3rd party sellers don't buy from them. easy as that. i buy shit from amazon every week or two and have never had a problem with their products.

1/8/2011 12:55:03 PM