External Hard Drive Reviews
It’s time to back up my laptop and burning DVDs to move data doesn’t get it, hence my external hard drive reviews.
I set out to find a high capacity external drive that could plug into my laptop’s USB or Firewire port and copy all the data on computer. What I found was a TON of different products worded in a way that makes it difficult to compare – I’m going to cut through the confusion and review the latest 1 TB portable drives, explain why I chose the drive I did and what you should look for if you decide not to get the same.
I should note here that no one has paid me to do these reviews – I simply needed a high end external hard drive and decided to blog about my efforts.
I did my review with the following in mind:
- 500 GB or more of storage space – should cover just about any system.
- Serial Bus Transfer Rate (USB 2.0) 480 Mb/s (Max)
- Firewire 800
- Password protection. Perfer 256-bit hardware-based encryption
- A Buffer Size of at least 8 MB
- Rotational speed of at least 5400 RPM, preference to 7200
- Dual connectivity, USB 2.0 and eSata
OfficeMax is offering a Seagate 1TB external hard drive for $119.00 Item #: 21880403 and Seagate #:ST310005EXA101-RK, Works with Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Mac OSX 10.4.8 or higher, 7200 RPM, USB 2.0 and 480Mbs interface transfer rate and a 32MB cache buffer. Reviews of this drive raised concern about lack of a fan and more than one mentioned a clicking sound after a weeks use (means bad sectors!).
OfficeMax also offers a 1TB drive that runs $119.00 Item #: 22133834 and Toshiba #: PH3100U1EXB, has both USB and eSata, password protected backup protection, 8MB buffer, interface transfer rate is only 300MBps and spins at only 5400rpm. Toshiba external hard drive reviews complain of speed and point out that it goes into sleep mode after 5 minutes and doesn’t wake up!
LaCie makes the XL 1 TB External hard drive which includes a 3.0 Gbps (eSATA) / 480 Mbps (Hi-Speed USB) interface transfer rate, data transfer rates of Serial ATA : 80 MB/s Hi-Speed USB : 30 MB/s. I found this on Google products for $134 and LaCie external hard drive reviews complain only about the size – seems the picture is a bit misleading.
LaCie also makes the d2 Quadra 1 TB Hard Drive (301442U) which includes eSATA/FireWire 800/FireWire 400/USB 2.0, comes with a full set of cables, 32MB Cache, spins at 7200 and backed by a three year warranty. Prices run about $150
For about $100, you can pick up an Iomega eGo Model Number: 34269 1TB drive which has a data transfer rate of 480 Mbps, a 8MB cache. Specs were limited and reviews on this external hard drive mention that it runs hot and make a clicking sound.
Iomega also offers the MiniMax 1TB drive (33957) which includes FireWire 400/USB 2.0, spins at 7200, has firewire and USB and includes a cooling system to prevent rapid deterioration. However, the reviews for this external hard drive included many complaining that they received a refurbished drive and included scratches on the case! Costs about $140
Western Digital offers the 1TB Elements drive (WDE1UBK10000N) with a 480 Mbps transfer rate, high speed USB and I couldn’t find the cache size. Reviews of this drive are very good and any complaints where a lack of a power switch and the activity light placed in the back rather than the front. $99 from newegg.
G-Technology has a cool looking 1TB drive (gtech GD4 1000) that includes a 3Gbite eStats, FireWire 800 (FireWire 400 via included cable) and USB 2.0 ports, spins at 7200 RPM and has 32 MB of cache. CDW has it for $202.00.
Verbatim 96798 1TB Quad-Interface External Hard Drive has firewire 400/ 800, eSATA ll, 7,200-rpm drive – no cache information could be found.
Of all the external hard drive reviews I’ve looked at and all the features of each drive, I’ve decided to order the Verbatim 96798 1 TB portable drive. G-Technology came in second, but I didn’t see a lot of online stores selling them and went with Verbatim. I’ll add more to this post as it comes in.
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