General Question

flader's avatar

What is a good quality portable external hard drive at a reasonable price (i.e. less than $150)?

Asked by flader (22points) November 10th, 2006
Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

57 Answers

andrew's avatar
Mac or PC?
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
How old is the PC?
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
umm... laptop i bought in 2004. windows XP
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
Let me check...
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
the hard drive is only 20G and i've basically filled it up with music, so i'm looking to get a lil' external hard drive to dump all my music on and free up some space
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
make sense?
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
Well, one thing you *could* do is get an old generation ipod and use it as an external hard drive... then you always listen to the music as well.
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
funny you should say that because my ipod IS reaaally old and i was about to invest in a new one
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
and the old ipod can't fit all my old music anyway, plus it's wonky and i wouldn't trust it as the only storage device for my tunes
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
You can switch the format of ipod so that it can act as a hard drive.
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
ohhhh yes, i recall that now. how do i do that?
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
I think there's a setting in itunes
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flader's avatar
oh wait, i lied about the laptop- it is 40G. and i actually have more than 20G of music which is why it wouldn't work to use my old ipod, because it doesn't all fit. i'd like to have it all in one place, plus room for more.
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
Do you have a firewire port on your laptop?
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
or could a 20G ipod hold more music if it isn't storing them as audio files? (sorry this is confusing to me)
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
No, 20G means 20G
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flader's avatar
firewire... i think so
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
is it the little one with a symbol that is a little circle with lines coming out of it?
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
yup i got that
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andrew's avatar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Firewire_Icon.svg
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flader's avatar
yes, that's the one
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
wow, this chat thing is neato
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andrew's avatar
So, here's your options.
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
I'd go to a site like newegg.com or amazon.
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
Look for a firewire external drive
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
and read a couple of reviews
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
some name brands are western digital
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flader's avatar
cool. firewire because it is faster than usb?
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
You can also get a usb 2.0, but i'm pretty sure firewire is faster
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
Not sure about price...someone else might be able to help you.
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
groovy. i'd never heard of newegg- thanks. i'm sick of "epinions"- the tech reviews suck
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
Check back tomorrow. I'm sure more people will have answers.
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flader's avatar
thank you!!!
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
yay fluther!
flader (22points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
flader's avatar
(how on earth did you come up with that name?!)
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andrew's avatar
fluther is a school of jellyfish.
andrew (16543points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
andrew's avatar
and it took us 6 months
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flader's avatar
in that case i think your tagline should be "fluther. get schooled."
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andrew's avatar
come to the feedback chat...
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kullyflower's avatar
I've been very happy with OWC (Other World Computing). I bought one of their Mercury Elite line. Easy to choose between Firewire, USB, or both. I think you'd be happy with the performance of USB 2 as well as Firewire.
kullyflower (11points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
kullyflower's avatar
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/
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ben's avatar
Great deals for nonmal hds can be found at
ben (9080points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
ben's avatar
http://dealnews.com/categories/Computer/Storage/Hard-Drives/External-Hard-Drives/USB-Hard-Drives/254.html
ben (9080points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
ben's avatar
right now 300 gigs < $100
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ben's avatar
Though for high quality I'd recommend Lacie... Sometimes they have deals on that brand too
ben (9080points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
colin's avatar
i have a lacie d2 drive. i bought it on recommendation, and it's always worked well for me
colin (574points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
colin's avatar
btw, i would NOT use an ipod as a form of external storage. they freeze up somewhat frequently and require a restoration to factory settings, which erases everything you have on there.
colin (574points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
benjiwitz's avatar
check the inserts in your sunday paper for office depot, best buy, staples sales.... $24 for a 1GB usb drive isn't bad... also check out froogle.com
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vered4's avatar
Check this site regularly: www.slickdeals.net
vered4 (60points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
vered4's avatar
You will find LOTS of 'memory sticks' on this site for great prices! And rebates that no one knows about!
vered4 (60points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
carlosp's avatar

I’ll second the recommendation for Other World Computing (www.macsales.com). They sell drives for both Macs and PCs, and many that work both for USB 2.0 and Firewire 400/800. Very versatile. And in the price range you specified. Check out the Neptune series.

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