External Hard Drive

[Iowanian]

Ok.
I'm not geek enough to actually know much about these, but now I need 1 and possibly 2 for work.

Is there much difference in an External HD once you get past the memory? Any brands better than other? Any to avoid.

I'm looking at an "EDGE 160GB, w/ high Speed USB 2.0, according to the add....just under $150.

Any good input or rules of thumb would be appreciated.

[SLAG]

If you Have to Have an External for work it just depends on your needs, Maybe a 2gig Flash Drive Will Suffice, Maybe not, if you are going to be trasnfering and encoding video you may want an external drive with Firewire, But if a Flash Drive just wont do then the one you mentioned should suffice

[Iowanian]

no...I work with large amounts of data...I have to have at least 50 gig, for one data type, and thought I'd make sure and have some extra.

A 2 gig flash drive would also be handy, but won't get it done in this case.

One will be to transfer data, and the other I'm thinking I'll store copies of the data in question so it can be used at an offsite location, that isn't connected to our network, and its not feasible to do so....and if it were, the data would be so slow it wouldn't be manageable.

Thanks for the input.

[Iowanian]

nada?

[SLAG]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

nada?

I thought you were going to pick up 2 of those edge 160gig

[nmt1]

Recently installed a LaCie 1.2TB drive for a user at work. Link Seems to be working fine. If you need to transfer your data with any frequency you should consider a firewire connection over the USB 2.0 connection. USB works fine if your not moving data a whole lot.
This one Link has three interfaces: USB 2.0, firewire 400, and firewire 800. It's versatile and fast.

[Iowanian]

I won't be moving data "often" but more likely 3-4 times a year. In some cases, I just need to dump Alot of data onto a HD and take it to other locations to deliver it, and put it onto their servers/Desktops.

When it comes to this stuff, I'm not terribly techy...don't even know what firewire is for example.

In short, I just wanted to know if there is a "standard" brand for External HDs, or if they're universal enough, it'd be difficult to screw up that purchase, if its got enough Gig of space and the USB 2.0?

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I won't be moving data "often" but more likely 3-4 times a year. In some cases, I just need to dump Alot of data onto a HD and take it to other locations to deliver it, and put it onto their servers/Desktops.

When it comes to this stuff, I'm not terribly techy...don't even know what firewire is for example.

In short, I just wanted to know if there is a "standard" brand for External HDs, or if they're universal enough, it'd be difficult to screw up that purchase, if its got enough Gig of space and the USB 2.0?

I've bought from Newegg before. Quality products. I know little about external HDs, but I sure you could find what you are looking for here, at very competitive prices...HERE

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Western Digital is generally hard to top for HD performance. It's only 80 gigs, but it's a good price, and has gotten great reviews:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144373

[nmt1]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I won't be moving data "often" but more likely 3-4 times a year. In some cases, I just need to dump Alot of data onto a HD and take it to other locations to deliver it, and put it onto their servers/Desktops.

When it comes to this stuff, I'm not terribly techy...don't even know what firewire is for example.

In short, I just wanted to know if there is a "standard" brand for External HDs, or if they're universal enough, it'd be difficult to screw up that purchase, if its got enough Gig of space and the USB 2.0?

You'd have a hard time screwing up the purchase of the drive itself because they are all similar. Most come with at least a one year warranty though that doesn't cover your data.
If you're taking it to customer sites and uploading data, USB 2.0 is probably going to be your best bet as most computers come with that interface. If I was in your situation, I'd buy one with multiple interfaces so you'd have options.
Firewire 800 is fast 61MB's/second. Firewire 400 is 40MB's/second and USB 2.0 is 34MB's/second.

[Iowanian]

Thanks for the input.

[pikesome]

I would look it to buying an empty extrenal case and put your own HDD in it. The warranty on portable drives is worse than just a bare drive (or at least it was last I checked).