so once again..which external hard drive

[DoogyDawg]

now im not really a computer techy, I have read up on some bits and bobs, so building my own etc etc is not the way I want to go, so.......

im looking to just back up my family photos,
I have a mac book pro mid 2009, but I dont need a NAS, just something that plugs into the mac,
I dont really need any software, as I say its just to store photos on,
Im not bothered about transfer speed either or stuff like that.
Im not bothered if its usb or mains powered.
now I know they all fail at some time, so im looking at buying two, with possibly a third at some time (maybe)
its not going out of the house and wont really be used, once the photos are on it, its going to sit in a cupboard/draw, so not sat connected to the mac
I have a 250gig at the moment which I got a long time ago, it has only ever been used a few times to view on, as its full, and was a cheapy special buy from aldis about 5 years ago..and touch wood is still fine, as its never used as I have said.
I have read the seagate and WD are pretty crap, so any recommendations?
A 1TB would be nice, but I have also read that the bigger storage ones can fail a bit faster due to over heating etc. so maybe a 500gig which would also allow me to buy more than one without any problems on the cash front.
I cant really afford a monthly payment for a cloud service.
I know its a mine field and a hit and miss type of thing, but any info would be great for reliability, if you can have any in them...depending on batch etc etc.
cheers for any help

 

[Deleted member 293381]

I've placed an order with Amazon for the 'Seagate STBV2000200 2TB Expansion' USB3 external hard drive after carrying out a bit of research. It cost a touch over £67.

The power supply is not through the USB lead but has a separate supply. Deliberately went for that type because I don't trust power through a USB lead.

Capacity is more than you want but the price is good. I'm using it to store MKV video files on.

 

[DoogyDawg]

I've placed an order with Amazon for the 'Seagate STBV2000200 2TB Expansion' USB3 external hard drive after carrying out a bit of research. It cost a touch over £67.

The power supply is not through the USB lead but has a separate supply. Deliberately went for that type because I don't trust power through a USB lead.

Capacity is more than you want but the price is good. I'm using it to store MKV video files on.

Im not ready to buy one as yet,
can you let me know how you get on ?

 

[aways987]

Do not do not buy Seagate drives!

I have currently had two Seagate baracuda drives fail on my in the last week. Luckily most of my stuff was on other drives so I'm okay.

Out of experience I have found Western Digital Drives to be the best. If you are looking for a good reliable drive either go with Western Digital Red line or Western Digital Black drives (don't get green I have heard bad things about them).

 

[DoogyDawg]

Do not do not buy Seagate drives!

I have currently had two Seagate baracuda drives fail on my in the last week. Luckily most of my stuff was on other drives so I'm okay.

Out of experience I have found Western Digital Drives to be the best. If you are looking for a good reliable drive either go with Western Digital Red line or Western Digital Black drives (don't get green I have heard bad things about them).

ah, ok, cheers for the info, I didnt even know there was different lines like the red etc etc.

 

[Deleted member 293381]

ah, ok, cheers for the info, I didnt even know there was different lines like the red etc etc.

Careful with generalising posts.

Two drives failing within a week is extraordinary. One fail fair enough - but two?

Also the poster found Western Digital drives to be the best, but purchased Seagate drives? Strange.

External USB drives are different to internal drives. Recommend you do your own research on the internet and make up your own mind. Also make a note: some external drives will not work to a mac - they need to be reformatted to the mac standard before they will work.

As I said - best to do your own research. That way you will also gain knowledge and research is the fun bit!

 

[DoogyDawg]

As I said - best to do your own research. That way you will also gain knowledge and research is the fun bit!

I have done my own research, but found to much conflicting comments, so thought I would ask here as I normally do.

I know the drive would need to be formatted, but the cheapo drive I have had for a few years was fine it wasnt formatted to the mac, I just plugged the usb in, and dragged photos to and from it with out any problems, I bought the drive before I had the mac, when i used to have a windows machine.