With today’s multimedia filled world there is a constant demand for more and more digital storage capacity. This has led to the rise of the 2tb external hard drive which more people are turning to as a one stop solution for all of their file storage needs.
Buying a new external hard drive can be quite tricky though. There is lots of technical jargon to try and digest which may alienate some people and lead to confusion. I have written this tutorial which breaks it down so you can make sure you get the best drive for you.
Buy A 2TB External Hard Drive
As with any computer related product, I personally recommend that you buy your drive from an online retailer. You have access to a huge choice and buying it online will help you save a fair bit of cash as well.
I would recommend that you stick to a reputable seller though; I have had great personal experiences with these guys-
What Will A 2TB External Hard Drive Store?
One of the biggest problems people run into is not knowing how big of a drive they actually need. Even for someone that is familiar with computers and file sizes it can be quite tricky to judge. One thing you can be sure of though is you are always going to need more in the future, so it’s usually better to buy a bigger drive once. This is where many people go wrong and end up buying a 500GB external hard drive when really they need a much bigger one.
How many files the drive holds really depends on what types of files you’re working with. Music and photos are typically around 3-5MB in size each and don’t take up much space at all but videos can be anything from 50MB-4500MB depending on the quality and if it’s in HD or not.
I have created this table below which should help to give you a better idea of exactly what 2TB of storage looks like.
To be honest you can’t go wrong with a 2TB drive, it will provide more than enough storage for the majority of people and will cater for future storage needs as well.
USB Drives Offer Great Convenience
One of the biggest benefits to an external hard drive is how easy it is to use. Make sure you get one that has USB connectivity. This will ensure that you can use the drive with a wide selection of devices and there is no complicated setup.
USB hard drives just work without any fuss. Just plug it into the USB port on your computer or games console and you will be able to get at all of your files with ease. This is a huge convenience and is something that you will need in an external hard drive.
Buy A Reliable And Well Known Brand
What would you do if one day you came to your computer to find the external hard drive had failed and lost all of your files? This could be absolutely devastating for some people. Unfortunately hard drive failures are fairly common even in today’s modern high tech world.
The safe keeping of your data should be high on your list of priorities. While it can be tempting to try and save a few quid with a budget or unbranded drive it is not wise to do so. The problem with cheaper or budget drives is they are usually manufactured from Grade C components which are of a low – average quality. Due to the large amount of moving parts in a hard drive, lower quality components are more likely to fail over time.
Sticking with a well known and reliable hard drive manufacturer that offers a decent warranty is very important. Drives from companies such as Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Hitachi and LaCie are all built with high quality components and are designed to minimize the risk of drive failure.
Over the years I have had a couple of drive failures, losing thousands of family holiday photos with no way of ever getting them back.
Morale of the story? Don’t risk your data with cheap low quality drives and learn from my mistake!
Key Points To Remember
That is pretty much all you need to consider when buying a 2TB external hard drive. It is easy to get lost in the lingo but if you stick to the advice above you really can’t go far wrong.
To recap on those points-
- Storage Capacity: Work out what size drive you need using the table above as a rough guide.
- USB Connection: Make sure you buy a drive with a USB connection for ease of use and convenience.
- Buy Quality: Spend a little extra and make sure you get a branded drive made from high quality components.
- Shop Online: Shopping online will save you some money and allow you to get a better drive for your money as well.
In general the bigger the drive you buy, the more GB you get per £ so it is usually a good idea to buy the biggest drive that you can afford from the start. There’s no point buying a 500GB drive only to find you have to buy another one 6 months down the line when you could have just bought 1x 2TB drive for the same price as 2x 500GB drives.
Recommended Online Retailers
As someone that has spent the last ten years shopping online for PC components I have found some retailers to be better than others. Shopping online is a great way to save money as long as you stick with well known and reputable retailers.
I have had great experiences with the 3 retailers below and would recommend them to anyone looking to buy a 2TB external hard drive or any other PC components whether that be a graphics card or a printer.
Need Further Advice?
If you need any further advice and help with selecting a 2TB external hard drive then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me using the contact form above. I have a pretty solid knowledge of everything computer related and will be more than happy to help you out.
