If you’re looking to expand your digital storage then looking at external hard drive reviews is a good place to start. In general most external hard drives are pretty similar and they all work in the same way.
It is very difficult to review a specific drive because of this. So instead of writing a generic external hard drive review, I decided to list some key points for you to look out for so you can do your own quick 10 minute external hard drive reviews of any drive you come across.
The 10 Minute External Hard Drive Review
If you have found an external hard drive your thinking of buying, then run through the points below quickly to conduct your own external hard drive review and work out if it is the right one for you.
Storage Capacity
Looking at how much data the drive can hold is the first thing you should do. One of the biggest mistakes people make is buying a drive that isn’t big enough for their needs. You need to consider the types of files you will be storing, for example videos are quite large and you might need a 2TB external hard drive while documents/music/photos are much smaller and a 1TB external hard drive would probably be suitable. You should also consider any future storage requirements.
Remember, you’re always going to need more storage for your files in the future so it’s always a good rule of thumb to buy a bigger drive than you think you need.
Types of External Hard Drive
This is the main difference you will come across when doing your own external hard drive reviews. There are 3 different types-
Standalone
A standalone drive is what you would consider as your average run of the mill external hard drive. Typically they sit alongside your computer and require an external power source from a plug socket.
Portable
Portable external hard drives have become more popular recently as they have come down in price significantly. Portable drives are usually a lot smaller than standalone drives, however a smaller physical size usually results in a smaller capacity as well. This makes them great for carrying around with you when you’re on the go.
You will also find that the majority of portable drives do not require an external power source either. You just plug them into the computer and they are ready to go! This is a great convenience at times.
Network
If you have a network at home, then a network based external hard drive might be the best way to go. You can plug it directly into your router and share it across your entire network. This means you can access the drive if you’re in the office, or on the laptop in the lounge. It’s a great way to store files centrally for everyone to access.
Connectivity
There are also a range of choices when it comes to connecting your drive to your computer-
USB
This is the most common connectivity type; nearly every drive offers a USB option. It is more than likely you will want a USB based drive due to their ease of use and flexibility. To access the files on a USB drive all you have to do is plug it in, there is no complicated technical setup or software to install. Just plug it in and your good to go.
You can also use USB drives with other devices than your computer as well. For example the Xbox 360 hard drive and Playstation 3 can read from external hard drives as can some new TV’s and Bluray/DVD players.
Firewire
Firewire is a rival to USB and is more commonly found on Apple Mac’s rather than your traditional Windows based PC. Some modern PC’s do provide a firewire port, but in general unless you have a Mac I would avoid firewire drives if possible.
Ethernet/Network
If a drive has an Ethernet/network connection then you can consider this to be a network drive as explained above.
Hybrid Drives
You can also get drives that offer more than one connection, for example my Western Digital drive offers USB and Ethernet connectivity. Although I must admit I have never used the USB connection on it as it just sits central to my home network.
Reliable Brands
It can be very tempting to buy the cheapest drive that you can find, however this comes with it’s own risks.
Reliability
Hard drives are actually very complicated pieces of equipment that rely on a lot of moving mechanical parts. This means that they are highly prone to failure and loss of data, in general if a hard drive fails you can kiss goodbye to all of your data as well. They are nearly impossible to repair and losing all of the data on it can be devastating.
For that reason I personally recommend that you avoid unbranded no name drives that are a bit cheaper. Stick with known brands that have a solid track record for manufacturing reliable drives. To be honest there isn’t really that much difference in price sometimes and it is well worth spending the extra £10 or so to get a drive you can rely on.
Drives from manufacturers such as Maxtor, Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, Lacie, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Buffalo or Seagate for example would be a wise choice.
Warranty
It’s also worth making sure you have a good warranty. A lot of the bigger manufacturers offer great warranty’s, for example Maxtor will give you 3 years while Seagate will offer a huge 5 year warranty with their drives at the time of writing.
In the computer world hard drive manufacturers are well known for the speed and effectiveness of their warranty services. It’s a shame everything we buy doesn’t come with warranties like this! This is another huge advantage of buying a branded drive from a reliable manufacturer that stands behind their products.
Where To Buy?
With the rise of shopping online, I would highly suggest you avoid high street retailers. Online retailers offer a much better selection at much better prices and as long as you stick with a reputable merchant you won’t have any problems. High street retailers have also cottoned onto the increased demand for external hard drives and have increased their prices accordingly, I’m gob smacked at some of the prices I see in PC World and Tesco.
Working as a PC technician for many years I have had a constant need to order replacement parts for customers systems. I have always stuck with the 3 merchants below and have spent thousands with them over the years-
Now your armed with this information you should be able to conduct your own external hard drive reviews to decide which is the right drive for you personally. If you have any comments or questions then please feel free to use the contact page to ping me an email over.
