External hard drive

[Lance]

Hi guys (and girls!)

I'm after a external hard drive for the purpose of backups. I want to spend up to £80 although might strech a little further if its worth it. I would prefer one with its own power switch so I don't have to keep pulling the cable out (I don't want connected all the time as I don't want to risk harm to the backups). Size isn't an issue as anything in that price range is more than sufficient, it will probably be bigger than the disk I'm backing up!

So, any suggestions?

Tks
Lance

[Glenn]

Lance

How about  this Freecom  from Amazon

[Rik]

Hi Lance

Maplin are doing a 400GB Maxtor right now for £74.99, free p&p (came next day when I ordered). It's quiet and fast but does not have a power switch.

See here.

[stevenrw]

You might want to look at the Western Digital "My Book" external drive. The premium versions have a firewire option as well as USB.
Available in various sizes. Don't know about the on/off switch however. Amazon are doing them at about £90 ish for the super duper 320Gb.
Always worth reading customer recommendations on the site

[Lance]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, and welcome to the forum Steven! I think I'll probably go with the freecom, as this is the one I was already considering, alongside the "my book". Although I might change my mind prior to ordering it!

[sobranie]

Using western digital 250Gb ext HD.  On/off switch is  illuminated at the front.
No probs with this item so far and have been hammering it for 3+ months.

[mrapoc]

Or do it my way - get an external enclosure (I have an IcyBox sata-> sata/usb) and then put a normal sata hdd inside (some cases cheaper) and you can upgrade it when you need more space  8)

[Rik]

Even better, get a mobo with an external SATA port.

[Lance]

Thanks for the further suggestions!

I have ordered the Freecom 250GB External USB2.0 Hard Drive from eBuyer, taking advantage of the save £10 through Google Checkout offer, so got it for £52.21 inc delivery. A bargin!

I also did a second order for a new DVD writer (LiteOn 20x retail model if you're interested!) and some blank media, once again using the offer so effectively the blank media was free!

It's nice saving £20 in one night!

[Rik]

A man after my own heart, save money by spending it. 

[Tanzanite]

That's my philosophy too Rik

I've had a freecom external HD for a few years, quite small now compared to what you can get now but it does me.

[andyp]

Just got a Seagate 320 gig from Ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/116092 Has very good reveiws and a power switch on the back plus with Google checkout even cheaper. Hope this helps.

[Lance]

I might as well give a quick update on my freecom drive....

Well, to be honest, its great! Its small, stylish, fast, quiet and doesnt get hot at all! I've now made a few backups to it and checked a few other things on it as well and it seems great! I would recommend to anyone looking for a new external drive. The drive inside in a samsung drive.

On to my DVD writer, I've had a few Lite-On drives over the years and always have had good service from them. It seems as if this is set to continue with my new drive. The drive itself is quite short, so could be suitable in a small form factor pc. It is quiet and although I've only burnt 5 DVD+Rs to date, each one has been fine. Another recommendation from me.

I got both of these from ebuyer (see post above) and selected the 'super-saver' within 5 working days delivery option. The courier tired to deliver on only the third day! Great service!

[Rik]

The courier tired to deliver on only the third day! Great service!

Well, it's probably a long walk, Lance.

Sony drives were, until recently, badged Liteon models.

[Inactive]

I have had the 160 version of the Freecom external drive for over a year now, never any problem.

Nice piece of kit.

[Lance]

Thats good to know! Hopefully mine will be trouble free as well!