[Help - Hardware] Preferred storage devices? Inquiry inside...

[Forgotten Show]

Lately I've had pretty rotten luck with electronic data storage, and certain recent events have me looking again at a near-future purchase of a storage device separate from my computer. Originally, I'd been looking at something like this. The main concerns I have are that I have a lot of stuff (much of which is irreplaceable school and work related, to speak nothing of personal research and family pictures I managed to keep after my parents' main storage device died) and I need an amount of assured durability/reliability. I'm not especially worried about encryption stuff, only because I'm pretty certain that's a software thing that I can download after the fact.

My laptop's lasted me for years and has functioned great... except for a very recent hard drive kaboom that prompted my recent concern. My computer's done well enough that I haven't really kept up with all of the advances in electronic storage, so I'm hoping some folks here have a good idea of where to begin looking.

Thoughts?


Bad Memory

[Buruku]

Seagate is a good brand, I bought this one. (don't worry you can get one not in pink.) It's very portable and I love the way it looks. You can also get a dock for it, and syncing is easy. (Mine is 250GB, but you can get one with more storage if needed)

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeAg...8671781&sr=8-3

Look around on amazon or some other places where you can read some good, reliable reviews from multiple buyers.

[Dani0]

If you are really worried about it, I suggest buying one (although the one you linked is way overpriced and mostly because of it's security features, something you said you didn't want) and then only using it when you want to back up files. Keep it away and disconnected when you are not. If you leave it plugged it and use it all the time, it will wear out faster. Also, you might consider backing up on DVDs or BlueRay, which are much more reliable. Also, SSDs are very reliable as well, but also very expensive.

[Forgotten Show]

Ah, to clarify, that HD I linked is the one I was first looking at before discovering how easy it is to get good encryption software for free. I haven't really found any other model of anything to look at since. I like the idea of a solid-state drive (hell, it'd be ideal, as tough as they are), but yeah, I don't even want to think about a SSD as big as I'd need would cost.


Bad Memory

[wizz-o-matic]

Samsung or WD, Seagate is kinda average these days.

[FlashD]

If I'm allowed to recommend: This as an external HDD or this for portability. None of them are FireWire compatible, but they have performance, reliability and tools that actually fix the drive and not only say "Send in for replacement".
WD is known for affordable prices and exceptional durability ... I really do recommend it, every other brand is more about you being lucky than anything else.

[Alphabet]

I used to have a Western Digital Passport Elite 320gb, but when I dropped it, it broke. It was my baby =(
Right now, I'm planning to get a Buffalo Ministation 500gb.
I prefer portability than keeping by the side of my laptop. Khanxay has the Western Digital My Book thingy. Ask him about it for more info and experience.
ooshy ooshy ooshy

[Forgotten Show]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys!

Finally had time to do a bit more looking around, and I found a couple things that are right up my alley. My most current prospect is a 500 GB ToughDrive Sport from FREECOM. Reviews are pretty positive, and though it doesn't ever seem to reach its advertised speeds it still looks like a good enough balance between capacity and durability/toughness to suit me (a few folks have drop tested them running, instead of the usual drop-while-turned-off tests), and frankly looks hard to beat for the price. The hardware encryption is a bonus. I don't have a computer that can take advantage of Firewire or SATA, but USB a 2.0 is fine and I don't envision USB 2.0 going away any time soon.

The reason I'm gearing more toward the rugged hard drives is because my backpack takes a beating and whatever I get is likely to travel. I don't go out of my way to destroy my stuff, but I'm not gentle either (ironically, my previous portable hard drive was almost never touched until a week before its untimely demise; I didn't even get the chance to abuse it!).

Nothing's set in stone, though, so I'm still open to suggestions. If you've got 'em, keep 'em comin'!


Bad Memory

[nioniosmeg]

Lately I've had pretty rotten luck with electronic data storage, and certain recent events have me looking again at a near-future purchase of a storage device separate from my computer. Originally, I'd been looking at something like this. The main concerns I have are that I have a lot of stuff (much of which is irreplaceable school and work related, to speak nothing of personal research and family pictures I managed to keep after my parents' main storage device died) and I need an amount of assured durability/reliability. I'm not especially worried about encryption stuff, only because I'm pretty certain that's a software thing that I can download after the fact.

My laptop's lasted me for years and has functioned great... except for a very recent hard drive kaboom that prompted my recent concern. My computer's done well enough that I haven't really kept up with all of the advances in electronic storage, so I'm hoping some folks here have a good idea of where to begin looking.

Thoughts?


Bad Memory

About the one you think of buying, make sure you NEED a Terabyte and that you NEED firewire. Otherwise, your money is gone. The storage in my macmini is 150 GB so I bought this one (it's not so expensive here thought). Anyway, if you don't have an apple computer, my advice is to buy something without a firewire cable, it's not needed. Keep in mind that every last hard disk over 250 GB gets hot after 1 hour of use. And if it's about a laptop, I have this one (without the firewire cable, I just couldn't find the right product). They both have good performance and never once disapointed me . Just some ideas.