External Hard Drive

[Alex2507]

I recently bought and ripped all of Bach's works onto my laptop. It started telling me that my hard disk was full. So my nephew and I went to BB and got a 500 GB WD My Book Essential for just under $100.

Upon returning to the laptop my nephew found that I also had a DATA (D drive with oodles of free space. I transferred ~20GB onto it from the full Vista64 (C drive in order to make the laptop behave normally.

My new store bought external hard drive is still sealed and returnable should I find that I can do ever so much better for ever so much less. At BB a TB sized hard drive would have cost about $150. These prices include an 8.5% sales tax. My thinking on it was to save the $50 and get enough to get me by for ...well, a long time. Then when I need more, a 2TB sized one will be $50.

So, now that I have eliminated my immediate need for an external hard drive, should I be returning this one to get a much better deal from New Egg?

Edit: Cute how the smilies just pop up, huh?
Now that I have posted my question, I'll look around on my own a little but look forward to input.

Edit: It seems like I could have saved $20 via Amazon. The customer reviews don't look good though. I'll read them now. It kind of irks me that BB just rooks you if you don't pay on line and pick up at the store.

 

[Adam]

If you have plenty of space, my vote is to return it. They keep getting cheaper all the time.

 

[Alex2507]

The most helpful positive and negative reviews along with the "Step Inside 2 B Effed" policy at BB will have me returning it.
Once again, I didn't do my homework.

They all seem to have a high 10%-20% failure rate according to the one reviewer.
That sucks.

 

[Adam]

They all seem to have a high 10%-20% failure rate according to the one reviewer.

Speaking of which, I'll make a remark about Newegg. Based on my personal experience and with multiple reviews on their site, they tend to ship hard drives in bubble wrap inside of a shipping box - so, no ESD and no hard shell. I believe that contributes to a higher failure rate with drives ordered from them.

My brother highly recommended Other World Computing, and after I placed an order with them, so do I. They can be a bit pricier, so look for sales if you order from them, but their packaging is much better (IMO). They also sell some nice external drive enclosures without drives.

 

[Alex2507]

They also sell some nice external drive enclosures without drives.

That's cool. Some examples would be nice. I am out of time and must return to my toil.

At this rate I will never escape OK. It's gonna be glorious when I blast into Arkansas.
... like the Bat Out of Hell cover.

 

[Adam]

That's cool. Some examples would be nice.

They have multiple options. The nicer single-drive enclosures look like this (starting at under $50):

 

[Zaluss]

Even if you don't need the space, I'd keep a backup anyway.

If you can swing the extra money and have multiple computers, look into a NAS as well.

 

[Serj22]

I have a MyBook that I bought a year or so ago to transfer my extensive CD collection to a hard drive after my first collection of 200 cd's got stolen. All the music did not fit on any of our computers, so I bought the MyBook from Costco for about $150 then. It holds the same 500gig storage limit. I'm actually rather happy with it. It leaves all the songs stored there, and Itunes can recall them immediately as if they were just on the computer itself, so I have a huge library on all the computers, but in order to play any of the songs, the hard drive has to be connected. You don't even need to install it. The biggest downside of the MyBook I think is that it has to be plugged into a wall. I bought a 250gig one for my wife, but it's a different manufacturer that we got during the downfall of circuit city for about $50 and it's still working as well. It plugs into the computer, rather than a wall, so it's just 2 USB cables, and can be taken with the laptop and used where there are no plugs.

The MyBook itself does not fail, as far as I've seen. Maybe it's just not full enough, I only have about 80 gigs on there, but it works every time I power the computer on and hasn't erased or corrupted anything yet, but I've heard since it is a hard-drive if you're downloading anything and transferring it to the external drive, it can become virus ridden just like a normal one.

Looking back on it, I think it would have been better to just buy one of those normal hard-drive docks where you take a hard drive and just shove into the dock like it's an IPOD or something. You'd actually be able to store and run programs off it that way.

 

[Zaluss]

I have a MyBook that I bought a year or so ago to transfer my extensive CD collection to a hard drive after my first collection of 200 cd's got stolen. All the music did not fit on any of our computers, so I bought the MyBook from Costco for about $150 then. It holds the same 500gig storage limit. I'm actually rather happy with it. It leaves all the songs stored there, and Itunes can recall them immediately as if they were just on the computer itself, so I have a huge library on all the computers, but in order to play any of the songs, the hard drive has to be connected. You don't even need to install it. The biggest downside of the MyBook I think is that it has to be plugged into a wall. I bought a 250gig one for my wife, but it's a different manufacturer that we got during the downfall of circuit city for about $50 and it's still working as well. It plugs into the computer, rather than a wall, so it's just 2 USB cables, and can be taken with the laptop and used where there are no plugs.

The MyBook itself does not fail, as far as I've seen. Maybe it's just not full enough, I only have about 80 gigs on there, but it works every time I power the computer on and hasn't erased or corrupted anything yet, but I've heard since it is a hard-drive if you're downloading anything and transferring it to the external drive, it can become virus ridden just like a normal one.

Looking back on it, I think it would have been better to just buy one of those normal hard-drive docks where you take a hard drive and just shove into the dock like it's an IPOD or something. You'd actually be able to store and run programs off it that way.

Just like any traditional platter hard drive there is a MTTF (Mean Time to Failure) as well as other factors that can lead to data loss (which is typically 50,000 hours or 5 years).

#1 rule of computing has always been backup but just remember you backup too can also fail. This all your music is only on one source (for example, your WD MyBook) that too will eventually give out.

Here is an example of my backup in my old house:

Windows Home Server (WHS)
WD 640GB x6 RAID 5 (Music, Movies, Game Backup)

Seagate Media NAS (Network Attached Storage) 2TB x2 (Covers 3 computers for music, movies, and games)

I sold everything since then, kept one Seagate Media NAS 1TB, and I'm using Carbonite for my backup.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would get a 2TB HD from Hitachi or WD for about $150.

 

[njedpx3]

Take it back ( and what you said also )

If you have plenty of space, my vote is to return it. They keep getting cheaper all the time.

I agree with Adam. Wait until you need it , then buy it ( or wait until Fry's has one of their super one-day specials). Also Seagate Freeagent is one of the best; 5 year warranty and Seagate was the original hard drive leader. I still have one of the old Atari 800 memory modules if you need some memory in a pinch, it is 16K

Some things just don't improve, the total memory of the Atari 800 was 48K and it would boot-up in micro, if not nano, seconds.

Peace,

Forest Man

P.S. -At least HIS sport wasn't HT; can you imagine giving up HT for the foreseeable future

P.S.S - One thought about getting a USB 2.0 harddrive now--It does provide back-up of critical files fro when the PC hard drive fails and it will fail --just ask Jamie

 

[mike c]

return it.

and btw, it's my motto to always buy TWO of the half sized MAX HD out there.

e.g. 2TB is the top of the lines in the store ... i buy 1TB sized HD's since it's mostly the same price as the one big one.

and yep, buy only what you need, like adam said ... prices keep going down.

i have a reminder on my office desk:
1 4GB flash disk purchased for 20+USD -current selling price : almost free
1 4GB hard drive purchased for 150USD -current selling price : you have to pay someone to get it from you

 

[jinjuku]

Some things just don't improve, the total memory of the Atari 800 was 48K and it would boot-up in micro, if not nano, seconds.

Peace,

Forest Man

The Atari 800XL was my first computer (13 years old) I was doomed never to have a date in H.S. since that point. Ah, dual 1050 5.25" flopies and a 300 BAUD acoustically coupled modem.

 

[Adam]

Alex, did you bring it back?

As one alternative, Dell has a 1.5TB Western Digital external for $100 (it was $10 cheaper two weeks ago, though).

 

[Alex2507]

Alex, did you bring it back?

As one alternative, Dell has a 1.5TB Western Digital external for $100 (it was $10 cheaper two weeks ago, though).

I did return it. Based on my apparent need to back up my back up and my having enough space on the laptop to fly without a net completely I went with option 'zip for backup'. That store you and your brother like had this cool 2 external hard drive housing and I read a little about NAS ...

Clearly there is stuff to know and money to be spent. I can't seem to cram enough info into my head and line my pockets with enough cash to bravely make a move. The Amazon reviews of the WD unit I took back were a deal breaker. The Seagate 5 year warranty seems cool but having to buy 2 for reliability puts me off my feed. I mean I want to play around with this stuff but the $100 router and the $200 worth of hard drives and what I really want is a Dayton Woofer Tester 3 for $100 and a postage scale for $30 to go along with my $30 Speaker Building book while I need an HDMI rec'r for $xxx to go along with my $110 Blu-ray player.

There are so many deals that I'm about to go broke saving money.

 

[Adam]

Does your laptop have a DVD-burner? If so, backing up the files that you care about to DVD is another option.

 

[njedpx3]

Does your laptop have a DVD-burner? If so, backing up the files that you care about to DVD is another option.

Or Alex can sign on the website http://www.Istealidentities.com and give them his name address, social security number, phone numbers, bank accounts , credit cards, etc. and they will take care of you and all your backups



Peace and Good Sound to All,

Forest Man



P.S. -JOKE The above was simluated by professionals on a closed course, please do not attempt at home or work

 

[Alex2507]

Does your laptop have a DVD-burner? If so, backing up the files that you care about to DVD is another option.

I have done that for pic's that I scanned and wanted to send to people. One problem that I had was that it only holds so many bytes or whatever and the DVD burner in my desktop is a little flaky so it's a hit and miss thing with whether or not it works. I read somewhere that unwritten CD-R's are only good for ~5years but once they are written on they can be expected to last for ~15years. The hard drives are so flaky that you need 2 ... why not make it 10?

Did you know that the most reliable method for storing info is carving into stone?

Note: I'm not even going to click on njed's link.

 

[Alex2507]

They have multiple options. The nicer single-drive enclosures look like this (starting at under $50):

Here's a price list that I found for the above pictured item.

My first thought for the 1TB range was RUFC?

I just made that up but I think you can figure it out.

 

[Adam]

My first thought for the 1TB range was RUFC?

I just made that up but I think you can figure it out.

I think that I figured it out.

The 1TB one with USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 is in the same range as what you were quoting from BB. You could get that WD that I posted for $100 for 1.5TB, too.

Don't get me wrong - like I said, they are typically more pricey than I'd want to pay. They do have sales, though, and I've seen drives even cheaper than Newegg...with much better packing.