external hard drive for laptop advice plse?

[bobg]

Having suffered from lost data in the past I thought I'd invest in one of these jobbies for my new laptop in the future but ...
-what's a SATA and is it an advantage
- its suggested that getting an internal hard drive and putting it in a case is a better option?
- are there any other things I ought to know before I spend my dosh

Ta very much all

 

[Melvil]

I got a Seagate 250gig drive from Maplin pretty cheap and while it's slow it's been pretty reliable (so far!) and also integrates very well with my airport so I can transfer stuff to it wirelessly. Seagates generally have a pretty good rep, too.

 

[jay clock]

There are tons. I have a 5 yr old Lacie 40GB which is great

Maplins or Dabs a good place to look

Something like this? http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.asp...ationKey=11157,47160000,47610000,12&InMerch=1 good and tough and 320GB

I can strongly recommend a utility called Yadis. Set it up, and it copies all files from a given folder to another folder, and does this every time a file changes. So if you have all your stuff in My Documents on the C: drive, you can automatically back it all up to the external drive

 

[bobg]

Cheers Melvil, I was thinking of popping into Maplin too. I'll take a look. Presumably its just a simple USB plug in... The bloke in the local PC shop suggests Freecom Shockproof cos you can drop 'em and they bounce.

 

[bobg]

Ta JC that softeware kooks just he job!

There are tons. I have a 5 yr old Lacie 40GB which is great

Maplins or Dabs a good place to look

Something like this? http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.asp...ationKey=11157,47160000,47610000,12&InMerch=1 good and tough and 320GB

I can strongly recommend a utility called Yadis. Set it up, and it copies all files from a given folder to another folder, and does this every time a file changes. So if you have all your stuff in My Documents on the C: drive, you can automatically back it all up to the external drive

 

[jay clock]

http://www.codessentials.com/ is the place for Yadis

 

[Night Train]

I have a Freecom Tough Drive and it has been problem free despite being dropped a few times. I do have a pair of them, to keep two backups of everything, just in case.

 

[bobg]

Thanks JC, Even better when it comes for nowt....
Just had a look at those drives Night Train, very impressed, wont scratch, small and come with a nice little case too. Thats the one I think.

 

[derall]

I have a couple of Western Digital and I've never had any trouble with lost data. I have a 1TB WD drive (£95 at Staples) that stays at home for weekly backups, and a 120GB WD portable drive (£85 at some place on Tottenham Court Road) that I carry round with me. The portable drive is a fairly fast drive, the TB is quite slow. I use Lacie's backup software, left over from a dead Lacie drive (accidental damage, rather than any reliability or tech failure)

 

[Night Train]

Thanks JC, Even better when it comes for nowt....
Just had a look at those drives Night Train, very impressed, wont scratch, small and come with a nice little case too. Thats the one I think.

That's the thing that made me give them a go over the other brands. They seemed to be tough enough for me to use as the sole data storage when out and about for work as I try to never store any data on the laptop in case of theft or corruption.

When I got my first one I was also looking for built in USB data and power supply as well. I didn't want to be carrying a data lead and a power supply as well.

The first one was great at 60GB, my second is 160GB. From seeing it a couple of friends have also bought 250GB versions. Another friend uses Western Digital beacuse she prefers the shiny black case to the soft grey rubber.

 

[bobg]

Just went and got the Freecom 250gb as per Night Train's suggestion - excellent, small, easy to instal, quick ... just the job. Thanks again to all for the replies

 

[Mr Pig]

I've lost a couple of external drives through knocks. They aren't as well cushioned as the drive in a computer so if you drop them or dunt them they get more of a shock. No big deal just remember not to chuck them around, they have finite lives which can be cut short.

 

[ufkacbln]

I have a Freecom Tough Drive and it has been problem free despite being dropped a few times. I do have a pair of them, to keep two backups of everything, just in case.

I have a pair of these - I also like their automatic sync software..... For my Uni Course i simply keep everything in a "Briefcase" and when I plug in everything automatically backs up!

Brilliant.