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External Hard Drive recommendations please!

planetsplanets Posts: 47,784
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in PC & Mac Hardware and Software #1
Can anyone recommend an external hard drive to use as a backup? It is to be compatible with windows 8 and needs to be 1TB
I've had people tell me to avoid Seagate, Toshiba, WD, then i read terrible reviews of Lacie so now i haven't a clue which ones are reliable....thanks for any replies

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  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    #2
    Well that doesn't leave many options does it :)

    I've used all of those makes and had very few problems with any of them.

    One thing to watch out for is the power consumption of the drive if it is only USB powered. I bought a couple of Toshiba USB drives for work and they refuse point blank to work with some computers, Macs especially, because of the power they draw from the USB port. However a Western Digital Passport unit I bought works with anything.
  • planetsplanets Posts: 47,784
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    #3
    chrisjr wrote: »
    Well that doesn't leave many options does it :)

    I've used all of those makes and had very few problems with any of them.

    One thing to watch out for is the power consumption of the drive if it is only USB powered. I bought a couple of Toshiba USB drives for work and they refuse point blank to work with some computers, Macs especially, because of the power they draw from the USB port. However a Western Digital Passport unit I bought works with anything.

    thanks chrisjr. yes i got so confused by all the "avoids" i didn't think there were any brands left!
    i just wondered if i was being given erroneous information!
    i had been thinking of going for Lacie as a few photographers i know use them
  • LION8TIGERLION8TIGER Posts: 8,484
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    #4
    I think they are all much of a muchness but I am put off WD after reading this post (#3).
  • planetsplanets Posts: 47,784
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    #5
    LION8TIGER wrote: »
    I think they are all much of a muchness but I am put off WD after reading this post (#3).

    thanks for that, the guy that did my data retrieval on my dying hard drive mentioned that WD ones tended to "disappear" and suddenly not be recognised.

    Have the Hitachi ones got a decent reputation? they are the only ones i haven't heard anything bad about (yet!).
  • PrimalIcePrimalIce Posts: 2,897
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    #6
    Running WD just fine here for a couple of years now.

    Whatever happens they need to be bought in pairs with one being a copy. Ideally I suppose by two different companies.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    #7
    Any hard drive can fail. I reckon over the course of god knows how many years mucking about with PCs I've seen pretty well most makes go mammaries skywards. :)

    Worst case was several years ago when Dell sent out loads of replacement drives because a batch of Maxtor drives were dodgy. That was fun replacing close on a hundred hard drives!

    If you work on the principle that the drive WILL fail not MIGHT fail and make sure that you never keep just one copy of any irreplaceable data then you won't go too far wrong.
  • planetsplanets Posts: 47,784
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    #8
    chrisjr wrote: »
    Any hard drive can fail. I reckon over the course of god knows how many years mucking about with PCs I've seen pretty well most makes go mammaries skywards. :)

    Worst case was several years ago when Dell sent out loads of replacement drives because a batch of Maxtor drives were dodgy. That was fun replacing close on a hundred hard drives!

    If you work on the principle that the drive WILL fail not MIGHT fail and make sure that you never keep just one copy of any irreplaceable data then you won't go too far wrong.

    thanks again chrisjr....it's for back up for my laptop, i used to use a desktop pc for backup but it finally became obsolete...so it's my first venture into mobile hdd....thanks for taking the time to answer what must be a "how long is a piece of string?" type question

    thanks to PrimalIce for your advice too
  • JohnbeeJohnbee Posts: 4,019
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    #9
    OP, it is a general rule that anyone on the web who, in response to requests for help, gives none at all, just tells you something negative which is no help, is an idiot.

    Seagate are superb drives, my current one is a Seagate. Only use it for a year and then store it safely and buy a new one. But the other makes are good as well. I'd get a USB powered one so it doesn't need a socket, but it is your choice, I have had both.

    Make sure you do not get one with built in software (they all usually have software provided), which constantly keeps the back up going as they wreck performance, and you will have to fin d out how to kill the software. Otherwise it doesn't matter.
  • henm2henm2 Posts: 160
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    #10
    I've used a buffalo ministation 1TB external hard drive for a couple of years and it has been excellent

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buffalo-MiniStation-Slim-Portable-Drive/dp/B008A1C0CW/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1372449471&sr=1-2&keywords=buffalo+ministation
  • LoobsterLoobster Posts: 11,680
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    #11
    planets wrote: »
    Can anyone recommend an external hard drive to use as a backup? It is to be compatible with windows 8 and needs to be 1TB
    I've had people tell me to avoid Seagate, Toshiba, WD, then i read terrible reviews of Lacie so now i haven't a clue which ones are reliable....thanks for any replies

    The problem is that most people that you ask will tell you to avoid this or that based on their one single bad experience with a drive.

    Drives fail. It's a fact of life. If you keep any drive long enough, it goes pop.

    If you ask an IT professional, they will tell you (based on their years of experience) that for the most part, stick with the major brand names (WD, Seagate, Samsung etc) and you will have the best chance to get a reliable unit.

    I just threw away a WD250GB passport that failed - after 8 years. I've got other WDs that I have no issues with.

    Colleagues at work use Seagate and Toshiba units with no issues.
  • Julie_HarrisJulie_Harris Posts: 22
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    #12
    planets wrote: »
    Can anyone recommend an external hard drive to use as a backup? It is to be compatible with windows 8 and needs to be 1TB
    I've had people tell me to avoid Seagate, Toshiba, WD, then i read terrible reviews of Lacie so now i haven't a clue which ones are reliable....thanks for any replies
    If your computer has got a Firewire port, why don't you get an external hard disk drive which connects via Firewire? It supposedly doesn't use up system resources as much as what USB does.
  • dont_be_hastydont_be_hasty Posts: 214
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    #13
    One thing i would suggest when your buying make sure you buy a portable one and not a desktop one. Of course unless you want a bulky desktop one that have to be plugged into the mains.

    I had a Freecom XS 1TB desktop external hard drive and it failed after about 3 years so wouldn't recommend it. Though my Freecom 160GB portable hard drive is still going strong after about 4 years. This is the hard drive i would use the most too.

    I also have a Toshiba Canvio 1TB Portable hard drive for about 2 years and it is going well.

    Recently i bought the Samsung M3 1TB USB 3.0 Slimline Portable Hard Drive from Amazon. It comes with software installed on it, I formatted it to remove it as i wasn't going to use it. Only used the drive a few times but seems OK so far.
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