What's the best quality portable HD? (laptops, install, how to, work)

[marc515]

I'm looking for a good quality small external HD, that I can use to back up my digital pictures and files. I have an external HD hooked up to my computer now, but want another back up. CD's are a PIA to keep up with, so I thought another external HD would fit the purpose.

I plan to keep this out in my shed (God forbid something should happen to our home), so it will need to withstand cold New Jersey winters, and warm summers.

Comments and suggestions appreciated.

Thank you,.....marc

[EscapeCalifornia]

The heat shouldn't be a problem but I don't believe many electronics are designed to withstand freezing temperatures, at least not for an entire winter. In my experience, there's no such thing as a "quality hard drive". They're all made in highly automated factories Asia for the lowest possible cost. I've seen ever brand fail over and over. That's why we backup right?

I like the small laptop based USB hard drives since they get their power from the USB port. Western Digital sells them under the Passport brand name while Seagate calls theirs FreeAgent Go. Its a lot nicer not having to deal with a power brick and cord.

Do you have a local friend or relative that can hold the drive off-site for you? You could use TrueCrypt to encrypt the entire drive so no one can see your files. I'd get a second USB drive to keep on-site for more frequent backups. Another solution to the off-site backup problem is an online storage system like Jungledisk or Carbonite but those won't be practical if you have a lot of data and a slow upload speed on your Internet connection.

[themaster]

Quality when it comes to laptops is a variable that is best applied too "to each there own.." basically your mileage may vary on what hard drive is best as it certainly does for those that buy them..

I favor seagate cause all there drives have 5 year warranty's.. I think there owned company maxtor has 5 year's to but I digress I have general dislike of maxtor even if now owned by seagate.. I also own a few WD's raptors cause those are the rare few that have 5 year warranty's..

As suggested I would recommend a laptop drive if space is not a issue.. if space is a issue anything will do.. there are some rare 7200 rpm laptop drives in some hitachi usb cases out there too

As for leaving it in the cold, I think in real world practically you should be okay.. but you can check the website for the manufacturers and read there spec's.. (sorry don't have super useless info memorized) there more then likely say something like no more then 20-40 F but as I said real world you're likely fine.. as I have honestly placed quite a few drives in freezers.. (geek trick)

Your worst case scenario in data loss is only 2 things.. as I say frequently..
1. Worse virus in the world.. wipes every drive in your computer
2. Fire/Lightening/Earthquake or physical damage..

In these scenario's it's best too..
1. Keep your data backup drive Unplugged unless backing up.. or if you have 2 one should be unplugged..
2. Place it in a fireproof safe or take the backup offsite as major company's do..

[swagger]

Go to Carbonite.com, download and install their software, use it during the trial period, pay the $50 annual fee when the trial ends and never worry about your data again. It's a true "set and forget" solution, and your data is off-site, secure and available if/when you need it.

[EscapeCalifornia]

I just looked up the specs on Western Digital's Passport hard drives which should be typical of any make and model out there since they're all the same basic tech.

Temperature (English)
Operating 41° F to 104° F
Non-operating -4° F to 149° F

The non-op goes lower than I expected. Maybe you can wrap it in some foam for insulation to take the edge off the colder nights.

[themaster]

Originally Posted by swagger

Go to Carbonite.com, download and install their software, use it during the trial period, pay the $50 annual fee when the trial ends and never worry about your data again. It's a true "set and forget" solution, and your data is off-site, secure and available if/when you need it.

It doesn't work that way.. regardless of whatever people think of online backups.. here are a couple facts

1. No such thing as unlimited hard drive space
2. Most users uploads are well "**** poor"
3. If you’re not actually checking the backup software to make sure it's doing its job and backing up your data.. 2-5-20 years from now you may think your all set when a failure happens and then go login to find out that it hasn't updated your data in 19 years (this goes for automatic backups even with HARD DRIVES)
4. Some people don't have broadband..
5. 101 companies have created backup software.. you have to check that the software is doing the job..

Past these facts.. let's imagine that I used it.. now I have let's see..
275 Gb of personal pictures and movies
80 Gb of mp3's
100 Gb of doc data (which I really do need to clean out)
(Basically one full 500 gb Seagate.. planning on upgraded to 1.5 tb soon..)

Assuming I have 1 mbit upload which I actually do I have.. up to 1.5 mbit.. how long will that take to upload 455 Gb data.. let's assume that my ultra fast upload connection (which most people don't even have) uploads at 1 mbit.. how long till the data backup is done.. 1 - 1/2 months

Don't think online solutions are some kind of miracle cure for understanding computers and or understanding how to do data backups.. and BTW $50 may be way to cheap.. if I was able to upload my data 455 Gb I'd likely get kicked for using too much space.. but I will admit readily that most normal "users" won't have 455 Gb of data.. but a random few may..