Buying an external hard drive is becoming a common practice, as this type of backup storage device is not only easy, but extremely affordable for the average household. It is extremely important that we all learn to backup computer files regularly to avoid the pain of accidentally losing anything precious.
You’ll notice hundreds-possibly thousands-of unique external hard drives that you can purchase, so how could you come to a decision on which one to purchase? Why are there so many choices that make this process so confusing?
The answer is plain to see as soon as you understand the four standards for selecting external hard drives.
1. What size external hard drive do I need?
We’re not pointing to the size of the external hard drive when measuring it with a ruler, we are talking about what number of files it can store, that’s the important size we need to take note of.
Allow me to share 4 choices for purchasing an external hard drive:
1. A Solid State Drive is a hard drive that is built to last, manufactured on the same technology as the USB flash stick, but scaled up. These are not made in overly large sizes but are favored to be more dependable as they are made with less moving elements within.
2. Smaller sized external drives can be anywhere from 20GB upwards to 250 GB. These hard drives can usually be connected via USB connection and are very easy to carry around, but the limited size might not be appropriate for everyone’s requirements these days.
3. Medium (250GB to 1TB) may need an external power supply or an eSATA port that will drain your laptop power supply faster. These hard drives hold a lot of stored files, but they might run slowly on old computers.
4. Drives bigger than 1 TB will nearly always require to be plug-in to electricity supply. These drives are often big in size and awkward to carry around, so definitely not a mobile storage space unit. They are surely great for the home or office though.
2. What Make is Your External Hard Drive
People are always asking me “What kind of external hard drive do I need?” That is a general question that could mean anything but I take it to mean what make.
A lot of individuals often pay money for any generic product, however when it comes to buying hard drives, there’s no governing board to watch over the companies making the hard drives. Clearly you aren’t going to take the producers advise for their own manufactured goods, therefore you need to do research on the internet. I often read feedback about external hard drives on Amazon.com
3. External Hard Drives Criteria-The Connection
I’ve committed this exact mistake when I bought an external hard drive, as I live in Australia and I had ordered the external hard drive from the USA. This meant my hard drive would not work so I had to go out and buy an adapter. Some sellers supply you with an adapter and others do not. My daughter bought a 3 TB hard drive 
What are the different connection types? 1. USB 2.0 (same as USB 1.1 OLD type) 2. USB 3.0 (highly recommended) 3. eSATA (Need to have an eSATA connection) 4. Firewire (rarely used nowadays)
A drive which has USB 3.0 might be your best bet-these have the quickness of eSATA but is compatible with every computer made in the last 10 years. Many hard drives that support eSATA even have USB 2.0 plugs, which provide the exact same advantages. But be careful of buying an eSATA drive-you require a particular eSATA plug on your PC or notebook to make it work.
4. External Hard Drives Criteria-AC/DC
No, not a top hit from the Aussie pop group AC/DC song list. That isn’t what I meant by ACDC. We wish to know what power supply your external hard drive is going to use.
The smaller external hard drives, such as the 2.5″ notebook size, often end up having direct current (DC) from your USB port on your computer system. Simply put , this indicates that there is no need to connect the hard drive to any power supplies as it will be utilizing your computer power supply.
Larger hard drives and older hard drives need separate Alternating Current (AC) connections (even though they use an inverter to convert it to DC). That means you will always want to find an additional plug for these drives, which can annoys you. But when you utilize these external hard drives primarily in the home or the office to create file backups, you’ll probably barely notice the extra power cords.
5. Buying an External Hard Drive For a Mac or Windows Computer
It used to be a pain in the bum when you tried to connect any old external to a Apple computer. Now it is getting better though but you should always check to see if you hard drive is compatible with a Mac. I have tried a Buffalo Stealth 500 GB Portable External Hard Drive
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This post was written by...
Mitz – who has written 737 posts on Computer Tips.
Hi guys…I am a computer freak but I do not always talk in tech language. Hope you enjoy my website and learn everything you need to know in an easy to understand way.. If you like what you see please join: Follow Tips4pc On Twitter | Become A Facebook Fan | Subscribe RSS Feed | Tips4pc Youtube Channel
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article, thanks! But I’m shocked that you live in Australia and say that AC/DC are a British pop group; everyone knows they’re an Australian rock band! Please update your article!
Oh no that was a big mistake… Unfortunately I forget the minor details. Thanks for letting me know Jenny!
I have a WD 2 tersa byte network back up drive. I works well. You cannot go wrong with Western Digital Hard Drive.
Mark Williams recently posted..Provillus for Men – Can You Expect Faster Hair Growth?
Thanks for the guide in buying external hard drive. It is true that other people ore often to buy and pay generic hard drives which is not reliable to use. A lot of thanks to you!
Danyelle recently posted..Bifold Doors
I still find no intrest in a SSd Drive,its pricy,and only a little bit fast,suitable for gamers
alan recently posted..GTA 4 cheats
I’ve heard and read some great feedbacks about the SSDs and I’m really interested in SSD external HDDs. I’m looking forward to buying an external HDD for some time, but I didn’t have time to buy one, I’m thinking about a 1 Terra HDD, that should be what I need. Though, external HDDs are, in my opinion, more likely to fail than usual HDDs. Thanks for the guide, going to follow it when I will buy me an external HDD!
Sam recently posted..Nespresso C100T Essenza Automatic Espresso Machine Review
I am just to buy an external storage and I didn’t know much about them and thank god I decided to surf in Internet a little bit. I will now look for particular models not just random. Thanks a lot.
Anna recently posted..cost of veneers
The real draw for me for an external is portability. So many solid state drives are powered passively through the USB cable. With lightning fast speed, few moving parts, and easy portability, a Solid-State Drive is the best choice for mobile people.
SSDs seem to be a great alternative right now to run the OS. They provide improved booting speeds and almost all new laptops and ultrabooks come with a SSD today.
Marty recently posted..Solar Power – The Ultimate Source of Renewable Energy
Great advice as always Mitz. We use a 1TB external hard drive to back up our orders as well as a cloud storage account to save our often used files. This way we have a double safety net. Recommended.
Haith recently posted..Confessions of a candle-holic
Hi Mitz! Thank you for sharing important details in purchasing external hard drive. The choices are great!
WendyLavigne recently posted..Entrust SSL Certificates
This is a great guide. I went into a computer shop the other day to check out some external hard drives. There are so many on the market, so this is good information to have.
This is a great guide, actually this is a great idea for a Valentines day present for my hubby so now that i feel i’m an expert thank you!
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Great deals on how to have the best hard drive that fits your computer. If i have to choose one, I would definitely like to have smaller one with large capacity of saving space.
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