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| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 19:07 #329 | |
Quizman
276 posts |
Hi guys (+gals) looking to invest in an external hard drive for my laptop as fed up doing back ups on cd's and now converting a lot of old music from reel to reel tape which taking up quite a bit of room. Any recommendations/horror stories to assist on which one to go for? Probably looking at 150Gb - are they all USB connectable as have firewire port available but never used and don't really want to block up my last USB port. Can you get ones that work from the LAN port on a router? Yes, I've tried ploughing through all the 'independent' reviews on the web but they all seem to contradict each other. Any assistance would be much appreciated.:rolleyes: Log in to reply |
| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 19:07 #4704 | |
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Quizman
276 posts |
Hi guys (+gals) looking to invest in an external hard drive for my laptop as fed up doing back ups on cd's and now converting a lot of old music from reel to reel tape which taking up quite a bit of room. Any recommendations/horror stories to assist on which one to go for? Probably looking at 150Gb - are they all USB connectable as have firewire port available but never used and don't really want to block up my last USB port. Can you get ones that work from the LAN port on a router? Yes, I've tried ploughing through all the 'independent' reviews on the web but they all seem to contradict each other. Any assistance would be much appreciated.:rolleyes: Log in to reply |
| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 20:20 #4706 | |
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UKTrainMan
1803 posts |
You could consider some kind of USB extension to add a couple of extra ports onto your laptop. There are some very good ones out there i.e: http://neuerdings.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/uhubs002900-04-l.jpg In-terms of hard drives most of the well known brands seem to be quite reliable. Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, Freecom etc. If you shop around you could get yourself a good size perhaps even a 320Gb for around £50. You might even be able to find an outstanding deal like 500Gb for £50 if you're lucky. Gimmie a couple of days I'll ask someone I know who is very technically minded and see what he says. Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for. Log in to reply |
| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 20:20 #4707 | |
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jrr
95 posts |
Recently bought a hard-drive. When you do ignore the automatic back-up software unless you really need it. It caused us a lot of hassle. If it ties up your last USB you might try using a small hub - very cheap and you then have more spare ports. Not likely to slow things up unless you're using several things at once on the hub. Mind you I'm no expert so others may know better, but hope this helps. jrr Log in to reply |
| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 20:49 #4708 | |
postal
5265 posts |
Q I can think of 3 choices: 1) Hard drive purpose built to connect to your network 2) USB hard drive connecting through LAN to USB network hub 3) USB hard drive connecting through USB hub 1) If you do a search for Network Hard Drive you will find lots of drives that you wire into your network with a normal network cable. They are then accessible to any computer going through your router - if you have your hardware firewall configured to allow, you can also access from the Internet so you can draw stuff down from your drive when you are away from home. There is always a security caveat but with a lot of routers you can log on when you are away from home, open the firewall to allow access to the drive, get what you want and then close down the access again. 2) There are various LAN to USB hubs so you can use a USB drive through the hub wired into your network. If you don't want the wires and have a wireless router, Belkin have recently introduced a Home Base hub in the US which can be obtained in this country if you do an Internet search. This is a network to USB hub that can connect wired or wireless. I currently have a portable USB hard disk wired through a wired in LAN to USB hub and Mrs. G and I both use it as a back-up device. We can also access it through the Internet when we are away from home. 3) Various powered and non-powered USB hubs that fit into a USB socket or USB extension lead and give you another 2, 4, 7 or whatever additional USB sockets. IIRC you can chain up to 128 USB devices from an XP machine; don't know whether Vista or W7 offer any more than that. The number of devices you eventually need to attach should not be an issue. If you are using a USB hard drive, it will probably need to plug into your computer or a powered USB hub so that there is enough juice to spin the disk. Finally, agreeing with jrr, I have usually found the built in back-up programs that come with a lot of these devices as a real PITA and more trouble than they are worth. JG “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Log in to reply |
| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 20:53 #4709 | |
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Lardybiker
771 posts |
Nearly all USB these days. In fact I'd be suprsied if you can find a Firewire one as USB has somewhat taken over since USB 2.0 came out with its faster transfer rate. If you want one with a network port that attaches to your LAN then that's a different product as you are then talking about NAS (Network Accessable Storage I believe it stands for). Generally, the device is just a frame and then have to populate it with a drive (or two, or maybe more!). They are thus, generally more expensive than a standard USB external HD. The problem with online reviews is everyone has all have their own personal opinions. Users rarely post reviews unless they have a bad experience and so you only hear negatives and you'll rarely find a product that everyone likes (the old saying you can please all of the people, some of the time or some of the people, all of the time certain rings true here!). Your best option is to only use renown sites like Computer shopper or CNET but then you are stuck if they don't review the product you are looking for! If you want network storage, then you are best searching for network storage. Start with somewhere like EBuyer. If you want a USB hard drive, then just get one. Reviews probably won't help much and they are all much of a muchness to be fair and you won;t likely see much difference. I've got a 250Gb Western Digital USB external drive I use for offline storage that works fine. I also got a Netgear SC1 too (like an NAS and needs special software on each machine that needs to access it) but that's been mothballed and I wouldn't recommend one (but that's a whole other story!). Log in to reply |
| IT help please 30/11/2009 at 22:30 #4713 | |
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michaeltrs
17 posts |
there are pros and cons with anything. * USB 2.5" HDD powered from the computer is the simplest solution but you loose 1 and sometimes 2 usb ports depending on the power requirements. * Firewire 3.5 or USB 3.5" HDD powered from the wall is the cheapest solution and faster than the 2.5" but isnt very portable and ties up a powerpoint. * NAS device with wireless or wired connection probably offers the most extra features you can get and flexibility in location but is the most expensive solution and slowest data rate and most complex to setup and maintain. To cut down on costs generally the NAS and some 3.5" devices come without the HDD which you install yourself, this in turn makes them slightly cheaper than all-in-one solutions and it also means you can upgrade the HDD if it isnt big enough or fail. My own desktop has a 3.5" external drive and I travel with a 2.5" western digital I got on sale. Log in to reply |
| IT help please 01/12/2009 at 17:50 #4731 | |
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UKTrainMan
1803 posts |
One thing I forgot to add to my previous post is that you can always unplug the external hard drive when not in use then plug it back in again as and when you need it. This would free up the 1 or 2 USBs ports it requires. However there is one slight problem about doing this which is that regularly unplugging and plugging in the external hard drive will slowly but surely wear out the connections on either the device or your laptop, although that said as long as you buy from a good reputable brand then it ought t last you a few years at least. Additionally, I used to know someone who swears by this Freecom External Hard Drive; [img width=100px height=100px]http://www.externalharddrives.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/freecom-toughdrive-usb-external-hard-drive.jpg[/img] [sup]Freecom External Hard Drive[/sup] of which he owns a number of them. Those hard drives have a rubberised protection layer around the outside which is designed to at least reduce any risk of any damage occuring should they be dropped, although I cannot vouch for this! However the 'Freecom' label (which is a piece of plastic stuck on the outside of the device) might fall off :lol: If you do buy an external hard drive which you plan to carry around with you then you should also consider buying a case for them. Something like one of these; [img width=100px height=100px]http://www.pcarena.co.uk/images/cases/case_logic_blk.jpg[/img] [sup]Case Logic External Hard Drive Carrying Case Thingie.[/sup] as it has space for both the external hard drive and any USB wires you may need to use with it too! Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for. Log in to reply |
| IT help please 01/12/2009 at 18:25 #4732 | |
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Quizman
276 posts |
Thanks for all your helpful comments, very useful and so I am now better informed I thought I would venture in Maplins for a look see. Explained my case to a young personable chap with a wide smile and haircut to match who suggested (a) "this one will do for you" - "no was my reply - that requires two usb hubs to power it up/transfer data" - "Would sir like to buy a USB hub extension device then"...errr no. "Fine then how about (b) this one will do what you require its mains powered" - "but sez I, that has 1TB of memory and its £240 I was thinking of spending no more than £50 or so". "Ah right sir then how about (c) comes with its own backup software, password encrypted the lot" - "don't really need backup software sez I as I use the Vista supplied one". Look of excruiating pain on guys face - "you shouldn't really rely on Vista" he says "better to upgrade to Windows 7, a much better system" "Does it do back up in a similar fashion to Vista then" I enquired "yes but far faster" was the response. "Ummmm isn't the speed dictated by the back up device and usb hub i.e. the external drive I originally came in to enquire about" Confused look on face of young man. I make my apologies as my lunch hour is nearly over and didn't purchase anything. Next stop PC World!
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| IT help please 02/12/2009 at 13:33 #4744 | |
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bill_gensheet
1413 posts |
Having looked through this recently myself, I decided against a cheap NAS setup. They aren't really that cheap and do all seem desperately slow. yes that is from the 'reviews' but much of that makes sense when examining manufacturers FAQ's. The network - hard drive interfaces are desperately underpowered and therefore s...l....o......w. In the end I just bought a new, large HD and put it in an old desktop PC. Second choice would be a USB drive but make sure it is on a single power connecton, or mains. Maplin A60CG might be worth a look, choose your own drive then. I think the only NAS I was still considering was the Buffalo one, WD 'Worldbooks' seemed very bad in reviews, but may have been fixed in recent firmware. Bill Log in to reply |
| IT help please 02/12/2009 at 23:12 #4769 | |
GeoffM
6376 posts |
In my one and only experience, I have an Iomega external drive that came with a USB cable with a double connector. On my netbook I can plug in one of the connectors and it works fine. I can plug both connectors (the second being "power" on my desktop and it sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, and randomly connects and disconnects. There is no option for an external power supply for my particular drive.So: do you want a drive that you can plug in to the mains and not worry about USB power, or are you sure that your USB ports are "powered"? Based on my one-and-only experience I would buy a mains-powered device in the future. However, no matter the setup, it does make a good backup device for your important files. You can get some free software that will dump a zip onto a device of your choice (DVD, USB stick, USB drive, etc) at regular intervals automatically. SimSig Boss Log in to reply |
