[1911]

hey all,
got a new hp laptop recently and this time want to do it right by backing up my drive. also bought a 160gb wd passport at the same time but read some bad reviews online about it. my laptop hd is 200gb.
was wondering if seagate or any other option is better? would prefer usb just because i am not the most tech savvy guy out there. any recommendations would be appreciated. thanks in advance...
bought these at costco but would prefer to return the passport in a reasonable time frame if something is better out there and i return it.
budget...not really important as long as ease and reliability are top notch.

 

[Edwood]

You need something more robust than a single hard drive.

you need:

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Any hard drive from the big players should do the trick. Since you're not running programs off it, you can save money on cache size. USB is just about your only option. Some external drives come with USB as well as Firewire support.

 

[kramer5150]

Well... I'm not sure how useful this is since the drives are discontinued. But (laptop drive-wise) avoid any IBM/Hitachi travelstar. I've had nothing but troubles with them. I have found them to crash at anywhere from 6-18 Months. I have had much better luck with fujitsu drives.

try and google a PC/HD review site, with consumer reviews and ratings.

PS... can you do me a favor and post back if you find any? Thanks and good Luck!

 

[EhJayKim]

I don't use anything besides Seagate. They just seem to be the best and most reliable, besides, that five year warranty is awesome. What about putting one together yourself? Just buy a harddrive online and an external enclosure.

-A

 

[infinitesymphony]

I've had good luck for several years with a 160 gig Western Digital external drive, and have also been using a Desk Hammer brand 320 gig external drive (WD inside). A fair amount of people who complain about reliability problems have either received a DOA drive or are using the drives in 24/7 server environments that would tax all but the most robust drives. For your purposes, the WD external should be fine, IMO.

That said, I'd probably stick with Seagate for any other usage.

 

[450]

My IBM Deskstar has been fine for the past 5 years so hmm...

Seagate and Western Digital have been the best though.

Maxtor drives failed on me at least 4 times now.

 

[apnk]

I got a 250gb Seagate for $65 from Best Buy a few weeks ago, ordered a Azio external HD encloser for $27 shipped from Newegg. Pretty good for $92. I would go the diy route because the hd's have a 5 year warranty. The external hd's that are already put together only have a 1 year warranty.