Roundup: External hard drives under $150

Before you start furiously deleting precious music, photos, and movies from your computer, why not free up space and archive your library at the same time with an external hard drive? Storage vendors like Seagate, Samsung, and LaCie are competing to offer the lowest cost-per-gigabyte on the market, which means generous cost savings for the end consumer; and you don't just get a slab of hardware, either- most drives come pre-installed with automatic backup software that let you specify data profiles and exactly which folders on your system drive to sync with the external, so in the unfortunate event of a hard drive failure you'll always have your precious data backed up and ready to go. Check our the list below for our favorite external hard drives under $150.

CNET Reviews staff

See full bio

CNET Reviews staff

May 21, 2010 1:17 p.m. PT

1 of 6 Sarah Tew/CNET

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro

Though other external hard drives offer a preset menu of ports, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex cuts costs by letting you pick from a buffet of "personality cables" so that you buy only the connections that suit your system profile. We applaud Seagate for making data backups easier than ever, and recommend the FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive for extra data storage now and easy upgrades in the future.

2 of 6 Sarah Tew/CNET

Western Digital My Passport Studio

The My Passport Studio is designed and preformatted for Macs, but it works well as a portable external storage solution for both Windows and OS X, as long as USB 2.0 is the connection of choice.

3 of 6 Sarah Tew/CNET

Iomega eGo Portable Mac Edition

Mac and PC users alike will appreciate the Iomega eGo Portable's triple interface connectivity that lets you choose from USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800. Combined with a rugged enclosure, free data protection software, and a robust three-year warranty, this drive is a great example of well-rounded hardware. We thoroughly recommend it both for average consumer as well as data-hounds on a budget.

4 of 6 Sarah Tew/CNET

Samsung S2 Portable

Although we dinged its predecessor because of its inflated price tag, the Samsung S2 Portable hard drive earns high marks and our recommendation for being reasonably priced, having fast file-transfer speed, and for having a generous three-year warranty.

5 of 6 Sarah Tew/CNET

Hitachi SimpleTough

The Hitachi SimpleTough is by far the most indestructible external hard drive we've tested, capable of surviving drops of up to 10 feet and up to one ton of pressure. With a built-in USB cable, two-tiered data security package, and an impressive three-year warranty, we have no issue recommending this external hard drive to shoppers looking for space and security.

6 of 6 Sarah Tew/CNET

LaCie Rikiki

LaCie's Rikiki mobile USB hard drive is an elegant storage solution that comes in three sizes up to 640GB. Its simple design exudes timeless style in a very affordable package. As long as you're not a stickler for fast transfer speeds, the LaCie Rikiki will make a worthwhile addition to your mobile arsenal.