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General discussion

choosing external haddrive?

Apr 4, 2011 9:31PM PDT

basically, every harddrive review i reads has tons people complaining it failing immediately or a few weeks, and this make it very difficult for me to choose a 2TB haddrive..any suggestion on whic i should get? is there any brand i must avoid? or just pick the cheapest

Discussion is locked

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Re: drive
Apr 4, 2011 9:39PM PDT

Whatever you choose, be prepared it will fail. So NEVER keep your only copy of data you don't want to lose on such a drive.

It's nice for 3 things:
- moving data between PC's that aren't networked
- storing an extra backup copy of your valuable data
- storing data you don't mind losing

Kees

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Fail?
Apr 8, 2011 1:15PM PDT

>>>Whatever you choose, be prepared it will fail.<<<

I keep reading that. Why should it be expected to fail? All it really is is an internal desktop or laptop hd placed in an external shell with a usb interface. We wouldn't expect a desktop tower hard drive to fail. Those things last forever and a day. With lack of a fan, is it a heat thing? or do the interfaces fail? I don't understand, and it's making it very stressfull selecting a new hard drive. I just posted the almost exact same question in a new thread above(not seeing this one). would I be better off buying an internal HD and putting it in a generic shell?

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That might be a little extreme...
Apr 9, 2011 2:39PM PDT

It does seem pretty common for external backup hard drives to fail, but although Kees_B says "be prepared it will fail" I think the point is that you cannot rely on any device to be 100% immune to failing. Personally I think how you treat devices plays into it in large part - a small external hard drive (particularly portable ones that get carried around a lot) are going to be subject to abuse more than a tower that just sits there. I would equate this to a degree with laptops - I have heard a lot bad things about Acer laptops, but I bought one anyway because the price was right for the features I needed. From a reliability standpoint it has worked superbly and I put this down in part to the fact that I treat it well. I don't bang it around, I use compressed air to blow out the vents once in a while, etc. It hasn't let me down (while I have friends with the 'big name' laptops that haven't fared so well).

Anyway, if you purchase a backup drive and treat it well (don't knock it off your desk, don't put it in a bag and sling it around, etc.) and you should be fine. That said....... expect it to fail and don't rely on it 100% for storing anything you want to keep. Always have another copy. That way you won't be disappointed. Buy an extended warranty as well - usually a reasonable investment.

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Concur and recommend adding a second internal HDD vice
Apr 10, 2011 1:34AM PDT

an external HDD where possible. While that's not an option for most laptops or when portability is foremost .... it's very possible and practical for backup in most desktops.

The other thing might be to not leave the external running (or connected) when not in use. The ones I have are only connected or powered on when I'm copying image backups to them. My desktop remains on 24/7/265 and it's protected by a good UPS.

VAPCMD

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(NT) Correction....make that 24/7/365
Apr 10, 2011 6:34AM PDT
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Make that 24/7/366 almost every 4 years.
Apr 10, 2011 12:05PM PDT

2012 is real soon.

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(NT) Ok...but I was never good at leap years ..
Apr 10, 2011 12:51PM PDT