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Question

Reliable Portable Hard Drive (1TB)?

Mar 29, 2016 6:43AM PDT

Hi. I'm seeking advise on & recommendations on any certain brand(s) of portable hard drives that are known to last for a great while. That aren't known to be prone to crashing, all the time. I'm willing to spend up to $60. I know there isn't the perfect one that lasts for a lifetime. But, I want one that has the least complaints about crashing, messing up. I'm wanting to get a 1 Terabyte one. Thank you.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The awful news is
Mar 29, 2016 8:14AM PDT

That I've never lost one of these but folk lose the content all the time. Because you can lose the content by unplugging rather than ejecting and other reasons, there appears to be no reliable models.

I'd shop for these but you need 2 if these will hold the last copy of some files.

Post was last edited on March 29, 2016 10:34 AM PDT

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Answer
Get 2
Mar 29, 2016 9:34AM PDT

Get 2 and sync or clone them often.

The units are quite sturdy when there off.

One of the things that kills them is folks handle or knock them around when the unit is active.

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Answer
Most Reliable 1Tb External
Mar 30, 2016 7:20AM PDT

Working in data recovery, I can say with a measure of certainty that Toshiba externals have the lowest failure rate. We see at least 50 times as many WD My Passports and Seagates as we do Toshiba Canvio's in the 2.5" size externals coming in for recovery.

In the desktop sizes, you should consider HGST (formerly known as Hitachi) as they have the lowest failure rate. You can also get a Toshiba 3.5" external, but there's a very good chance the internal drive is just a rebranded HGST drive. They only recently started actually making their own 3.5" models.

But, as previously mentioned, they all fail sooner or later especially if you use them on the go. So keep a backup.

Hope it helps!