Which portable hard drive shall I buy ?

Thanks for your reply. The drive you have suggested is Toshiba Canvio Basics and I am thinking of getting Canvio Connect II. Could you rate these drives ( Seagate backup plus slim vs WD my passport ultra vs Toshiba canveo connect II vs Toshiba Canvio connect basics) based on their performance ? Also what's the difference in canveo connect basics and canvio connect II.

I think there are reviews out there but for software I fail them all. Not one to date has met what I want to do. So for me I'll ignore the software since I can get what I want later for free or write myself.

A quick look at the 2 canveo seems to be cosmetic and software.
Bob

As I said, I can do away with the software part. What I want is a drive which is reliable ( which would run for years without any issues) and fast enough to backup a large chunk of data. So I would go for a drive which is fastest amongst the above. May I know your final opinion please ? Thank you once again.

I've changed my mind over the years that any one drive is reliable enough to meet your requirement. Even I bought 2 of the model I linked to because I know that all it takes is one drop and it may die. Or it just may die for other reasons. Not one drive could be reliable enough for me or anyone to tell you the one you get will run for years without issues.

That said, I bought 2.
Bob

For image backups, even on USB3, I expect the USB is the limiting factor for the speed, not the disks.
But why not buy two different ones (so you can alternate your backups between #1 and #2, which you'll find come in very convenient if it fails for some reason) and test yourself? It would be interesting to read your measurements.

Be sure to disconnect the drive when not using it. You wouldn't like it if ransomware not only encriypted the files in your internal hard disks, but also your precious backups.

Kees

Thanks for your comments. I can' buy two hard disks at the moment. I already own a WD and it's working normally. But I think it's about to die.At times, my system won't recognize it and would start beeping. I am thinking to get WD for it's warranty and customer support.
Thanks to everyone here.

I did read those articles before creating this thread. Hard disks are bound to fail, but I would expect them to run for a couple of years. What alarms me more is the fact that most of the manufacturers have reduced the warranty period. So going by the warranty period, performance and customer support, I think WD is a good choice. I was about to buy seagate when I read that article and found out other options.

MTBF is just that. Those failures classically follow the bath tub curve. Since your ONE may suffer an early infant mortality and there has been no changes to remove those you may be falling for the trap that is so easy to fall into. The failures occur early and very late. Not a couple of years.

Here's that curve:

Here, I don't want to lose a beat.

Buddy, don't make it too complicated for me please. If you were in my place and given those stats, which one would you prefer - WD, Seagate or Toshiba. HGST would be costlier for me to purchase. The sole purpose of mine would be to make full system backups at regular intervals. And thank you for being here since I started this discussion.

When we dive into reliability MTBF and the bath tub curve, it may wipe folk out. I shared my last 2 purchases and although they seem fine, I know there can always be issues no matter which one I choose. (mod edited typo)

That said, WD, Tosh are my first choices. Seagate is out there for very cheap as their brand is taking a hit in the studies.