Return of the $99.99 1TB hard drive

It's been awhile, but once again you can pick up a 1-terabyte external hard drive for under $100.

Specifically, Buy.com has the Fantom 1TB G-Force USB/eSATA hard drive for $99.99 shipped. That's an awful lotta storage for the money. And no rebates!

Though fairly industrial in design and not likely to win any beauty contests, the Fantom's got it where it counts: a 7,200-rpm drive, an 8.5-millisecond seek time, and your choice of USB or eSATA interfaces. It's compatible with most versions of Windows and the Mac OS.

A drive like this is perfect for keeping your system backed up, but Fantom supplies no software for the job. Fortunately, there are plenty of third-party freebies; here's a list of three free back-up utilities for Windows. (Anybody know of any good programs for Mac users? List 'em in the Comments.)

I'd rather see a three-year warranty on this drive, but Fantom's coverage expires after just one year. That's the only negative I can see on this deal, and it's a minor one. The drive earned a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 from more than 200 Buy.com customers, so you can bet it's a winner.