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View Full Version : external harddrive? sort of off topic

nicolicious
08-25-2007, 09:18 AM
i know this forum is for what camera you should buy, but recently my external harddrive died and took with it 50gb of Pictures/music/stuff...

what external harddrives do you all use? which brand particularly do you think will last the longest???

or if you have any suggestions as to where i can go on the web to find out such a thing???
Rhys
08-25-2007, 09:53 AM
One word - backup!

I backup everything to CD/DVD and store on an external hard drive. My laptop drive contains only software.
jcon
08-25-2007, 10:02 AM
Western Digital MyBook Series 500GB External Hardrive. Also use DVD/CD backups as well.
Spookonthe8ball
08-25-2007, 10:16 AM
Stay with major brand hard drives. I have had all fail sooner or later. That is why we need to backup everything you don't want to loose. Mirror all your important photo,music files ect. on at least two drives. Recording to cd/dvd is another good alternative. When a drive fails it is important to replace it as soon as possible and get your data files from the remaining good drive copied over to the new one.
Spook
r3g
08-25-2007, 10:29 AM
I wouldnt recommend getting any drive thats not Seagate, Western Digital, or Maxtor. Those are the top 3 brands when it comes to quality and quality is EVERYTHING. :)
griptape
08-25-2007, 11:32 AM
I wouldnt recommend getting any drive thats not Seagate, Western Digital, or Maxtor.

What he said. They'll all have the same failure rate/lifetime.
TheObiJuan
08-25-2007, 12:13 PM
I got a thus far very reliable 350GB seagate off of ebay almost two years ago for a hundred bucks.

Good luck.
Rhys
08-25-2007, 04:43 PM
Backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup, backup and backup. How many times do I have to say backup?

If you backup to CD/DVD every time you get enough photos to fill a DVD/CD then you won't lose much if your external hard drive crashes.

I recommend the cheapest external hard drive. I don't recommend using any hard drive as a 100% reliable storage solution.
No Control
08-25-2007, 08:10 PM
I was just going to start a thread on this very topic. I'm using a computer at the moment that wasn't bought to do much with so I've reached it's capacity and was looking to buy an external hard drive. I don't mean to hijack this one but can anyone recommend a good capacity? It'll be used for storing images from a D80.
Rhys
08-25-2007, 09:10 PM
I was just going to start a thread on this very topic. I'm using a computer at the moment that wasn't bought to do much with so I've reached it's capacity and was looking to buy an external hard drive. I don't mean to hijack this one but can anyone recommend a good capacity? It'll be used for storing images from a D80.

Staples were selling 300GB drives for $80 nearby.
nicolicious
08-27-2007, 07:30 PM
does no one think LaCie is in the same ballpark as WD and Seagate?

I think Rhys said it best.....get the biggest cheapest external drive you can find and back up everything on dvd.

it just never occurs to you until you loose something....

thanks...