Buying an external hard drive - any suggestions?

Elektrik · #1 04-26-2005, 10:37 AM

A friend mine is curious about buying an 80 gig external harddrive - is there any difference among the brands, and do any of y'all know any good deals or places to find them?

YourFoxyGrandma · #2 04-26-2005, 11:12 AM

I've had an 80 gig Lacie external HDD for a little over a year. I'm quite happy with it. Find someone who can get you a student discount.

Elektrik · #3 04-26-2005, 11:38 AM

my friend is a student - how could we go about getting the discount?

astroglide · #4 04-26-2005, 12:55 PM

http://www.macally.com/spec/usb/stor.../phr_250a.html

+

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/pro...mp;Language=en

it will cost more than a 3.5" desktop drive, but the enclosure is TINY and the device powers itself over usb. both are available at newegg.

the macally enclosure is good and only needs 2 screws for installation. western digital is one of the few vendors that provides windows-based diagnostics software, so you can scan the drive properly if it begins to act up (good luck with dos+usb otherwise).

YourFoxyGrandma · #5 04-26-2005, 01:06 PM

I got mine through my campus bookstore. I guess, I should've been clearer on that; student=college student. If you can't go that route, building your own, as mentioned, is a cheap alternative.