Opinions on external HD's

[ufcrusher]

I have always hated using external devices for the simple reason I like my computer to be somewhat neat. Although frankly with the amount of wires I have coming off/out of most of my systems claiming it is neat is just a technicality.

With our current system, which is one of these all in one type machines, I am faced with the reality of having NO space for expansion. We already have an external DVD burner and now I think buying an external HD is in order. The 80gigs that this thing came with seem to be disappearing at an amazing rate....especially since I never came close to using up even half that much on any of my other machines.

This begs the question of which of the external drives are the best? What is the best bang for the buck? Should I get one of the external network drives so that when we upgrade our laptops we can store info in a central location or is that a waste of money.

Personally, I am inclined to go find an external case, buy the largest hard drive I can find for the cheapest amount and call it a day...but all of these pre-assembled units seem like they can be just as good a value. What do people think.

[Merlin]

...Should I get one of the external network drives so that when we upgrade our laptops we can store info in a central location or is that a waste of money.
I'll be looking forward to the answer to this part of the question. I was looking at one the other day but reviews said that it would be too slow. Getting a network attacked storage is a really attractive idea for me as I wouldn't have to boot up my home PC to access its files (it holds all the music, videos, and porn) on my laptop.

[Jeffbx]

NAS disks *are* a lot more convenient, but also pretty darn expensive. SmartDisk, iomega, Maxtor, WD - all have NAS drives, but they start at about $200 & go up pretty quickly from there.

If you already have a USB drive, you can pick up something like this (http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=655695) to turn it into a NAS drive.

I'd say if you have the coin to throw around, get the NAS. If you're on a tight budget, it's really not a lot of effort to swap cables between your external drive & your machines.

[Merlin]

NAS disks *are* a lot more convenient, but also pretty darn expensive. SmartDisk, iomega, Maxtor, WD - all have NAS drives, but they start at about $200 & go up pretty quickly from there.
Here are a couple for about $100

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=564775

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail~dpno~188997.asp

I can't tell if they are any good. The Netgear one seems nice because it is quiet and lets you put in a second drive if you want, even lets you mirror the data. But requires you install some software on your computers that will access the data. Which may be good for security if you have it on a wireless network. I would.

The second one is a little cheaper and does not require software to be installed. With the amount of crap I already have running in the background that is a bit of a selling point.

But given the difference in cost between these units and other NAS I've got to wonder if they are cheaper for a reason. Then on the other hand there is really no good reason for these things to be too expensive outside of marking it up to sell to businesses.

[Kevster]

What I did was purchase an external HD enclosure that has both USB2.0 and Firewire interfaces. I use it quite often to backup or offload data off my main system and when I fill up an HD, I simply open it up and swap it out for another one (I have a few HDs laying around). The firewire interface is extremely fast and doesn't use system resources like USB2.0. I know it sounds like going the cheap route, but there are many fine enclosures out there that you can go out and buy your own HD for relatively cheap, especially now during the holidays.

[ufcrusher]

Hmm....so is there a way to make a standard enclosure into a network one?

I guess I will just keep my eyes open for another plain USB/firewire external case. If I could find a "multi" case for a decent price I would probably consider that as well. I am trying to spend the least amount of money possible but get a unit that isnt going to just die on me the day after the warranty expires.

[wung]

i had a NetDisk by Ximeta (first generation 80gb) ... it was kinda loud ... plus the thing gets pretty hot and would stop working if i leave it on for too long, so i ended up turning it off when i'm not using it ... the hard drive crashed after just a year.

i've been eyeing the linkstation by baffalo ...

[Grimm]

Another option is upgrading the hard drive.
You will need software such as Symantec Ghost to copy the drive.
You don't have to install the drive to copy it, so long as you can power it and hook it up to an IDE connector.
Boot from floppy or CD and do a disk to disk copy.
Then put the new disk in, in place of the 80 GB.
If you like you can get an external case from someplace like www.geeks.com for cheap and put the 80gb drive in to use as a transfer or backup drive.

[brainsmile]

I always built mine... just a personal preference I guess

[Merlin]

How did you build one yourself?