Need Some Advice

hawaiian_digger · 06-09-2004, 09:20 AM

I'm looking to buy an external hard drive for my daughter's computer. She's into graphics studies and needs more room. I've searched the Internet and saw several brands of external hard drives available. Can anyone give me a recommendation as to which brand would work great (about 150GB capacity), and is best for the buck? The computer is still rather new, and I didn't want to fuss with installing an internal unit. Mahalo in advance for any help submitted.

Addis · 06-09-2004, 08:29 AM

Well if you want the most bang for your buck then internals the way to go. Unless you need to move it around then external drives are a waste of money. I'm not sure which manufacturer makes the cheapest but Western Digital drives are very good. Seagate ones are quiet and Maxtor ones are pretty cheap.

harrack52 · 06-09-2004, 03:41 PM

I highly suggest you get an internal Western Digital. Internal drives are cheaper, and they're not hard to install.

I personally only buy Western because they've been the most reliable to me. Right now, you can get a 160gb for $97 or a 200gb for $116. I'd go for the latter.

hawaiian_digger · 06-09-2004, 05:15 PM

I know that internal drives are the best, but was kind of concerned about Dell Computers in general. I heard that Dell machines aren't that easy to install "off-the'shelf" hardware because they either alter the pin connector of shift the wiring pins around so that you can't plug in non-Dell stuff. Whether or not this is true... I've yet to open up the other machine, which I can't do yet since it's in Arizona with my daughter.

Myself... I run HP machines. I've never had any serious problems with HP except getting outdated so fast. I've heard others state that HP isn't so great, but so far, have found nothing to coraborate their claims. And... I've never had problems installing "off-the-shelf" toys.

Mack · 06-09-2004, 05:57 PM

Now I could be wrong here as I am not a techie, just curious, but what is wrong with the following solution for an external hard drive, or for that matter any external device.
BUY a regular internal hard drive, and then buy a enclourse casing for it, to make it external. Examples of external casing are here:
http://www.xpcgear.com/enclosures.html
NOTE: This is just for a look. Don't buy from here.
After seeing the prices of External hard drive at
http://www.epinions.com/Hard_Drives-..._More-External
This solution seems very cheap. This further raises the question that there might be something wrong here

Big B · 06-09-2004, 07:56 PM

That is true. A DIY version might not be a bad way to go, especially with all the IDE hard drive fire sales going on. I mean, hell, you can get a good sized 120-160GB for a $1/GB or less. Tack on an external enclosure, and it's still likely to be cheaper than the external units. You can get 160GB hard drives for less than $100 at Newegg---which is an excellent on-line store I might add. Then you get an external enclosure for the drive (look under Cases --->External Enclosures if you go to Newegg). That'll run you around $40-50, but you're still saving some extra money. The 160GB drives from Maxtor and the like run around $180-200+.

06-09-2004, 09:20 AM	#1 (permalink) Top
hawaiian_digger Geek Trainee Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2 Status: Offline	Need Some Advice I'm looking to buy an external hard drive for my daughter's computer. She's into graphics studies and needs more room. I've searched the Internet and saw several brands of external hard drives available. Can anyone give me a recommendation as to which brand would work great (about 150GB capacity), and is best for the buck? The computer is still rather new, and I didn't want to fuss with installing an internal unit. Mahalo in advance for any help submitted.

06-09-2004, 08:29 AM	#2 (permalink) Top
Addis The King Join Date: Jan 2004 Age: 18 Male Posts: 5,255 Times Helpful: 403 My Mood: Drunk Status: Offline My Computer	Well if you want the most bang for your buck then internals the way to go. Unless you need to move it around then external drives are a waste of money. I'm not sure which manufacturer makes the cheapest but Western Digital drives are very good. Seagate ones are quiet and Maxtor ones are pretty cheap. __________________ Never trust a program you don't have the source code for. My website \| Powerful Desktop Linux \| Linux for human beings \| Linux for power users \| Linux for ricers Last edited by Addis; 06-09-2004 at 05:19 PM.

06-09-2004, 07:56 PM	#6 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 28 Male Posts: 9,636 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Offline My Computer	That is true. A DIY version might not be a bad way to go, especially with all the IDE hard drive fire sales going on. I mean, hell, you can get a good sized 120-160GB for a $1/GB or less. Tack on an external enclosure, and it's still likely to be cheaper than the external units. You can get 160GB hard drives for less than $100 at Newegg---which is an excellent on-line store I might add. Then you get an external enclosure for the drive (look under Cases --->External Enclosures if you go to Newegg). That'll run you around $40-50, but you're still saving some extra money. The 160GB drives from Maxtor and the like run around $180-200+. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

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06-09-2004, 03:41 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
harrack52 Supreme Geek Join Date: Jan 2003 Age: 27 Posts: 1,638 Times Helpful: 16 My Mood: Sick Status: Offline My Computer	I highly suggest you get an internal Western Digital. Internal drives are cheaper, and they're not hard to install. I personally only buy Western because they've been the most reliable to me. Right now, you can get a 160gb for $97 or a 200gb for $116. I'd go for the latter.

06-09-2004, 05:15 PM	#4 (permalink) Top
hawaiian_digger Geek Trainee Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 2 Status: Offline	I know that internal drives are the best, but was kind of concerned about Dell Computers in general. I heard that Dell machines aren't that easy to install "off-the'shelf" hardware because they either alter the pin connector of shift the wiring pins around so that you can't plug in non-Dell stuff. Whether or not this is true... I've yet to open up the other machine, which I can't do yet since it's in Arizona with my daughter. Myself... I run HP machines. I've never had any serious problems with HP except getting outdated so fast. I've heard others state that HP isn't so great, but so far, have found nothing to coraborate their claims. And... I've never had problems installing "off-the-shelf" toys.

06-09-2004, 05:57 PM	#5 (permalink) Top
Mack Big Geek Join Date: Feb 2004 Age: 26 Male Posts: 280 Status: Offline My Computer	Now I could be wrong here as I am not a techie, just curious, but what is wrong with the following solution for an external hard drive, or for that matter any external device. BUY a regular internal hard drive, and then buy a enclourse casing for it, to make it external. Examples of external casing are here: http://www.xpcgear.com/enclosures.html NOTE: This is just for a look. Don't buy from here. After seeing the prices of External hard drive at http://www.epinions.com/Hard_Drives-..._More-External This solution seems very cheap. This further raises the question that there might be something wrong here

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