External Hard Drive Recommendations?

[tworiffic]

I'm wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of external hard drive recommendations. My computer is being bombarded with images lol.

Here's a little bit about my usage in case it affects what you would suggest.

. Hobby photographer --not professional but I take a ton of photos of my family that I would like to keep.
. Would like to store personal use photos and have thousands of large files. Would not like to spend more than $150 if possible

Thanks for any thoughts you may have!

[kirbinster]

If your computer has an eSATA port I would highly recommend an eSATA drive rather than a USB or Firewire - they give much faster performance. I picked up a 2TB eSATA external drive a few months back from buy.com that was only $99. Also check microcenter.com, they have a great selection and good prices.

[tworiffic]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

If your computer has an eSATA port I would highly recommend an eSATA drive rather than a USB or Firewire - they give much faster performance. I picked up a 2TB eSATA external drive a few months back from buy.com that was only $99. Also check microcenter.com, they have a great selection and good prices.

I've never heard of an eSATA port. Thanks, I will look into that and see if my computer has that port.

[kirbinster]

Assuming its a "newer" computer with SATA drives it might. Even if it does not, if you have an open SATA header inside you might be able to get a cable to go to that.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by tworiffic

I've never heard of an eSATA port. Thanks, I will look into that and see if my computer has that port.

What kind of computer is it? If it's a laptop, you probably don't have it.

Try to avoid USB, the transfer speeds are just too slow.

[tworiffic]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

Assuming its a "newer" computer with SATA drives it might. Even if it does not, if you have an open SATA header inside you might be able to get a cable to go to that.

I do not see an eSATA port on the external but I looked at my device manager in the control panel and says this " NVIDIA MCP61 serial ATA controller" in one of the sections. Do you know if that means the motherboard is capable of connecting with a cord for SATA?

[tworiffic]

Originally Posted by jdepould

What kind of computer is it? If it's a laptop, you probably don't have it.

Try to avoid USB, the transfer speeds are just too slow.

I had it custom made a few years ago for relatively cheap. I didn't add any extensive functions. It's a desktop AMD Athlon Dual processor 4850e, 2GB RAM, 2.51 GHz....if that helps. Thanks for the help!

[KristerP]

Just a note here, I've had no less than 3 (!) crashed externat HD's (2 Mybooks and another one I cannot remember).

The final one was a dread - where I lost a a lot of photos.
(after making a few inquiries on the net , the general feeling seems to be too avoid cosidering them as a safe medium as they are prone to fail)

Make sure to use it a temporary storage.

[tworiffic]

Originally Posted by KristerP

Just a note here, I've had no less than 3 (!) crashed externat HD's (2 Mybooks and another one I cannot remember).

The final one was a dread - where I lost a a lot of photos.
(after making a few inquiries on the net , the general feeling seems to be too avoid cosidering them as a safe medium as they are prone to fail)

Make sure to use it a temporary storage.

Thank you. Yes, I have been warned about this very issue before and it scares me. I already lost my childhood pictures to a flood. I certainly don't want my children's memories going down the tubes either. Can I ask what you would recommend? I'm open to suggestions.

[baycruisers]

I recently bought a 1 TB WD Mybook ($80 on sale) that will connect with either USB 2 or 3. My PC only has USB 2 and while transferring images from my old Maxtor to the WD took a while (USB to USB is slow) since then I haven't felt my life slipping away waiting for normal disk activity and transfers. If you want the speed of an eSATA drive your local computer store can do the connection for you. It's your call whether the extra bit of speed is worth it. Since you're a hobbyist, a USB or Firewire connection may be fine.

That said, I never rely solely on my EHD. I always burn images to a DVD after inserting any metadata.