Consumer's Guide to Buying External Storage
Drives & Memory Storage Guide
APR
3
2009
1. How much storage do you need?
Do you plan on backing up your entire computer? Using your external hard drive to store all of your music and videos? Storing papers and documents on a flash drive to print or access later? External hard drives range in size from 1GB or 2GB to over 1,000GB. If you are using your hard drive for small files, you may not need a large amount of volume. On the other hand, if you plan to store hundreds of movies, music, and pictures on your hard drive, an 8GB flash drive may not cut it.
2. Do you need a portable hard drive?
With greater volume comes greater size. A 500GB external hard drive may be able to back up every file on your computer, but it is not going to be as portable as a 2GB pocket drive. If you are shopping for a hard drive that you can carry with you to and from work or on business travel, you are going to want to think small. It is also important to keep in mind, however, that as external hard drives are all quite small, any external hard drive is at least somewhat portable. Therefore portability only makes a huge difference if you are shopping for a portable hard drive for frequent travel.
3. Compatibility
Once you figure out what size storage device you are searching for, you need to filter out any options that are not compatible with your system. While most hard drives are both Mac and PC compatible, there are a few that are not. You would be very disappointed if you tried to plug your new hard drive into your Mac and found out it only works on a PC, so be wary and shop accordingly.
4. How easy is it to backup your files?
The first time you backup your computer it may be slow and painful, but what about after that? How quickly will the hard drive update your storage? Many external hard drives have a button right on the case--push it once and it backs up your hard drive. Do you want an external storage device with this capability, or are you fine with adding the files by yourself?
5. Is the hard drive secure?
If you are going to buy an external hard drive to protect your computer files, you want to make sure they are actually protected. Is the case sturdy or is it liable to break? A mobile hard drive will need a sturdier case than one that you do not plan on moving. Does the case seem like it can withstand the shock of travel? With regards to the data itself, what protective measures are in place to make sure that the hard drive itself does not crash? Does the company offer you assurance or a guarantee? If the goal is to protect your information, make sure it is protected.
6. Start shopping!
Now that you know what to look for when shopping for an external hard drive, you can begin focusing on brand. At Sears you'll find popular brands such as Lexar flash drives, HP flash drives, PNY flash drives, and SanDisk flash drives, along with the larger Seagate external hard drives and Maxtor external hard drives.
