External HDD

El Mucho

First time posting here, anyways to my question.

I just need some advice on external hard drives. I am looking for at least 500 gigs and I am willing to spend around $130 CAD, however when I look at the different externals they all seem the same. I have no idea what I should be looking for in terms of specs, and I have no idea if $130 is even a realistic price for a 500 gig HDD.

Any infomation you guys can provide who be much appreciated.

Thanks

Uncle Long

Well, I guess you should be looking for speed. Higher RPM, overall transfer speed and write time. Look at the reviews on Newegg and see which drives have known issues and which drives are reliable. Do you want Firewire/USB?

What will you be using it for? Some applications like movie editing (I have no experience here, this is just what I've been told) require special HDDs that can maintain velocity over long periods of time.

You should be able to get a decent EX-HDD for $130. My 750 GB cost $140 shipped.

El Mucho

Just additional space. I have a dated computer with an 80 gig hard drive but I still like to play a lot of PC games. I recetnly had to clear off a few games because I got Medieval 2: Total War, and instead of the constant uninstall/reinstall. I would prefer to just have a load of space that I can install all my games to without worrying about my HD being full.

GeneralChaos

I just bought myself a Western Digital Passport (250g) for 66 bucks on ebay new. They're nice, I really like how small they are. For a 2.5" usb, they're also pretty quick.

good luck!

EDIT: HD space is cheap, but also consider how much you really need. for instance, it took me three years to fill up my 70g HD, so 250g will last me forever (or at least until i get my next machine).

Uncle Long

Do you really need an external HDD? If you're on a desktop you've probably got a free port for an additional HDD, and you'd see better performance vs. USB/Firewire.