Best External Drive for the money?

[I-can-haz-porn]

I'm currently in the market for a new external hard drive.

I have a PC with a SSD for the main drive and a 2 TB internal HDD. I also have 2 external HDDs (a <500GB and a <250GB) that use AC power and USB interface that are getting quite old (15 years?). Want to replace both of them with one large drive before they have any problems.

What's the best thing out there with a "best of all worlds" between price, size, reliability, etc?

I'm open to a SSD or HDD, must be compatible for a PC with USB 3.0 ports. Doesn't matter if powered by USB or AC plug. Prefer at least 4 TB size. Would rather not spend more than $300.

I've looked briefly at a few (listed below), but wanted to get everyone's first-hand knowledge and experience.

WD easystore
WD My Passport
WD Black
Seagate Expansion


Thanks for reading and your suggestions!

[Lonewolf]

I'm a WD Passport guy myself...

[DarkRaven671]

I know it's popular to get a pre-made external drive, because it's convenient, especially for less techy people. But the "best" external drive has always been and will always be a suitable external case combined with a bare drive.

2.5" HDDs are basically dead, so you have a choice between a 2.5" SSD, a 3.5" HDD and a M.2 SSD, which would be functionally similar to a 2.5" SSD, but smaller.

Since 4 TB is considered small by todays standards, you'll have to pay a premium price per TB for such a small drive if you go for a HDD. Could be up to double the price per TB compared to a larger HDD. The best price per TB ratio is usually in the 14 to 18 TB range nowadays.

For SSDs, 4 TB is a common size, both in 2.5" and M.2 formats. SSDs are about four times the price per TB compared to large HDDs and two times compared to small HDDs.

If reliability is a factor for you, you have to get a SSD. HDDs will fail at some point, it's not if, it's when. But still, all drives can fail at any time, so you need to have a backup. In case the external drive isn't already a backup location, you should buy two drives.

300 bucks should get you a 4 TB SSD or a ~18 TB HDD or several smaller HDDs. You could also consider getting used HDDs if you want small ones.

[plasmus]

Yes!

Well, I bought two external 2.5" 5TB HDD drives last week, but the market is changing all the time.

My advice, if the data is of any value, also is to save it on at least 2 different devices. No matter, if it's a HDD, a SSD, a BD/DVD/CD, etc., all of them will fail at some point.

Well, nowadays I use 2 external HDDs regularly for everything I want to save, and all that is especially valuable for me, like family videos, even will be saved on a 3rd HDD and also burned on a BD.

I had data lost on defective USB-Sticks, memory cards, CDs, DVDs, BDs and HDDs. I also know from friends' experiences that SSDs are no different, maybe even worse due to the fact that any kind of data reconstruction (no matter how costly or time consuming) seems to be impossible from the outset with defective SSDs, but I'm no expert. My current computer runs from a SSD, but that makes me all the more concerned to save the data regularly.

HDDs from WD and Seagate never faiiled on me so far, so I would consider them first choice indeed, but everything of value should simply be saved on 2 or more different devices.

Cheers!

[MasterBates]

On this topis but different!? I didnt wanna start a new thread I got a 3.0 USB 2 TB drive I was using for ps5 that broke cause it disconnected 2 times while being plugged in + fell tot the floor. it stil has the light turn on when plugged in but doesnt show up @ all on ps or pc.
I had an extra so the ps thing is back again just gotta dl the games but would like to salvage the broken drive for stuff if possible? is there a way?

[plasmus]

Well, I have no expertise about external pre-made HDDs. The only one that ever failed, had data that was luckily double saved. That HDD suddenly, without any forewarning, only made crazy clicking noises, and was no longer recognized by the PC, so I'm sure that it's out of order to a point where only experts could save it at astronomical costs. It's not worth any more hassle for me.

You could take the HDD out of its case and see if it has the connectors of a normal HDD.

If so, a new external case or a docking station would be the way to go to revive the HDD. You can also buy fumbly USB- connectors that consist just of cables, adaptors and a power supply. The costs for usable devices are between 10 and 30 bucks. Even if the HDD can not be rescued, you can also use these devices to give other (internal) HDDs of no longer used old PCs a second life.

You'll find the devices in every computer store (online and offline). You just have to decide for yourself if it's worth the try.

Hope this is helpful. Someone with real knowledge about pre-made external HDDs could say more.

Cheers!

[zero33]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

I'm a WD Passport guy myself...

Mobile.. Stored in a drilled out letter organizer. 1 Power plug, & 1 USB plug to pull

[rbn]

So far, I've stuck with WD Passport and I have had a few quit working. Not really sure what the cause was. They were working fine one day and wouldn't work the next. Apart from that, I have quite a few that have lasted. I've never really gave the competitors a chance.

[SynchroDub]

I just stopped buying any WD Passport, Toshiba Canvio or Seagate Retail SMR drives altogether, and just stuck with traditional 3.5" HDD + case for everything.
Not only they cost far less than portable HDDs (per GBs), but they tend to last a good 7-10 years no problem, other than being also much more faster to transfer data to.

Portable drives, on the other hand, in case they fail they are a real pain in the ass to recover data from them, as you can't remove the HDD from the case and hook it up with a SATA cable, as they are all "glued" with a USB port that only works with the HDD board. And, in case that board fail, you won't be able to see your data forever.

WD and Seagate Barracuda 3.5" line of HDDs is what I use for any long-term storage.