External Hard Drives

[Luci]

Do you think the one I linked is aa good shout or better to spend a bit more with larger capacity?

(Thanks for all the help by the way, I'd be lost otherwise)

[jonny72]

Bizarre as this may seem, provided you've got one nearby so you can pick it up I'd recommend buying it from PC World. They are very competitive on hard drive prices, though there is a smaller selection.

They've got a Seagate 500Gb at £50 and a Western Digital 500Gb at £60 (I've got one of these, they look good and are pretty quiet). Some of their stuff is cheaper if you reserve it online then go pick it up - the Western Digital is normally £75 in store but if you reserve it online first you get it for £60.

Or they've got a Western Digital 1Gb at £85 if you want a bigger capacity.

[Luci]

Bizarre as this may seem, provided you've got one nearby so you can pick it up I'd recommend buying it from PC World. They are very competitive on hard drive prices, though there is a smaller selection.

They've got a Seagate 500Gb at £50 and a Western Digital 500Gb at £60 (I've got one of these, they look good and are pretty quiet). Some of their stuff is cheaper if you reserve it online then go pick it up - the Western Digital is normally £75 in store but if you reserve it online first you get it for £60.

Or they've got a Western Digital 1Gb at £85 if you want a bigger capacity.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0591758991.1241635215@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddadehehlllfgcflgceggdhhmdfho.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=220908&category_oid=

This one?

[Simon Pieman]

Ask if he's going to be taking it anywhere often or if he'll leave it on his desk because size may become an issue.

Maplin's is next to pcworld isn't it? So if you wanted to buy in store you could always compare prices/stock that way too.

[jonny72]

Yup, that's the Seagate at £50. I don't know what its like though, I'd recommend the Western Digital at an extra £10 though as I've got one and haven't had any problems (and its nice and quiet). Or even better the WD 1Tb at £85 (same design as the 500Gb but double the capacity).

I would always stick to a major brand though such as Seagate or WD. There are only about four or so companies that actually manufacture hard drives, companies such as Lacie have to use other brands of drives as they don't make them themselves.

But check whether he wants USB or FireWire first.

[Lumps]

If he's gong to use it mainly for downloaded media its worth thinking about one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=227469

It's a bit dearer, but it's got a handy built in media player meaning you can plug it straight into most newer TV's and play back all those downloaded movies in DivX or whatever in the comfort of your living room without all that tedious mucking about burning CD's.

My lads had one for the last year or so and loves it.