Want - Excellent external hard drive for cheap

Thanks for all the help Strell. I needed a place to move my iTunes library and PSP movies to - it was getting out of hand.
 
Strell: Thanks for your info. in this thread thus far. I too, am looking for an external. However, the hard-drive you mentioned in your first post is no longer available. Do you have another recommendation that's still in stock? (Preferably one that would go with that case you already mentioned.)
 
[quote name='Rig']Strell: Thanks for your info. in this thread thus far. I too, am looking for an external. However, the hard-drive you mentioned in your first post is no longer available. Do you have another recommendation that's still in stock? (Preferably one that would go with that case you already mentioned.)[/QUOTE]

Any internal IDE HDD will work. Go here: http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=14 and change the interface to either IDE Ultra-ATA 100 or 133 (133 is faster) and pick a drive. As Strell said, Seagates are usually easy to get deals on and they're quality drives but they don't have any IDE UATA 133 HDDs yet. Whether or not a HDD is good can be easily found out by just reading the reader reviews/rating on Newegg.

Also, Veggie has a 160GB WD HDD that will work too (IDE UATA 100) for sale/trade. Check this thread: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=982619#post982619.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Any internal IDE HDD will work. Go here: http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=14 and change the interface to either IDE Ultra-ATA 100 or 133 (133 is faster) and pick a drive. As Strell said, Seagates are usually easy to get deals on and they're quality drives but they don't have any IDE UATA 133 HDDs yet. Whether or not a HDD is good can be easily found out by just reading the reader reviews/rating on Newegg.

Also, Veggie has a 160GB WD HDD that will work too (IDE UATA 100) for sale/trade. Check this thread: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=982619#post982619.[/QUOTE]

Thanks!
 
Rig: This is what I bought based on Strell's advice:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831AS 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148064
$131.00

and

AMS Venus DS3 DS-2316SU2SBK 3.5" USB2.0 (type B) + SATA External Enclosure - Retail
Item #: N82E16817145660
$54.99

I'm very happy with my purchase - everything runs smooth but I did have to download a Seagate from their website driver for XP to recognize my external drive. 300GB to use now!!! Woohoo!!! :D
 
[quote name='javeryh']Rig: This is what I bought based on Strell's advice:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831AS 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148064
$131.00

and

AMS Venus DS3 DS-2316SU2SBK 3.5" USB2.0 (type B) + SATA External Enclosure - Retail
Item #: N82E16817145660
$54.99

I'm very happy with my purchase - everything runs smooth but I did have to download a Seagate from their website driver for XP to recognize my external drive. 300GB to use now!!! Woohoo!!! :D[/QUOTE]

That looks good. However, I don't think I will ever need 300GB! :lol:
 
Only reason I suggest a Seagate (aside from the testimonial evidence that is almost always positive) is that they offer 5 year warranties. I'm not sure what Maxtor and Western Digital offer, but I do know that 5 year is the longest in the HD business (or was the last time I checked).

I'm the kind of person dreadfully worried about durability, and I prefer to cough up some extra cash if it means my stuff will last longer and be reliable.

I checked some of the reviews of Maxtor at newegg, and most are good. The main complaint regarding a total crash wasn't inspiring - essentially that you are SOL if it goes down, that their support might send you a refurbished drive that also might die kind of quickly, and that their warranties are short.

Unfortunately it's difficult to say which drive is best when you compare the three companies. If we assume there are simply lemons in any production-based industry, then there's always a chance a Maxtor will outlive a WD and a Seagate, or it might die within a month. Given that such criteria is unreliable, I go to the next best thing - warranty time. If that is our sole factor, then Seagate wins, hence why I suggest them.

I mean, we can always find someone who says Seagate sucks, I like Maxtor. And then find another person that says Maxtor sucks, I like Western Digital. And then someone who says Maxtor and Western Digital suck, I like Seagate. If the rate of failure is variable at best without us having access to hard, side-by-side comparison data, then let's at least throw all of that out of our original problem and focus on something that can't be debated. That's all I'm getting at.

Anyway, Vinny was correct with his information, and javery's picks are good. If you can wait 1-2 weeks, generally Best Buy or Officemax or CompUSA will put a Seagate Barracuda on sale. Also, check dealnews.com daily - they find killer stuff. Think CAG, but with no forums, and access to a wider variety of mostly-computer stuff. However, they tend to get videogame deals.....3-4 days after we post them here. :) Bwahaha!

Here: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-B...-Hard-Drive-for-100-after-rebates/107832.html

Anyway, just let me/us know if you have any other questions!
 
[quote name='javeryh']Rig: This is what I bought based on Strell's advice:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831AS 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822148064
$131.00

and

AMS Venus DS3 DS-2316SU2SBK 3.5" USB2.0 (type B) + SATA External Enclosure - Retail
Item #: N82E16817145660
$54.99

I'm very happy with my purchase - everything runs smooth but I did have to download a Seagate from their website driver for XP to recognize my external drive. 300GB to use now!!! Woohoo!!! :D[/QUOTE]


sounds like a good combo, I was thinking of getting about the same thing..but it appears that NewEgg is out of that enclosure, because I can't find it on the site. I ordered an external 300 GB Fantom drive last week, but I think I am going to return it and get an HDD+enclosure.
 
[quote name='Rig']Okay, how about this: http://www.outpost.com/product/3492233

Is Maxtor reliable? And, would it fit the Venus enclosure?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656

I don't even think I need 200GB, but I'm trying to cut down the cost a bit. (I don't have too much money at the moment, but I've nearly filled my PC's 80GB drive.)[/QUOTE]

The thing about HDD warrenties is that once they're dead... you lose all your data. The chance of that happening is pretty low unless it's faulty out of the box or unless it takes some physical punishment (vibrations, falls, shocks, etc.).

I've never heard of a single HDD brand that's infinitely better than the next, it's usually about performance. The worst that can happen is you lose your data and you get a replacement if it happens in the 3 years of the warrenty. What I'd tell you to do is put the drive though some normal useage for a while with data that's not that important and see what happens.
 
ok, i have a question. i have an olde motherboard that wont reckonize an internal HD more than 120GB, no matter how big the actual HD.

if i do this method and/or buy an external HD more than 120GB, will the comp reckonize all the HD space?? thanks in advance.
 
[quote name='souNReAL']ok, i have a question. i have an olde motherboard that wont reckonize an internal HD more than 120GB, no matter how big the actual HD.

if i do this method and/or buy an external HD more than 120GB, will the comp reckonize all the HD space?? thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

What kind of motherboard is it? You should try and flash the BIOS first and see if that helps. I'm guessing that your computer will have problems whether the drive is internal or external, though I've never run into the problem so I can't say for sure.
 
its an amd athlon board. 1.2 ghx bought in 2001. since then ive bought 4-5 hard drives, the 2 over 120GB it wouldnt exckozinge the extra GBs, wouldnt even let me partition the drive to split into 120GBs sections.


a geek squader at best buy told me it was because the motherboard was an older model. and flashing the bois on my comp doesnt like something i should be doing without knowing for sure.
 
Hi, folks. I've been reading through this thread, and I'm still a little confused about compatibility issues.

What I really want to do, because I've never done anything like this before, is buy an enclosure and stick an internal hard drive in it, not only to save some money but also to increase my tech abilities, however slightly.

Does this seem like a good deal?

Enclosure: $36

Hard drive: 300 Gigs for $90 after rebates and savings

What do you all think of this combination? Will they work together? I wonder about compatibility because the interface for the enclosure is "IDE" and the interface for the hard drive is "EIDE/Ultra ATA interface" Are those compatible?
 
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