What is the cheapest External Harddrive?

thrifty1

thrifty1

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Hey guys I just bought a Wii U a week or so ago. For the time being I think I will be ok with just the 8GB (which after the system update will be around 3GB?) because I only plan on playing 4-5 vanilla Wii games but I have a few questions.

1. answered

2. answered

3. What is the cheapest external hard drive available ?(250gb would be more than enough)

4. Are there any reliable externals that don't need a powersource?

I have a portable external that i suppose I could hoook up to it, but it tends to get very hot after a while so i was thinking i'll want to be on the lookout for a deal on a cheap external for the long run.

I will most likely be holding off until black friday to make a purchase for a deal, but it would be great to know what I am looking for and what everyone is using.Thanks for any replies.

Oh. I also have a Toshiba HDD2H24 250 GB 5400 RPM 2.5-Inch 8 MB Cache SATA Internal Hard Drive that I took out of my PS3 when I put a 1TB into my PS3. Perhaps I could buy an enclosure for even less and use that?
 
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Ahh ok. Thanks for the reply. So vanilla Wii games are saved separately to the 512mb/2000 block internal memory which is a part of my 8gb. Is that 512mb part of the 5gb system install?

Pretty awesome that I won't need an external hard drive until I actually start buying Wii U games.

Do you happen to know how much space virtual console games take up? Does the virtual console itself take up any space or cost anything? I was thinking of downloading Super Metroid for 30 cents.
 
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VC games are like 30MB each.

Yeah Wii saves can go on the SD card or the local disk (a 512MB part of the 5GB the console reserves for the OS). They don't show up in Wii U's data transfer tool. And the SD card can only be used for Wii mode.
 
Awesome. Thanks for all the infos.

Oh and is there a cable in the box to charge teh controller while playing via usb or is that something I have to buy separately?

Did you hear there is going to be a new battery pack for the controller? It's going to be around 25 bucks and lasts 8hrs instead of 3-5hrs. I wonder how this compares to the Nyko one. If I can just connect it via usb I won't worry about it tho.

Now I pretty much just gotta figure out what the cheapest hard drive solution is before mario kart, super smash, 3d mario, and all the other e3 games are released.
 
I'm going to stay on the lookout for something around $50-60 after shipping. I shouldn't need any more than 500gb and 250gb should be plenty.

The cheapest I could find currently ($84 w/ shipping) was one of Nintendo's 5 recommendations.
http://www.amazon.com/Book-External...369970747&sr=1-1&keywords=1TB+:+WDBACW0010HBK

I also found refurbished versions of the same model on newegg ($65 fs)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136919

I also found a Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 3.0 2.5" External Hard Drive (Black) for $47+$8shipping but not sure if compatible.
http://www.geeks.com/additem.asp?InvtId=RU-554-214-0003&Cat=HDD
 
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That one looks like my portable Seagate 1TB backup plus. I haven't tried using it with my Wii U because I still have stuff on it from work. I read that people who tried using it with the Wii U had problems and they said to get something with an externalpower supply.

Wish there was something cheap and reliable that I could just plug in the usb. My power outlet's sockets are pretty much tapped out right now. I'll have to remove the Wii U gamepad charger and use the usb charging cable for that for when the PS4 comes out.
 
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This is really dumb. Why would Nintendo release a console that they expect everyone to then go out and spend another $100 for an external hard drive for? That makes this thing cost $450 and damn near as expensive as the expected price of the PS4 and X1 and they will both have a lot more than 16gb of space.
 
the external you already have that overheats could be the drive or the housing that makes it overheat.... you can pull the drive and use a new housing, or put a new drive in the old.
 
[quote name='Blaster man']This is really dumb. Why would Nintendo release a console that they expect everyone to then go out and spend another $100 for an external hard drive for? That makes this thing cost $450 and damn near as expensive as the expected price of the PS4 and X1 and they will both have a lot more than 16gb of space.[/QUOTE]

To be fair, I believe both the PS4 and Xbox One will be loading the data from the disk onto the system itself, which means you need a substantial hard drive in order to play games. The 32gb in the Wii U deluxe is likely more than enough if all you're downloading are virtual console games.
 
[quote name='Blaster man']This is really dumb. Why would Nintendo release a console that they expect everyone to then go out and spend another $100 for an external hard drive for? That makes this thing cost $450 and damn near as expensive as the expected price of the PS4 and X1 and they will both have a lot more than 16gb of space.[/QUOTE]

HDDs don't cost $100. So buy the basic and a hard drive. Right now at target that works out to around $300.

There's no real need for the hard drive, considering most games are available on disc, and those that aren't are 2gb or less. I just want to download most of the retail games like mario kart and wario ware.
 
[quote name='coolz481']To be fair, I believe both the PS4 and Xbox One will be loading the data from the disk onto the system itself, which means you need a substantial hard drive in order to play games. The 32gb in the Wii U deluxe is likely more than enough if all you're downloading are virtual console games.[/QUOTE]

This. My 8gb will last me a long long time to where I don't have to worry about picking up a drive until I'm ready. Virtual shop games are like 30 or 40 mb and i've got like 3000 mb left. Saves are like ridiciulously small too to the point where you'll never fill up the 512mb devoted to wii saves as part of the 5gb install. So as long as you're buying discs, you'll be fine.

It's pretty much designed really well for people who never bought a Wii. I'm really enjoying mine. Google Street U was pretty cool to play with too and look around and the community aspect with the drawings and messages is cool. I'm pretty happy with the system overall. So long as you realize it's currently more of an accessory platform to the PS3/360 for heavy gamers.
 
Since there is no need for a HDD why do I keep seeing people posting they're spending 80 bucks on one? The OP isn't the only person on this forum that's bought one.
 
[quote name='Blaster man']Since there is no need for a HDD why do I keep seeing people posting they're spending 80 bucks on one? The OP isn't the only person on this forum that's bought one.[/QUOTE]

I assume they're downloading full Wii U games from the eShop - games like Assassin's Creed 3 and Batman: Arkham City are pretty substantial. If you stick to virtual console/eShop only games, you likely won't need an HDD for a very long time, and maybe not at all. I've got Bit.Trip.Runner2 plus another 10 virtual console games and have 27GB available.
 
[quote name='coolz481']I assume they're downloading full Wii U games from the eShop - games like Assassin's Creed 3 and Batman: Arkham City are pretty substantial. If you stick to virtual console/eShop only games, you likely won't need an HDD for a very long time, and maybe not at all. I've got Bit.Trip.Runner2 plus another 10 virtual console games and have 27GB available.[/QUOTE]

I've got maybe a dozen games on my regular Wii and it's basically full which kind of sucks actually.
 
[quote name='Blaster man']Since there is no need for a HDD why do I keep seeing people posting they're spending 80 bucks on one? The OP isn't the only person on this forum that's bought one.[/QUOTE]

It's a preference. I like having games with multiplayer available without a disc. It's just convenient. It seems like a good fit for games like mario kart or wii fit, that you play regularly, than long games like zelda that have a definite end.
 
wouldnt recommend the western digital my passport series, as the port on the drive is not USB, so it won't work with a standard Y cable and doesnt have a power adapter

 
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