External HDD recommendation?

[nismo91]

Hi everyone, i am thinking about getting some external HDD for backups and data transfer. In the past im always using DVD disc but i think it's very inconvenient and sort of wasting time (burnin time).

So i've seen few models on the market but what is i'm about to ask is:
which size of external HDD is good?
2.5" or 3.5" (i'm not going for 1.8")
and which type of the HDD has better quality?
IDE or SATA?

Well, im really thinking about 2.5" as it can be used without wall power am i right? So 3.5" will be bulky and less convenient as it has fan, power supply cable and of course bigger case. (though it has hi-er RPM)
But for the SATA and IDE, i really have no idea as i do not know much what is the MAIN difference.

I hope other users could share their info

Thanks.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

2.5" disks have limited capacity, 30-120GB.
Fuji is bringing out a larger 250gb 2.5" disk, but not until May 2007.
If 30-40GB is big enough, pick one up cheap on Ebay, such as
http://cgi.ebay.com/40GB-USB-2-0-2-...yZ116254QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[raybay]

Many externals have very high failure rate. If your data is valuable, get new, first class equipment of brand name such as Seagate or Western Digital. Treat it with as much, or more care than your computer, as it is more fragile than internal. Avoid no-name brands. Keep all cables in perfect condition.

 

[nismo91]

thanks for the infos, i understand what you mean. As im using it to put songs and little movies inside, so that i could send my friends if they're looking for it.
The brands im came across is :
seagate, maxtor, western digital, and samsung. But maybe i'll not go to samsung as i believe 3 others have better brand reputation in HD.

now i will do final research on the products and hope i can get it soon. I'll also avoid to damage the HDD by keeping it carefully (not letting it fell down).

Once again, thanks for all your replies

 

[raybay]

From our shop work, I would rate the Seagate first, complimented by the fact that they have a five year warranty, and no others has more than three.
Samsung has come up very strong this year, and I would rate them second... or perhaps tied for second with Western Digital now that WD has its failure problems corrected... by Maxtor is a distant fifth behind Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Toshiba.

 

[nickc]

just to make a point, I have six Maxtor harddrives in use at this moment not all as master but all over 3 years old.

 

[raybay]

The old Maxtors are usually OK. It is the new ones 60 GB or over that have all the problems... Maxtor had a long run of failures in their OEM series that broke, them. They are now under ownership of Seagate, and should return to high quality soon.