The popularity of cloud storage is unquestionable but the use of external hard drive remains alternatively solid especially for local computer backup purposes.
External hard drive allows you to store more data in your computer and share them with other computer easily. Moreover, the use of external hard drive is more secure and less expensive than online backup system.
Now, you must know how to select the best external hard drive that fits your specification because many external hard drives differ in size, speed, performance, design, features and other benefits you might be interested in.
Capacity and transfer speed
Most of the time, people always seek first the performance of any thing they would buy. Performance in this case is the storage capacity of the external hard drive which varies from 500GB to 3Terabytes. It also refers to the speed of transferring data usually in the form of megabytes per second or for some, gigabytes per second. One important thing you must know is that the actual transfer speeds can increase or decrease in relation to the size of the transferring data.
Features
External hard drive features include plug-and play and backup software. In terms of compatibility, it refers to how the hard drive conforms to the PC operating system including its security by means of password. Security is important because nowadays, cool gadgets are prone to theft or even misplacement by the owner.
Design
Design is not just a simple consideration for many people. Many users want their gadgets to be portable or convenient, light in weight but durable. They also consider power supply availability which does not need to be provided by computer like simply being bus-powered. In addition, external backup should have the support of the manufacturer in a comprehensive help such as the warranty and terms of use and availability of user guide in times of need.
Going down to specific products, we have the following recommended external drives:
- WD My Passport 2TB Portable External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0 Black . WD My Passport has 320GB up to 2TB storage capacity, with features like automatic backups files, security password and its compatibility conforms to most of the operating system and can be also reformatted.
- Seagate Expansion 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive STBV3000100. Seagate external hard drive has capacity of up to 4TB powered with USB 3.0 for fast transfer and with a plug and play feature. It also have energy efficient feature for long lasting term of use.
- Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive STBU1000100 (Black). Another Seagate external backup hard drive with unique feature of Seagate dashboard with an adapter system that is enables the user to experience fast connection through 3.0USB port or 2.0USB port.
These products are just what we can recommend for external hard drives. To find the best external product for you, it will always be your choice as long as you consider the factors discussed.