Portable external hard drives- which one/which brand?

[Kitah]

I'm after a portable external hard drive, but have no idea which would be best for me... I'm planning on using it predominently for backing up my computer (500gb hard drive) but also for quick access to some movies etc. I do currently use a western digital 250gb hard drive, but I don't back my computer up as often as I should ('cause I hate trying to find a power point spot for it) and its now too small.

Which brands are 'better' than the others? I'd like to keep the price down as much as possible, for a ~500gb portable drive. It would be good if the file transfer rate is reasonable, as well

also, how 'reliable' are the portable (USB powered) hard drives? Are they any less reliable than the ones with their own power supply/adapter?

List of ones that I've found- I don't know what the 'real' difference is between most of the western digital ones..

Western Digital (WD) 500gb passport silver pocket hard drive: $129
- USB 2.0
- compatible with windows and mac
- 3yr warranty
- 128bit encryption (windows only)
Officeworks | Western Digital 500GB My Passport Silver Pocket Hard Drive

Western digital elements 500gb pocket hard drive (XH1193): $129
-
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4b51c91b0100734e2740c0a87e010613/Product/View/XH1193

Western digital my passport essential 500gb external hard drive: $144
- sync + encryption
- 'ultra portable design'
- windows and mac compatable
- 3yr warranty


Western Digial 640gb My passport essential SE hard drive: $129
- SmartWare software (continuous backup, visual display of backup status, file retrieval)
- drive lock- military grade 256 bit encryption
- USB 2.0
- 3yr warranty
- Formatted NTFS for windows, reformatting required for Mac OS tiger, leopard, snow leopard
(officeworks- forgot to post link before I closed the page)

Buffalo 500gb ministation: $129
- USB 2.0
- 'turboUSB'/high powered USB
- secureLockMobile software for windows
- 3yr warranty



Lacie 500gb mobile disk: $119 (was $169 or something)
- USB power sharing cable
- '1-click backup software' (windows/mac)
- silverkeeper backup software (mac)
- 1 mini usb port
https://shop.1wow.com.au/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=56&idproduct=6574

 

[Paulie]

re

all i can say is the officeworks one is only for apple mac computers. the other 2 are roughly the same but the 1 click back up hard drive would be better in my opinion.. if this helped. paul.

 

[AnthonyJ]

640gb passport would be the way to go.

file transfer is the same, all usb2.0 480mb\s.

 

[fishunter]

I have the first one and have never had a problem with it. I have all my movies, photos, songs etc and is pretty quick. Great value for money in my opinion.

 

[Fuscus]

I have a 1tb WD on which I run a VM for my CVS system. It hasn't missed a beat.
Also officeworks is one of the most expensive places to buy computer parts. Try Online Computer Store - Umart online? Your one stop Computer Shop for computer parts,notebook and new system though I don't know the cost of shipping to FNQ

 

[Kitah]

fantastic, thanks guys

 

[Kitah]

Ok another question- the 640gb WD passport elements one... I'd like to use this drive for both my windows 7 computer, and a friends Mac - if I reformatted it to work on the mac, does that mean it will no longer work on my windows computer as well? is it one or the other?

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

Of the brands you mentioned, you can't go past Western Digital, I have an old 80gig portable that's been around the world with me...twice, about 6 years old and still chugging along great.

 

[Kitah]

Alright, I think I might stick with western digital now just to find a 500gb one for around $130 max that works on both mac and windows

 

[Chris1]

awesome, just what im after as well!
thanks for saving me the research part!

 

[Kitah]

Ahh you slacko! lol

 

[Chris1]

hehehe,..