Archive for the ‘external hard drive portable mac’ tag
External Hard Drive Portable
External Hard Drive Portable
 |
 New Transcend Storejet 25M 500GB USB Hard Drive 2.5 HDD  US $115.99
|
 New Transcend Storejet 25M 500GB 500G Hard Drive HDD US $115.99
|
 Transcend Storejet 25M 160GB 160G Hard Drive 2.5 HDD US $62.99
|
 HP 2TB 2 TB Personal Media Drive External Hard AU183AA US $179.95
|
 NEW LaCie Rugged 500GB - USB 2.0, FireWire 400/800 P... US $139.00
|
 New 320GB 2.5" USB Portable External Hard Drive HDD US $49.99
|
 NEW! 4GB MINI External Portable USB EXTERNAL Hard Drive US $11.95
|
 New Transcend Storejet 25M 250GB 250G Hard Drive HDD US $76.99
|
 New 500GB 2.5" USB Portable Mini External HD Hard Drive US $76.55
|
 500GB External Hard Disk Drive for Laptops/Desktop PC US $83.00
|
 Western Digital WDME5000TN 500GB USB Hard Drive US $45.00
|
 NEW 40GB SLIM Portable External USB Pocket Hard Drive US $15.50
|
 WD My Passport Elite 500GB USB 2.0 w/Dock Black New US $84.95
|
 NEW 1TB 32MB Cache USB 2.0 External Hard Drive -FREE SH US $79.95
|
 Iomega Prestige Portable 500GB USB Hard Drive US $67.88
|
 Western Digital 320 GB External Hard Drive; EXCELLENT! US $28.00
|
 New 250GB Portable Pocket USB 2.0 Hard Drive -FREE SH US $44.95
|
 New 2TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive w/Fan FREE SHIPPING US $134.95
|
 20GB USB External Portable Hard Drive Hi Speed 2.0 US $24.95
|
 NEW Portable External HDD 3.5 1TB USB2 7200RPM 0S02484 US $99.99
|
 LAPTOP 120GB EXTERNAL SLIM HARD DRIVE US $55.00
|
 New 500GB USB 2.5" Portable Mini External Hard Drive US $69.94
|
 SimpleTech SimpleTOUGH by Hitachi External 500GB mobile US $79.99
|
 NEW 80GB SLIM Portable External USB Pocket Hard Drive US $28.00
|
 NEW 120GB SLIM Portable External USB Pocket Hard Drive US $24.55
|
 Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB ST905003FAA2E1-RK BRAND NEW US $99.95
|
 Portable External SATA Hard Disk Drive 500GB for PC Mac US $147.36
|
 NEW LACIE Little Disk 500GB - USB & Firewire 400 800 US $151.00
|
 2.5' WD 500GB USB External Portable Hard Disk Drive HDD US $93.99
|
 Buffalo MiniStation HD-PE320U2 500GB 2.5" External HDD US $92.90
|
 NEW 60GB SLIM Portable External USB Pocket Hard Drive US $21.51
|
 40GB Ultra Slim Pocket Portable External USB Hard Drive US $26.99
|
 Samsung HXMU032DA/G42-320GB - 5400rpm - External - Wine US $108.11
|
 Samsung HXMU032DA/G32-320GB - 5400rpm - External - Snow US $108.11
|
 NEW 320GB SLIM Portable External USB Pocket Hard Drive US $51.32
|
When you need to secure your digital investments from identity theft, viruses, or lack of hard drive space, external hard drives allow you to properly back up or store important information. External hard drives are ideal for large MP3 collections, DVD and movie files, sensitive and personal information, financial documents, digital photo albums, and are a perfect compliment to any sized digital office system.
External hard drives are easy to use and relatively inexpensive, with models ranging from small 3.5" models at $15 to those offering the highest quality and most space for several hundred dollars. In addition, external hard drives allow you the flexibility to take data anywhere you go, as they can only weigh a few pounds and are smaller than laptops and notebooks. External hard drives differ in specifications, with some models feature higher speeds, while others sport higher capacities and different interfaces. But before you invest, it is recommended that you understand the differences between external hard drives and select the one that fits your specification needs.
Capacity Size
Capacity size is often considered the most important specification when selecting between external hard drives. Portable hard drives are commonly rated in Gigabytes, a billion bytes, or 1GB. Before purchasing your choice of external hard drives, you should know the main use of the drive, and an estimate of data you will immediately place on the drive. If you are planning on using external hard drives for your digital photos, you may want an 80GB model, instead of a 300GB drive.
The best way to calculate capacity size is to multiply your current data backup needs by at least three. If your data backups are currently 50GB, do not invest in any external hard drives that are less than 150GB. Your data storage needs will most likely increase over the next few years and you will want a portable hard drive that will grow with you.
Cache Size
The cache size on a hard drive controls how fast you can copy files to the portable hard drive. Cache is high speed memory on external hard drives that act as a buffer between the computer and the drive. Sometimes the drive cannot keep up with the incoming data stream during transfer, so the cache memory temporarily stores the data so that the computer continues to send data quickly. The larger the cache on the drive is, the faster the files copy over to your drive.
When selecting between external hard drives, consider the size of the cache on the drive, and how fast you need it to be. High speed memory used for cache can get expensive, so models with higher cache sizes tend to be more expensive.
Interfaces
There are two different types of portable hard drive interfaces – USB and Firewire. The most common standard, USB, allows your portable hard drive to copy files extremely fast, as long as there are no other devices using the USB card at the same time. However, USB interfaces have a maximum transfer rate that is determined by the other devices on the interface and involves significant overhead on the computer.
Firewire is considered a direct connection to external hard drives, and will copy files much faster than a USB interface. Most external hard drives are capable of supporting both interfaces, but some models will only be capable of either USB or Firewire. Keep this in mind when selecting your portable hard drive.
Now that you know how to select external hard drives, choose the best portable hard drive for your data backup needs. Don't fall victim to a sale or bargain bin, shop wisely based on your backup needs, and your external hard drive will be an asset for years to come.