If you need to take your data with you when you’re out and about, you will be after something that’s lightweight and will slip into a jacket pocket, handbag or laptop bag without any trouble, without sacrificing usability, security and – for some at least – style. These are some of the best:
Buffalo Juststore Slimline: at just 5.0 by 3.4 inches, the Buffalo Juststore weighs in at a tiny 191g for the 320Gb model (also available in other sizes). It takes power from the USB 2.0 data connection and comes pre-installed with Buffalo’s TurboUSB software which boosts transfer speeds by up to 20% over other USB 2.0 drives. 
HP SimpleSave Portable HD: the SimpleSave from HP is exactly what it says on the tin – a very simple device with is straightforward to use. The 500Gb version weighs just 200g, runs off its USB 2.0 connection and self-initiates when you plug it in.
Iomega eGo Portable: the Iomega eGo Portable is perhaps one of the more stylish external hard drives available, and comes in a variety of colours. It also packs USB 3.0 to provide faster than average data transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps, and features Drop Guard Xtreme to safeguard it from damage as the result of, well, being dropped.
Samsung S2 Portable 3.0 HX-MTA64DA: don’t let the somewhat onerously name put you off, this Samsung drive is widely reviewed as a top performing portable hard drive, and only weighs 163g. It too has a USB 3.0 connection boasting transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps, and comes with preloaded software for plug-and-play back up.
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex: the GoFlex describes itself as “ultraportable”, and comes in a variety of storage sizes (including a monster 1.5TB drive) and colours (red, silver, black, blue). Powered by USB connection, the GoFlex comes with USB 2.0 as standard but with the option to upgrade to USB 3.0, FireWire 800 or powered eSATA by pairing the device with the appropriate cable (sold separately)
Western Digital My Passport Essential: named due to being roughly the same size as a US passport, this device now supports USB 3.0 (500Gb model only), backs up files on an incremental basis to minimise the time required and includes password protection and encryption.
Verbatim Store n Go: again, does pretty much what it says it will, the 500Gb version of this device weighs just 150g, and uses USB 3.0 bus powered connection to reach data transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps. Also has a green energy saving button to suspend the hard drive from spinning when not in use.
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You’ll tend to have a budget in mind when looking to buy a new external hard drive, below I share with you my views on the best value for money external hard drives your hard earned cash can get you…
Budget (less than £60): One of the best budget models on the market is the Buffalo DriveStation (1.0TB, USB2.0 model), which can be snapped up as little as £45 on some websites, but tends to hit the £50 mark on most (at time of writing). If it’s simplicity you want, this model is about as straightforward as you can get, connecting to your computer via USB port for data transfer and formatted ready to use out of the box. It’s also very quiet with no internal fan, and seems to maintain a cool temperature even when in heavy use. On the downside, you won’t be able to take the DriveStation out and about with you as it needs to be plugged into the mains to run.
Mid Range (£60 – £120): If you’ve got a little more to spend, you might want to invest in the WD My Passport Essential SE (1TB, USB 3.0/2.0 model). Tends to be priced at around £85 (at time of writing) and ticks all the boxes for speed of transfer (both USB 2.0 and 3.0 compatible), portability (USB powered and just 200g in weight) and ease of use (you can set it up to run continuously once installed, without having to prompt back up). It also comes in a variety of colours (metallic blue, metallic red, silver, midnight black), which is a nice touch, given that most models are only available in the ubiquitous black. One thing to note is that it comes with in-built back-up software which hasn’t had the most glowing of reviews, but you don’t have to use it, others such as Microsoft’s SyncToy 2.1 (free to download) seem to work just as well.
Big Spender (£120 and up): Okay, so this isn’t exactly value for money, but if you want to push the boat out and splash some cash on an external hard drive, you could do a lot worse than getting your hands on the iStorage DiskGenie 1TB 256-bit Pin Code Encrypted Hard Drive, currently retailing at about £190. In addition to all that you’d expect from a high spec external hard drive, the key selling point is that the DiskGenie adds an extra layer of protection on top, by protecting your data with a PIN that you programme in using the cash machine-style keypad – indeed if you need to you can assign up to 10 unique passcodes to different people! It’s small and light enough to slip into your pocket or handbag and has a conveniently integrated USB cable to connect with your computer. So all in all, a great purchase for those who require that little bit of extra security but don’t want to scrimp on looks.
Do you agree? Any other recommendations out there?
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So you want to get an external hard drive, but have ventured online to take a look and are now dazed and confused by the choice of makes, models and sizes available? I know exactly how you feel. Hopefully this buyers guide will take all the mystery out of buying your external drive, as I explain what factors are important:
Disk size:
Clearly one of the most important factors is how much data you’ll be looking to store on your external hard drive. How much space you need will clearly depend on what you do with your computer and what you’re looking to use your external hard drive for – some people choose to mirror their entire hard drive, others just to store the files that are important to them, for example family photos, legal documents, etc. As a general rule, you should probably try to buy as much disk space as you possibly can afford, in order that you build in some future proofing… you never know how much capacity you’ll need in years to come! To give you some idea, my recent holiday photos take up about 800MB, and a full-length feature film will consume around 1.5GB.
Security:
One of the most likely reasons you’re interested in an external hard drive will be to keep your files safe and secure just in case your computer decides to give up the ghost one day and take everything with it. But the downside of backing everything up to an external hard drive is that you now have all your precious files in one place, and this can be a worry for some. The answer is encryption, and many devices now come encrypted already built in to save you the hassle of doing so yourself (see other post here on best encrypted hard drives). Encryption means that to get access to the contents of your hard drive, someone will require a password or some other form of identification (e.g. fingerprint recognition). Many manufacturers provide more secure versions of their standard models (think Buffalo Ministation DataVault versus the standard model). If you’re thinking “hang on a minute, I could just store my files in the Cloud and not worry about any of this encryption malarky, they’d do it all for me!”, you’d have a point, but as I’ve discussed in another post, betting the house on Cloud isn’t necessarily the right answer either, there are definite advantages to having your data held locally, including recent examples of Cloud data storage providers proving vulnerable to hacking.
Speed of transfer:
Speed of data transfer is driven by a number of factors, a key one being the technology employed to connect with your hard drive. Most external hard drives today use a USB 2.0 connection which has a top theoretical speed of 480MBps. Faster connections are increasingly available, through such technologies as FireWire (with up to 800MBps) and eSATA interfaces (again theoretically delivering up to 3,000MBps). Some external drives now even come with connections that support all 3 of these technologies, meaning you can maximise your transfer rate dependent on the specifications of your computer rather than the drive itself.
Ease of use:
These days you’d think that you’d be able to pick up any external hard drive, simply plug it into your laptop and use it, but no. Things to watch out for include the requirement to download specific types of software before you can back anything up, the need for some devices (notably eSATA) to have access to an external power source to run on and that many PCs don’t come with FireWire ports as standard. Standard USB 2.0/3.0 connecting devices are generally considered the easiest to use, in that they are both powered by their connection to your machine and can simply be plugged and unplugged without the need to shut down in the meantime.
Portability:
If you’re going to be taking your external hard drive out and about with you, you’ll probably be interested in a lightweight, more portable model. Indeed, there are models on the market that weigh not much more than your mobile phone, and we’ve looked at the most portable hard drives in another post. Additionally, you’re unlikely to want to lug around an extension cable everywhere you go, meaning that eSATA drives are probably not the best option (see above). For maximum portability, you really can’t go wrong with USB connected devices which derive their power from your laptop. Ultimately, if all you’re interested in carrying or transferring is a relatively small set of documents rather than a vast ream of photos, songs and films, you may find you’re better off using a standard memory stick and leaving your hard drive at home/office.
Cost:
Last – but certainly not least by any stretch of the imagination – you’ll have a price in mind when shopping around for your external hard drive. It’s generally said that you should buy as much disk space as you can afford, but clearly you need to play in the other factors discussed here. Thankfully, you’ll be able to find drives that provide great value for money whatever your budget (see more on this in post on Value for Money External Drives).
Hopefully this post has helped shape some ideas about what to consider when buying your external hard drive. Let me know if you think I’ve missed anything!
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