SystonFox Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 I'm looking to purchase myself an external HD. I've been browsing the web all day and its a much of a muchness for me. how does one choose? ideally it'll be to store downloaded movies on (all legal!) and my music collection to free up some space on the laptop. do i need 1tb or is it worth spending a bit more for 2tb or maybe even 3tb? i dont have a budget as such but looking at prices i'd like to spend less than £100. and what is the difference between a "portable" HD and an "External HD" is it just that one comes with a power supply and the other doesnt? does it even matter? thanks in advance for your views Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st Century Fox Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 Yeah depends whether you want to move it about or keep it on a desk. That should answer whether you want a portable or not. I've got a couple of 2TB Western Digitals that just sit on the desk. One for my Mac's Time Machine and one for general media. For the money you may as well go 2TB but you'll probably never fill it, I think I'm about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through mine and I've got a fair bit of work on it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trav Le Bleu Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 As I understand it's about 80 hrs of HD video per TB - music wise, that amount would store a silly amount of songs, getting on for quarter of a million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox92 Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 Just go for a 1tb IMO. They aren't as much as what they used to be, and you should have enough storage for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKCJ Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 1TB is a silly amount of memory, depending on how silly your music/movie collection is depends if you need more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystonFox Posted 13 February 2013 Author Share Posted 13 February 2013 Thanks for the quick replies My friend was talking about ones with or without a power supply. does portable mean it wont have a power supply? and does it matter? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket-Ron Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 Get a NAS drive you might regret it in the future if you don't. As I understand it's about 80 hrs of HD video per TB - music wise, that amount would store a silly amount of songs, getting on for quarter of a million. Not if you save them as flac... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystonFox Posted 13 February 2013 Author Share Posted 13 February 2013 Explain what a NAS drive is please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trav Le Bleu Posted 13 February 2013 Share Posted 13 February 2013 Get a NAS drive you might regret it in the future if you don't. Not if you save them as flac... No, but still more than enough room for an average music collection (which is apparently 178 albums - but I know very few people that own that many. Think they're put out of kilter by those of us who have several hundred or thousands) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB11 Posted 14 February 2013 Share Posted 14 February 2013 Thanks for the quick replies My friend was talking about ones with or without a power supply. does portable mean it wont have a power supply? and does it matter? thanks A portable one runs off of USB power alone, so you can keep it in your bag. One with a power supply (runs off mains power so a plug and one USB for data transfer) is bigger and bulkier and is designed to sit on your desk and never be moved. The data transfer time is quicker on these but these aren't really able to be moved between home/work or put in a laptop bag. I would avoid Western Digital because they have a high failure rate. Source: personal experience working in computer repair shops. Sea gate is a good make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket-Ron Posted 14 February 2013 Share Posted 14 February 2013 Explain what a NAS drive is please? It's an external hard drive (not very portable though) that you can plug into the phone port for your intenet. I use mine to stream my music so there is no need to have my computer running all the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage Might not be what you are after. But as I said i use it as a server for all my wifi connected machines.. laptop, Phone, sonos etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haydos Posted 14 February 2013 Share Posted 14 February 2013 I'd get a 2TB. Managed to near enough fill mine with my films/tv shows/music/games and because of the pricing you can get that second TB for much cheaper than if you end up buying 2 x 1TB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystonFox Posted 14 February 2013 Author Share Posted 14 February 2013 I decided to go ahead and purchase a 1TB Samsung portable hd for £55 reduced from £79. 1TB seems as if it'll be plenty big enough for what I need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 14 February 2013 Share Posted 14 February 2013 Yeah, it's a bit silly to brag about it. But Western Digital hard drives with Thunderbolt connection are the sh*t. Seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystonFox Posted 18 February 2013 Author Share Posted 18 February 2013 just picked up my HD from the post office cos apparently it wouldn't fit in my door? It would have! Smart bit of kit so far, really like the look of it. just hope it plays movies on my xbox reasonably well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoareyaaa Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 You should have gone for a 2TB Cyclone Primus media player, plays any format. HD ports as well and a HD built in. got about 400 films/tv shows/docs on mine brilliant little thing. http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/200892389437?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystonFox Posted 18 February 2013 Author Share Posted 18 February 2013 does anyone know how to convert my external hd from exFAT / NTFS to fat32? without using an external programme if possible. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoareyaaa Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 does anyone know how to convert my external hd from exFAT / NTFS to fat32? without using an external programme if possible. thanks just stick it in your computer, goto my computer... right click on the External HD > format > this will allow you to change the file system and then hit Format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 Western Digital drives are notoriously unreliable. Mine gave up the ghost after 6 months. Total waste of money. I recently got a G Technologies drive, which looks the business and is extremely solid - can be found on the Apple website - very pleased with it. 2TB was about double what you'd pay for a WD, and for a good reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 My two 4TB MyBook Studio Edition II WD hard drives have been running for a year (second one) and three years (first one) now, and I've never encountered any issues at all. My guess is you've been either very unlucky or didn't handle them with the necessary care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st Century Fox Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 Yeah I've had my 2TB Western Digital for about 2 and a half years and never had any issues. I regularly switch using it between a Mac and a PC and it's been fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 Obviously not everyone has problems with them, but when I had issues with mine I found tonnes of forums and posts moaning about them. Also, reading through some of the 1* reviews on Amazon tells this too. I use mine for my business, so this time I spent extra to get something more resilient, but WD would be fine as a home back up I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSpaM Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 just stick it in your computer, goto my computer... right click on the External HD > format > this will allow you to change the file system and then hit Format. If you dont mind losing all the data on it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoareyaaa Posted 18 February 2013 Share Posted 18 February 2013 If you dont mind losing all the data on it... he has just bought it theres no data to lose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SystonFox Posted 18 February 2013 Author Share Posted 18 February 2013 Correct there is no date to lose! But It doesn't give me the option to format to fat32 but I know there is a way I just don't know it. The only forms it lets me format to are either NTFS or exFAT both which aren't recognised on the Xbox 360 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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