Adding Storage to a PC

[MHopcroft]

It looks like this may be the month I finally can get a new, larger external hard drive for my PC. Any expansion of storage is good -- it is a well-known truism that data expands to fill the available space.

I'm trying to price a 1TB, 1.5TB or 2TB external hard drive, whether built that way or made by putting an internal drive into an external enclosure. My main concern is getting the most storage for my buck, but ease-of-use and reliability are also factors as I have had external drives die on me in the past. Still, I have a 300GB drive at least four years old that I'm still using now -- from a brand that nobody in their right mind recommends -- so it's variable what happens with these things.

So I know I'm (hopefully) getting the drive, and I know what I want from it. What I'm wondering from the techno-whizzes on the board is the best way to deal with the process of moving and reorganizing the data onto the new drive and spread around the old ones (basically I want to move my anime downloads to the new drive and free up the 500GB drive they're sitting on now for other things). The bigger the new drive is, the more room it will have for stuff. But, as I said, the data will inevitably expand to fit the capacity, making it a game you can't really win.

[kaku]

I wouldn't recommend going over 1 TB right now, the higher-capacity drives have higher failure rates from what I've heard.

I haven't actually done any price checking in a while, but it used to be that getting higher capacity drives & external enclosure separately was cheaper. This is likely not as true at the size you're looking at, mostly because more people are aware that an external drive is useful

I'd recommend putting anything that'll sit around for a while on it (as in, things you won't access terribly often), like Movies & Anime, as well as use it as a backup drive if you don't already have one. Just stick the things you'd be sad to lose (music, those pictures from that trip, those scans that you only have one copy of, saved game files, etc) onto it so that should your internal drive crash you won't be cursing the gods *quite* as badly.

[MHopcroft]

I wouldn't recommend going over 1 TB right now, the higher-capacity drives have higher failure rates from what I've heard.

I haven't heard anything like that. Of course, if I get enough I could buy two 1TB drives, but somehow I like the idea of bigger drives.

"I like big bytes and I cannot lie...."

I haven't actually done any price checking in a while, but it used to be that getting higher capacity drives & external enclosure separately was cheaper. This is likely not as true at the size you're looking at, mostly because more people are aware that an external drive is useful

True. The people who market external drives to the "tech-savvy" (or at least as tech-savvy as you can be if you run Windows) have done a good job marketing large drives. I even see some at Fred Meyer (though there's nothing there bigger than 1TB).

I'd recommend putting anything that'll sit around for a while on it (as in, things you won't access terribly often), like Movies & Anime, as well as use it as a backup drive if you don't already have one. Just stick the things you'd be sad to lose (music, those pictures from that trip, those scans that you only have one copy of, saved game files, etc) onto it so that should your internal drive crash you won't be cursing the gods *quite* as badly.

Whichever drive I get will join a growing family. I have a 500GB drive that is almost full-to-the-brim with fansubs. If I want to accumulate much more I need them on a bigger drive. Data expands to fill the available space, and so I need to expand that space so data can continue to safely accumulate.

[Kitsune]

There are also speed issues for larger capacity drives.  I recommend 1tb at this point.  1.5tb if you really want to get as much space for your money as possible.  2.0tb is pretty cutting edge right now and you never want cutting edge for HDDs.  If you want a technical explanation of how HDDs work and why higher capacity isn't always better I'll give it, but I don't want to if no one wants it.

[MHopcroft]

There are also speed issues for larger capacity drives.  I recommend 1tb at this point.  1.5tb if you really want to get as much space for your money as possible.  2.0tb is pretty cutting edge right now and you never want cutting edge for HDDs.  If you want a technical explanation of how HDDs work and why higher capacity isn't always better I'll give it, but I don't want to if no one wants it.

Perhaps in a private message or an e-mail. I could use the information, but the detail might bog down the general audience of the board.

[MHopcroft]

I heard from my money manager, so I have a new question: what the heck can I do for a hundred bucks?

Because that's all they're giving me to buy a drive.

[GKMachine]

You should probably stick to a 1TB drive then.
You might find a 1.5 on sale or something... but that could be sketchy... depending. (plus even on sale I think the cheapest I've seen 1.5's is $110)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014%204027&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=20

(that's a link to all internal hard-drives between $75-100 sorted by best rating remember that's minus shipping -- and tax if you're in WA).

The other day I found 500GB drives for $40 (+ $5 shipping on w00t), so for 2 that would be $85, but that works out to be the same in the end, that sale is over.

[MHopcroft]

You should probably stick to a 1TB drive then.

Right now I have two options that won't require me to pay shipping, neither of them very good. One is a $100 WD 1TB drive from Best Buy (may their shells be blighted) and the other is a drive on sale at Office Depot for $90 -- a 1Tb Verbatim drive. All i remember verbatim doing was floppy disks long ago. I have no idea whether their hard drives are of even tolerable quality.

All in all, a frustrating day that's making me feel pretty darned awful.

[kaku]

here are some more free shipping options for you in your price range, and they're external! I have some hand-me-down lacie's that have worked like champs from when my friend got them 3 or 4 years ago.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154393

and of course there's seagate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148405

[GKMachine]

Verbatim seems to have a mix of good (4 star) reviews and bad  (one star) reviews.
Because they only make externals that indicates that they only make the enclosures and buy the actual hard drives from someone else (that's undisclosed) and possibly different for each model.

I'd look up the particular model and see what people are saying about it -- that's generally good advice any day.
I trust the community (and company) over at newegg quite a bit, but google shopping is good if you need to cast a wider net.

I can concur with Drew that Lacie makes decent drives the 500 GB Lacie external I have has held up well (I've had it for 3 years).

I dunno, I don't like buying from big-box stores and would prefer Fryes (if you don't want to pay shipping) or NewEgg for online.

[MHopcroft]

I dunno, I don't like buying from big-box stores and would prefer Fryes (if you don't want to pay shipping) or NewEgg for online.

The big-box stores are hardly the ideal solution, but I have a bit of trouble with Fry's. Namely that unless someone with a car has time to give me a lift I can't get there as the only Tri-Met route to Wilsonville is the WES (designed for commuters and only running during rush hour).

I'll try to look up the verbatim drive on Newegg. I also saw something nice on Tiger that's about five bucks outside my price range, which frustrates the heck out of me.

Anyway, thanks to everybody for all your help. I only wish I'd gotten more cash so I could do something better.