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View Full Version : External Hard Drives, Online Backup Solutions & The Cloud


samifan24
06-25-2008, 06:49 AM
Lately I've been thinking that I should purchase either an external hard drive or a "subscription" to an online backup service (Amazon S3 or Mozy, for example) because I currently only have my photos backed up on Flickr, that's it. I have a newer Macbook but have not tried Time Machine yet. I like the idea of Apple's Time Capsule but I don't feel like paying $300 for it since I don't need the router capabilities right now.

Can anyone provide suggestions or feedback on different hard drives (Seagate, Western Digital) or online backup services? I know the local Best Buy has Seagate and Western Digital drives in stock but while both get good editor reviews from Cnet, they also both get a terribly mixed bag of user reviews. Help!

flere-imsaho
06-25-2008, 08:41 AM
I've just been doing the same research myself, at least into just external hard drives. The bottom line is that both the Seagate and Western Digital external drives are at the top of the heap in their category. I'll probably go with the Seagate as they have a 5-year warranty, but apparently you can't go wrong with either.

Rich1033
06-25-2008, 08:57 AM
I have two WD externals that have worked great and have not had any problems(an older 250gig thats full and a newer 500gig). Just dont be lazy like me and not move everything over from you internals. My internal died and I lost all my photos. Also, an additional backup to DVD isnt a bad idea.

Daimyo
06-25-2008, 09:11 AM
I went through using external drives for backup, then flickr for photos, and finally broke down and subscribed to Mozy. So far so good although I haven't had to do a restore yet.

Cringer
06-25-2008, 09:28 AM
I think externals are great. We have one that I have rarely used, but when I was being asked for the TCY Exporter a couple weeks ago I went and checked it as a last resort and found a bunch of crap from 3 years ago my wife had put on there, including the TCY Exporter......

Phototropic
06-25-2008, 03:26 PM
I started doing some research last night, so I'm interested to hear opinions as well.

M GO BLUE!!!
06-25-2008, 03:36 PM
The Seagate external drives are great.

I have two internal drives that I back up to external drives. When my C-drive crashed a couple weeks ago I had a backup that I was able to go to and be back up to speed within an hour.

gstelmack
06-25-2008, 08:13 PM
Well, after my wife upgraded her box, her old box remains connected to the network with a nice big drive in it, and Cobian backup backs up all our data every night to it...

samifan24
06-26-2008, 06:07 PM
I picked up a Western Digital Mybook 500 GB external from Best Buy today. Time Machine will do the rest.

JediKooter
06-26-2008, 07:02 PM
I picked up a Western Digital Mybook 500 GB external from Best Buy today. Time Machine will do the rest.

Excellent choice!

mrsimperless
06-26-2008, 07:11 PM
Well, after my wife upgraded her box, her old box remains connected to the network with a nice big drive in it

:eek:

I just want to say...

Never mind, too easy.

JonInMiddleGA
06-26-2008, 07:39 PM
Never mind, too easy.

Same thought I had.