External Hard Drives


  • External Hard Drives (344)
  • Reviews (632)
  • sort by:
  • Popularity
  • | Overall score
  • | Price
  • | Name
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 |
 
  • Filtered by:
  • External 
 
 
 
1
 Iomega eGo Portable USB 3.0 (500GB)
Listed since 06/2010
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB 3.0; Type: External
"... it performs very well, but we should state that, if you're not already aware, it's folly to  …
1 Review
 
 
2
 Seagate FreeAgent Desk ST315005FDD2E1-RK (1,5 TB)
Listed since 02/2009
Capacity: 1500GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: PC
"... At just over £100, or 7p per gigabyte, the Seagate Freeagent Desk is a great value desktop USB2 hard disk. It'  …
1 Review, 6 Opinions
 
 
3
 A-Data Nobility NH01 (500 GB)
Listed since 05/2010
A-Data Nobility NH01 (500 GB)
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB 3.0, SATA; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
2 Reviews, 1 Opinion
 
 
4
 Samsung Story Station (1TB)
Listed since 05/2009
Capacity: 1024GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
File transfer benchmarks via USB in Samsung's Story Station 1TB are among the fastest seen for both small  …
1 Review, 4 Opinions
 
 
5
 Western Digital My Book 3.0 (2 TB)
Listed since 06/2010
Western Digital My Book 3.0 (2 TB)
Capacity: 2000GB; Connection: USB 3.0; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"... Although the My Book was beaten by other USB3 disks in some of our file transfer tests, its file copying  …
1 Review
 
 
6
 LaCie Rugged XL (1 TB)
Listed since 04/2009
LaCie Rugged XL (1 TB)
Capacity: 1024GB; Connection: eSATA, USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"If you intend to keep your hard drive with you at all times, then the LaCie Rugged is for you. ... The combination  …
2 Reviews, 16 Opinions
 
 
7
 Western Digital My Book Studio Mac Edition 2 TB (WDBAAJ0020HSL)
Listed since 10/2009
Capacity: 2048GB; Connection: USB, FireWire; Type: External; Typical Use: Mac, Notebook
"For: Good use of e-ink technology; FireWire and USB connectivity; Great value for money. Against: Cannot use as a boot drive."
2 Reviews, 10 Opinions
 
 
8
 Transcend StoreJet 25M (TS500GSJ25)
Listed since 04/2009
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, PC
"... It's also been drop tested to the US military Standard of dropping stuff, so when it falls out of  …
1 Review, 18 Opinions
 
 
9
 A-Data Nobility NH01
Listed since 03/2010
Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
While the Nobility is not the fastest USB3 disk around due to its 5,400rpm speed and doesn't include any software  …
3 Reviews, 1 Opinion
 
 
10
 Western Digital My Book 3.0
Listed since 04/2010
Type: External
"... In general, the drive runs cool and quiet which suggests, even though WD does not let on, that this NTFS  …
5 Reviews
 
 
 
 
11
 LaCie Rikiki (640 Go)
Listed since 02/2010
Capacity: 640GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Mac
"... Out of the box, the Rikiki comes nowhere near the 60 MB/s maximum transfer speed LaCie advertises, but  …
1 Review, 2 Opinions
 
 
12
 Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3
Listed since 11/2009
Capacity: 1000GB; Connection: USB 3.0; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"Superspeed USB 3.0 offers three times the transfer speeds of USB 2.0, at the same time trumping the seldom  …
4 Reviews
 
 
13
 Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3 (1TB)
Listed since 12/2009
Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3 (1TB)
Capacity: 1000GB; Connection: USB 3.0; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
4 Reviews
 
 
14
 Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1TB
Listed since 12/2009
Capacity: 1000GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Mac, PC
"The My Passport Essential SE is Western Digital's largest capacity portable hard drive yet, and it offers  …
1 Review, 10 Opinions
 
 
15
 G-Tech G-Drive Mobile (500 GB)
Listed since 02/2010
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB 2.0; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
PC Advisor gave the G-Drive mobile 500GB a 'Recommended' award on account of its good build quality,  …
1 Review
 
 
16
Listed since 01/2010
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, PC
"Although not everyone will appreciate its wholly automatic approach, the Seagate Replica is an ideal solution for people who wouldn'  …
4 Reviews, 6 Opinions
 
 
17
 A-Data SH93 (500GB)
Listed since 03/2010
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB 2.0, Serial ATA; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"... we noticed the ADATA Superior SH93 drive to be particularly quiet and low in vibration, helped no doubt  …
2 Reviews, 4 Opinions
 
 
18
 LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive (320 GB)
Listed since 10/2009
Capacity: 320GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"Not only does the LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive look good, but it performs well and can withstand quite a bit of punishment."
2 Reviews, 5 Opinions
 
 
19
 Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive (500 GB)
Listed since 04/2009
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB, FireWire; Type: External; Typical Use: Mac, PC
"... The eGo coped very well with our large files tests managing 29MB/s overall. ... There's a lot to  …
4 Reviews
 
 
20
 Imation Apollo UX 500GB
Listed since 04/2009
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"... The drive comes with some backup software installed so that you can use it to secure your files. It looks  …
4 Reviews
 
 
  Western Digital My Passport Essential (500 GB)
Listed since 12/2008
Capacity: 500GB; Connection: USB; Type: External; Typical Use: Notebook, Mac, PC
"We’d prefer a standard mini-USB port for the connection mechanism, but there’s not much else to fault on  …
4 Reviews, 16 Opinions
 
 
 
 

Reviews

"Imation Apollo UX 500GB"
1 Hard Drive (approx. £100)
Computer act!ve
Published on 4/2010
On test: Imation Apollo UX 500GB
"A portable hard disk that can take a few knocks." Review details: Single Test.   → Test results
"Iomega eGo drive"
1 Hard Drive (approx. £80)
Digital Photo
Issue 12/2009
On test: Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive (500 GB)
"This eGo portable drive from Iomega is a great compact option to back-up your files. ..." Review details: Single Test   → Test results
"Imation Apollo Pro UX 1TB"
1 Hard Drive (approx. £170)
Computer Shopper
Published on 9/2009
On test: Imation Apollo Pro UX (1TB)
"Imation's Apollo Pro UX 1TB external hard disk is attractive thanks to its glossy white front panel, which illuminates when turned on. The plastic case feels a bit creaky, but it's otherwise well designed. It can be placed either horizontally or vertically on your desk, with pop-out feet to keep it steady when oriented vertically." Review details: Single Test   → Test results
"Freecom ToughDrive Sport 250GB review"
1 Hard Drive (approx. £90)
PC Advisor
Published on 7/2009
On test: Freecom Tough Drive Sport 250 GB
"Tough enough to come with a carabiner, Freecom's ToughDrive Sport 250GB USB drive boasts stormy weather abilities also. The USB cable tethered to the drive body is sheathed in nylon weave, resembling climbing cord." Review details: Single Test. One external USB hard drive was reviewed and rated on build quality, features and value.   → Test results

Notification on a new review

We will let you know as soon as a new review appears in this category.
Your email address:
 

External Hard Drives

The hard drive of a computer is used for saving all non volatile, that is to say, all permanent information such as documents, the operating system, programs and all other data. Most hard drives are found inside the computer case itself, but an external hard drive can be used to add storage space and also to help when sharing large amounts of data between computers or for keeping a secure backup of important data.

These drives are either specially made or are a normal internal hard disk mounted in an enclosure with an IDE to USB or FireWire adaptor. There are also no-called Network Attached Storage devices, these are connected to a local area network and can be accessed by any connected computer.

Because the basic drive is the same, external hard drives are available in the same sizes and speeds as a normal drive, ie. up to 500GB with speeds of 5400 or 720RPM. External hard drives are now much cheaper and more efficient, some smaller drives can even be powered by the USB bus itself, although for backing up sensitive information this is generally not recommended.

Prices have also dropped significantly with basic 300GB drives costing under one hundred pounds. A more expensive drive could however offer some interesting features that may be of use to those living in today's digital age. These include the ability to connect the drive directly to a television or hi-fi system, copy from memory cards or act as an automatic redundant backup device for the connected PC.
This category contains tests on External Hard Disk, External Hard Disks.