Jaclee,
oh! thx thx. we'll go down to have look when there's a chance.
Janiz,
yup, we had a photo of what we want and they said the bees too chim to make.
Sandy,
Computer hardware is not my trade but I have interest in such topic.
This is what I have gathered from some of the sources that I have read.
After gathering your needs, you may pick the brands/model which offer a value for money.
<u>Size - 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch (physical size of the device)</u>
- 2.5 inch is more compact and uses USB cable for power. Good candidate if you need to carry it around.
- 3.5 inch, bigger and uses a separate cable for power. Faster than 2.5 inch. Good if you want to leave it connected on a single machine most of the time.
<u>Memory - How much memory do I need (disk space e.g. 10GB 500GB 1TB)?</u>
- multiply your current data backup need by at least three when looking for data capacity.
<u>Speed - How fast do I need?</u>
if I do a backup of 100 files,
- I want it to be done with a snap of fingers,
then look for higher cache sizes. But it is more expensive.
- I can wait, I'll take the time to do laundry etc,
then forget about cache size
<u>Cable - USB or Firewire</u>
USB - more common, but might be slower depending on number of connection
Firewire - speed up the copy but some machine might not have this. I think this is Macintosh (Apple) standard. If you are using iMac and on iMac only, then probably this is a better choice.
<u>Source:</u>
http://www.data-backup-and-storage.com/external-hard-drive.html
http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-xp/25-vs-35-external-hard-drive/152998.html
I also dunno which is the most reliable brand. It might be good if it comes with a Warranty also (I'm not sure of the current market practice though).
eh.. not sure if all the above is correct but just my understanding after doing some readup.
everyone is free to comment if the information is not so right ya.