External Hard Drives: What Are The Best Ones?

What are External Hard Drives exactly and how do they differ from normal, or internal hard drives and why do we need them? Well, basically external hard drives are hard disk drives that are located outside the computer, instead of inside like internal hard drives. Internal hard drives only belong inside a computer's hull housing, the tower. That's because internal hard drives need to be situated near the motherboard and also need to be held in place to stop corruption. Modern Internal hard drives are usually connected by SATA ports which is faster than a USB connection.

External hard drives are made to be located outside a computer's tower as they are connected by a Universal Serial Bus port, or USB for short. The USB connection allows portability for the external hard drive, that internal hard drives simply don't have. You can't carry your hard drive with you, unless it's an external hard drive. External hard drives also boast more stability as they can be moved somewhat and continue to work while also being non-volatile and allowing the memory to stay intact.

So now that we know the differences between internal and external hard disk drives, what are the uses for an external hard drive if internal hard drives are faster?

• Here are the uses of an external hard drive:
• Primary Storage of OS files and other important files for notebooks and PCs (Including MAC)
  
• Back-ups and Additional Storage of other files like Blu-ray movies
• Running Virtual Machines and Disk Cloning
• Compatibility and Portability of the Drive

The most important feature of external hard drives is that you can take your files with you! It's as simple as that. Internal hard drives don't allow you to carry your work, funny videos, and other important items on the go.

Currently, the best external hard drives come form the most reliable brands. They are Western Digital, Seagate, and Iomega. However, you need to know what to look for in an external hard drive before you buy one. Are you looking for Fast drives? Cheap drives? Quiet drives? Energy-Savers?  High Capacity Drives? Clean Drives? Super small and even more portable drives??

The best external hard drives in these categories come from those 3 brands.

The Iomega Prestige external hard drive series is a blend of speed, silence, and price. While the WD elements series is silent, and the Seagate GoFlex is series, the Iomega is a mix of thier traits.

Pros

• Only slightly louder than the WD elements series
• Exceptional Price (was cheaper than the WD elements)
  
• Slightly Faster than the WD elements series
• Smudge-free saved me time on cleaning it (best feature of any drive in my opinion since all 3 brands boast functionality but most drives suffer from uncleanliness)

Cons

• Not as fast as the GoFlex series (Although the FireWire version of this hard drive comes real close!)
• Less renown than Western Digital and Seagate
  

Overall the Iomega Prestige is great for external hard drive buyers that need sturdy, tough, and most of all functional drives. If you need more advice, information, or customers reviews I suggest that you check out this iomega prestige review. Honestly, this hard drive is great for anybody who is looking for a hard drive that is truly plug n'play, and truly easy to take care of. 

Western Digital's WD Elements Drives fit the title of cool n' silent. These drives boast one of the best prices per GB of any external hard drive and the sweet silence that many don't have.

Pros

• GreenDrive Tech makes this hard drive almost eerily quiet because you haven't experienced silence until you own one of these
• Energy Star compliant, it will save you tons of money on electricity bills
• One of the cheapest drives on the market
• Nice Design, lays flat or on a stand
  

Cons

• Not upgradable like the GoFlex series so it doesn't pack speed
• Another smudger, blah

If you want these kinds of drives you should get a Seagate GoFLex Series External hard drive. Nothing says fast like a Seagate GoFlex hard drive. The reason they are upgradable and the fastest on the market is because they are modular drives. What this means is that you can upgrade from a simple USB2.0 to a firewire 800 connection, to an eSATA connection, and finally to a USB 3.0 connection. USB 3.0 connections are 10 times as fast as a USB 2.0 for transferring all kinds of files.

The Pros

• Upgradeable allows for different speeds
• Fastest external hard drives on the market
• Connections for Television
• Ultra-Portable Version is 2.5" instead of the standard 3.5" which could easily fit in a coat pocket

The Cons

• Costs a little more to upgrade because of separate cables
• Smudges easily, annoying for some (I get very annoyed with these)
• Gets much warmer than the WD elements Series