External Backup Drive

[Nate_AVA]

I'm looking to get an external hard drive to back up everything on my desktop and laptop comps. My desktop hard drive is about full at 80GBs and the new laptop I got has 120GB drive, but so far only used about 18GB. I've gotten used to loosing all my files to some unreversable situation or another and figured it was time to get an external drive to back up everything and never lose it again. I know prices drop on hard drives from time to time, so I'm asking if anyone knows any great deals on some as of right now. I'm looking to get at least 320GB. The laptop did come with Vista Home Premium and my desktop is XP, so are there some hard drives that would work well with both OSs given the fact that Vista throws a fit from time to time? Thanks.

[classicsoftware]

Build Your Own:

First, get the hard drive of your choice.

Next:
If your are using the drive intermitently get an enclosure like This One (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817609001)

If your are using the drive daily and leave it on 24-7 get an enclosure like This One (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817155706)

[Nate_AVA]

Is purchasing a drive and then drive enclosure more cost effective then just getting an external one? I'll probably be using the drive daily between laptop and desktop.

[james9631]

Depends on what you want. Here is an example:

Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148139) $90
External Enclosure (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?Item=N82E16817155706) $20
Total = $110

External Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144079) $130 (cheapest 320GB I saw on Newegg with 16MB cache)

In this case it is more cost effective to piece your own. In addition, you will be able to increase the capacity of your external hard drive just by changing out the hard disk. This cannot be done on a pre-built model.

[pentachris]

The nice thing about getting one pre-made is that they usually come with decent "one-touch" backup software.

[jlreich]

Newegg has been having the WD My Book 500GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136025) on sale quite a bit for $165 + shipping. Or the 250GB version for $110, and others of different sizes. It's hard to beat that even if you put it together yourself.

[Nate_AVA]

Thanks for the help. If I happen to buy an OEM hard drive, is it likely that I would have to buy the necessary cables if the drive enclosure doesn't happen to come with any or are cables already provided with most drive enclosures?