Buying an external hard drive

[akmaroc]

I am going to buy an external hard drive anywhere from 500gb to 1tb is what I require. What i want to know is whether I should buy ready made drive from the likes of iomega lacie or WD or should i have one built with a normal hard drive and a case. Also should I get a 1tb drive i hear they can have a few problems. Also should i buy a 2.5 inch portble drive or a 3.5 is there a differance in speed and reliability. is usb 3.0 worth it?

Any help advice and suggestions would be much appreciated

 

[ssddx]

it doesnt much matter if you buy a prebuilt or diy solution. the diy would offer you a choice of any drive on the market instead of whatever major companies are offering in a case.

while true that some larger hard drives have been known to have issues, the same can be said for any hard drive. it is a chance you have to take (and why we back up in multiple places!)

3.5 drive would most likely be cheaper per gb. go with a 7200rpm drive instead of any "green" 5400 drives. if the device is going to stay at home and if your computer supports it i'd use esata. if not, either usb2 or 3 will work.