Less Fortunate Search for Good External Hard Drive

[Kirbyarm]

Hello everyone,

After many years, I am finally realizing that I need more than my current total storage between my devices and computers to continue using more data space from my ongoing collection of files. 750 GB Internal HDD + 1 TB External HDD + 500 GB Internal SSD.

I think eventually I would like about 17 - 25 Terabytes (TB), but in multiple External HDDs, preferably as slim as the Slim Seagate 2 TB USB 3.0 models, I bought a red one today from Future Shop for $130 CAD. I saved up for a very long time, several months, to pay that $130.

I want very reliable quality for my important backup libraries, but I'm also around the corner from bankruptcy. What quality External with HDD USB 3.0 exists with the best price?

Dollar for GB for a larger than average amount of intended storage over a period of time, such as 17 - 25 TB. Please anyone, do you have any recommendations? I would really appreciate it.

 

[giantbucket]

usually, cheapest space per dollar is going to be using plain 3.5" naked drives, and one of those toaster style docking stations or a hot-swap bay that's part of your computer case. however, those 4TB and larger external drives by WD or Seagate (3.5" based) are sometimes cheaper than just a raw drive. $150 or so for 4TB from CanadaComputers. i usually shop there or Newegg.ca for best prices. FutureShop is great for laptops, cameras, etc.

if you don't mind shuffling around a handful of drives and only using one at a time, a hot-swap bay for your computer and individual drives (bought as needed) might be a sensible solution. the hot-swap bay could be had for around $20, but it expects you to have an available 5.25" bay (like where you'd put in a DVD drive).