Getting A 1Tb Drive

[bendejo]

My laptop currently has a 300Gb drive. With all my pics, movies etc it's kind of tight.

I want to get a 1Tb drive, and I'm trying to decide if I should install it or keep it external. Trying to consider the pros and cons.

Two years ago I installed a 500Gb WD Scorpio Blue, and about a year later it I started getting some SMART warnings, so pulled it out for external storage and put the older, smaller hd back in. I've been wondering if the wear and tear of being the primary drive did it in.

Any of you out there using 1Tb internal in your laptops?

[MJCM]

I use 1 in my Desktop, but that's not what you were asking.

A bit off topic, but ...

If it was me, I would buy 2 500 GB External Drives and copy the whole data of your Laptop onto those external drives. Any of that copied data you can then delete from your Internal HDD. And you always will have 2 Backups.

I would recommend these ones:

http://wdc.com/en/pr...cts.aspx?id=440

And they are portable as they are very small.

Edited May 4, 2012 by MJCM

[astral]

My HP notebook, purchased about 6 months ago has a 1Tb disk

[bobl]

Get an external. Get used to storing stuff on it, rather than the laptop. It's a pain at first and needs a little discipline but once it becomes routine, you're fine.

Much, much, much easier when it comes time to reformat & install new OS (after a problem or just for a spring clean), or when changing machines.

(To answer your original question, my laptop's a bit of a beast it has two drives in it. But I use it like I describe above - all my files on the 2nd drive, only the OS on the 1st.)

[rakman]

The dual backup is good advice regardless of what drive you have in the laptop. Backups are crucial.

You might want to consider a Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive. Nearly SSD like in speed, but with high capacity of a spinning drive. Price is decent. They come in 250 to 750 GB sizes. A little more expensive than just a spinning drive, a lot less than a full SSD. Its a good value for the speed improvment.

http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/laptop-hard-drives/momentus-xt-hybrid/?cmpid=ppc-_-momentusxt-_-g-_-us-_-seagate_momentus_xt_500gb-_-b&gclid=CM6P35fY5q8CFQyc7Qod8zOb3Q

[WhizBang]

Make sure your laptop can accept a 1TB internal drive first, as they are a few mm thicker (12mm I think) than the 500 GB drive (9.5mm) you have now.

Unless you absolutely have to have it as an internal, then I would go external.

[craigt3365]

I have a WD Passport 1TB USB drive that doesn't need a power supply. I love it. Small and very convenient. I've seen others that are a bit cheaper also....

[Digitalbanana]

The o/p should make sure the 1TB fits physically and accepted by BIOS in laptop. Usually I'd go for external, but sometimes I just like to travel with a laptop only and have all the stuff on it.

[khunron13]

Go with an external "portable" drive like the WD Passport.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=440

[astral]

I have had bad experiences with WD and prefer the Seagate drive

[topt]

I have had bad experiences with WD and prefer the Seagate drive

Astral were they recent? I ask as I have a 5 year old 500GB WD Passport which (touch wood) is still going strong and not had any issues. I have recently (5 months ago) bought a 1TB version which I am very happy with so far......

[smiling mantis]

Get a NAS. Storage of big files is something you're laptop shouldn't be labored with. Most if not all NAS's will let you configure as Raid 1 so you get transparent backups.

Makes digital life a lot easier.

That said, these 2.5" external drives are amazingly useful creatures, but really, they should be reserved for things like streamlining system maintenance tasks, OS backups, etc. IMHO

[craigt3365]

I have had bad experiences with WD and prefer the Seagate drive

Astral were they recent? I ask as I have a 5 year old 500GB WD Passport which (touch wood) is still going strong and not had any issues. I have recently (5 months ago) bought a 1TB version which I am very happy with so far......

I had a problem with Seagate, and went with WD!

I've got 3 now and not a problem in several years. The portable one gets banged around on an almost daily basis. Takes a licking and keeps on clicking.

[guzzi850m2]

I have a 300gb and a 1tb both WD ext. harddrives The 300gb one suddenly couldn't read the content anymore but after a (tearful) full formating it was working fine again.

Lesson leaned: Take min 2 copy's of all your photos and all other stuff thats really important to you.

[Jdietz]

Next time before you reformat (if that works at all, it means most likely that most stuff can be recovered) have a look at testdisk http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download or similar tools (available for linux and windows). It can repair and/or recover files on media that Windows will refuse.

[craigt3365]

If using an external drive, make sure you remove it formally and not just unplug it from the computer.

[guzzi850m2]

Next time before you reformat (if that works at all, it means most likely that most stuff can be recovered) have a look at testdisk http://www.cgsecurit...stDisk_Download or similar tools (available for linux and windows). It can repair and/or recover files on media that Windows will refuse.

Thanks for the tip and link. Will keep that in mind if it happens again.

[khunron13]

I have had bad experiences with WD and prefer the Seagate drive

And I'm almost to the point of throwing my 4Tb Seagate drive in the trash! YMMV

[astral]

4Tb is a large disk, and the technology may not be stable?

What are the problems?

My old WD just crashed after one year of life.

It was replaced under warranty, but that crashed just before the 2 years were up.

I did get a second replacement, but did not feel I could trust it.

[khunron13]

4Tb is a large disk, and the technology may not be stable?

What are the problems?

My old WD just crashed after one year of life.

It was replaced under warranty, but that crashed just before the 2 years were up.

I did get a second replacement, but did not feel I could trust it.

Yes, it is a really large drive, but Seagate advertises that it is made for the Mac OSX. Only problem is that whenever I fill it up, over 3Tb, my Mac won't recognize it and I have to reformat. I may have figured out a work around by partitioning it, but that's not how they are advertising it! To be fair to Seagate, my Time Machine 1.5 Tb Seagate external drive has been going for almost 3 years with no problems. I've got 6 other WD external drives of numerous sizes and have never had a problem with any of them. Everyone has their own experiences.

[bendejo]

...

My old WD just crashed after one year of life.

It was replaced under warranty, but that crashed just before the 2 years were up.

I did get a second replacement, but did not feel I could trust it.

Same here, went simple after 1 year, used as an internal in my laptop.

Just bought a Seagate 1Tb external. My first time buying one of these, previously I would buy the drive only and then a case with USB connection. I've had a few of the tin can cases go bad.

[Gary A]

I have an Acer 350 GB that has poor reviews but it works like a champ. I also have a WD USB 2 or USB 3. Both are 2.5 inch with no power supply. The WD Passport Essential has been a problem since I have had it. While on the USB 3 port, the computer sometimes doesn't see it and backups usually fail. I don't know it is the hard drive or the computer. I now use it on a USB 2 port and it seems OK.

My latest is a 2 TB Seagate 3.5 inch with a power supply. It has never been a problem.

[MaxwellsDemon]

I got a Lacie Rikki Go1TB, which I believe was one of the first 2.5" terabyte-sized HDDs on the market. A steal at $89 over a year ago, especially considering prices haven't changed much over the past year or so.

Mine's full of movies and TV shows, and I LOVE the portability factor. I don't have the best home theater system, so this makes it a breeze to bring over to a buddy's house and just have a selection of 900 gb of entertainment to pick from. No power source, no extra adapter, no stupid double USB cable. Nice and neat. Highly recommended.