Top Portable External Hard Drives

[mike2rc]

I'm shopping for a quality portable 1.5TB or 2.0TB hard drive as my laptop only has a 750GB internal drive. I do have a 2TB Seagate desktop external which has worked well for 2 plus years. I do a lot of photography and back up my photos on the desktop external. I'd like to also back them up on a smaller portable that I can use with my laptop and free up my laptop space.

I see the WD Passport is a best seller, the Toshiba Canvio Basics has Internal Shock Sensor and Ramp Loading technology which sounds good since the drive will be moved around unlike my desktop. I do use a padded case for my laptop take care of my gear.

I've heard there are around 3 HD manufacturers. What brand(s) are known for quality that I could shop? For the most part the portable drive will stay downstairs with my laptop, not much traveling.

I take reviews sometimes with a grain of salt unless I see over a thousand good reviews like the WD Passport has and Toshiba has high numbers of good ratings.

Thanks,
Mike

[Midknyte]

What do you mean by "top"? Fastest transfer rate? If you have specific model numbers, you could try to look up benchmarks.

WD drives have "Shockguard", which is basically the same thing as the Toshiba. So that's a moot point.

I've owned WD and Seagate portable drives, but not Toshibas.

[SpywareDr]

Been carrying a little WD My Passport Ultra 2TB Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Auto Backup - Black around in my back pocket since Christmas 2012. Still working great.

[mike2rc]

Thanks for the reply. I ordered the WD which should work fine. The WD speed is fine.

A review mentioned Toshiba had less noise but I'll most likely load what I want on the external and set it aside. Reviews are only good to a certain point.

Mike

[Midknyte]

Make sure to check for firmware updates from WD before you start putting data on the drive.

[mike2rc]

Thanks for the heads up. "In the box" says it comes with software. I'll watch for updates when I run the software or check the web site before use.

My internal laptop HD has only 750GB and My Pictures takes most of that. My laptop is Windows 7, i5 3210M 2nd generation with 6GB RAM. If I place most of my "keep" photos on the external along with My Docs, will that speed up PC. The internal drive is currently 75% full.

Thanks,
Mike

[Midknyte]

I don't recall seeing the firmware updater when I got my drives.
Just in case they don't include it, you can download it from the WD site.
http://support.wd.com/product/downlo...id=223&lang=en

I think this is the model you ordered: WDBMWV0020BBK

If I place most of my "keep" photos on the external along with My Docs, will that speed up PC.

Remember that you should always have TWO copies of your data. If you just move files from your laptop to an external, that's not a backup.

[SpywareDr]

My internal laptop HD has only 750GB and My Pictures takes most of that. ... If I place most of my "keep" photos on the external along with My Docs, will that speed up PC. The internal drive is currently 75% full.

No, there would be no discernible difference even if were only 10% full. (Unless it's severely fragmented of course).