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Cheap Hard DrivesCheap hard drives don't have to be sub standard or non brand name. Some of the major manufacturers make less costly hard drives that are every bit as good as their other more expensive models. Cheap doesn't have to mean bad things in hard drives. Especially if you stick to the better brand names like Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi, Toshiba, or Maxtor. The main factor about most lower priced drives is their storage capacity and speed of spindle (rpm). The interface might not be the fastest, SATA versions are usually more expensive since the amount of data that can be move is quite a bit faster. And since there are so many external hard drives that offer extra storage, you may not need a large internal hard drive. Of course cheap hard drives can come in both internal and external models. If you don't want to go through the hassle of changing out your primary hard drive you can easily increase your data storage capacity with an external hard drive. Here's our choices on cheap hard drives in both internal and external brands and models that represent the best deals overall: Best Internal Cheap Hard Drives The Western Digital 320GB Scorpio Blue SATAII 5400RPM 2.5IN 8MB
Notebook model in 2.5 inch form factor offers very fast operation with the new SATAII interface. it's quiet, designed with shock proof casing, and light at 4.2 ounces. This hard drive is porbably better than the original hard drive that came with your laptop computer. Priced under $60 at around $58, you won't find a better a better notebook hard drive in this size and data
capacity. You can learn more about specs and read
customer reviews here: Western Digital 320GB Scorpio Blue SATAII 5400RPM 2.5IN 8MB The Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 64 MB Cache
Desktop Hard Drive Model WD10EARS is a great value and good for the
environment too. This unit reduces power consumption by up to 40%, quiet operation, and low heat
emissions. With a Gig of data storage and fast SATA interface, you don't lose any speed or capacity with a
environmental friendly new hard drive for under $70 (around $69). This model was
especially designed to run with Windows 7 but can also be used with Vista and XP with the included utility (it's all about the size of each chunk of data transferred).
You can learn more about specs and read
customer reviews here: Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 64 MB Cache WD10EARS Best External Cheap Hard Drives Iomega Prestige 500 GB USB 2.0
Desktop External Hard Drive 34270 is a great choice for the price. Most of the Iomega hard drives are repackaged Seagate models. In this model we've found Seagate
Barracuda hard drives hiding inside the case. This model comes pre-formated in NTFS for those who want the fastest and most reliable
formatting and it's almost impossible to beat the $59 price for a 500 Gig external drive.. You can learn more about specs and read
customer reviews here: Iomega Prestige 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 34270 The
Seagate Expansion 250 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST902504EXA101-RK
offers those who want to carry their external hard drive with them. It's small at approximately 3 X 5 X 1/2 inches and weighs about 9 ounces. It
receives it's power from the USB connection so no power adapter is
necessary and costs about $53. No software is necessary for Windows computers, just plug it in and you're ready to
start using the hard drive. You can learn more about specs and read
customer reviews here: Seagate Expansion 250GB Portable Drive - Black How We Chose The Above Cheap Hard Drives Our goal was to find the best price (read lowest) for a good quality hard drive under each of the categories above. Are these the cheapest? Not sure since there are some new knockoffs out every day that are low cost. But your hard drive is important so we went with lowest price, highest quality, best user reviews, and our own experience in the computer repair business (over 25 years). Can I guarantee none of the recommended models will not break, come DOA, or fail? Nope, but I can go out a limb and say these drive experience fewer problems than most and last longer than others. When you're looking for cheap hard drives, money is obviously important but keep in mind that you don't want to push the envelope too far on budget or you'll defeat your purpose.. Always keep in mind that electronics in general, and hard drives in particular, can and will fail. So always have more than one backup of important data, maybe even in another location. Be like the Boy Scouts and always be prepared for any situation, including hard drive failures. |
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