1TB Slim Portable External Hard Drive

[Dave Lehnert]

Looking to purchase a 1TB External hard drive.
Any opinion on Western Digital vs Seagate?

Local Walmart has this Seagate for $54

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Seagate-Backup-Plus-1TB-Slim-Portable-External-Hard-Drive-Assorted-Colors/35610053?action=product_interest&action_type=title&item_id=35610053&placement_id=irs-106-m2&strategy=PWVAV&visitor_id&category=&client_guid=7d4a45f8-9767-4859-ab09-65c9accc44dc&customer_id_enc&config_id=106&parent_item_id=44786025&parent_anchor_item_id=44786025&guid=6b7c289f-5587-43cd-a55c-686534f71f47&bucket_id=irsbucket015&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n

Western Digital for $59

https://www.walmart.com/ip/WD-My-Passport-Ultra-1TB-External-Hard-Drive-Assorted-Colors/44786025?action=product_interest&action_type=title&item_id=44786025&placement_id=irs-2-m2&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id&category=&client_guid=34f87158-096b-4d67-b27a-7915661dde83&customer_id_enc&config_id=2&parent_item_id=35610053&parent_anchor_item_id=35610053&guid=cdf947a4-d16b-4643-9e57-c96363a653ad&bucket_id=irsbucket015&beacon_version=1.0.1&findingMethod=p13n

[Mike Circo]

I have the Western Digital version. Runs like a champ. I think both would do the minimum of holding data. The difference comes in the software and add-ons.
The WD came with lots of useful software, backup being the primary one. Also WD gave 50GB of cloud storage on Dropbox. You can use it for regular storage or setup a separate backup with their utility to send files up there for further protection. Encryption is also vital for safety.

I'm very happy with the WD product.

[Mark Blatter]

I have used both manufacture's products and been happy with them. I currently have two 5 TB drives from Toshiba in use. I would suggest you look at larger ones as the cost is just not that much more. Amazon has a 3TB drive from Seagate for $85 and a 2TB from WD for $77. You may think you will never use anywhere near the 1 TB, but boy does it build up fast any more.

[Jim Becker]

Either product manufacturer is just fine...pick the one you like the best. ;) But I agree with others... 1TB is "small" these days, especially for backup purposes where incremental backups accumulate. For a little more, you can have 2-3-4 TB, depending on what you're willing to pay.

[Larry Frank]

I think having at least two backup drives makes sense and alternate making backups. If a drive goes, you still have another backup.

During the first year and a half failure rate is about 5% per year, during the next two years is about 1.4% per year and after year three climbs to 11%. Data comes from Backblaze.

[Alan Rutherford]

I think having at least two backup drives makes sense and alternate making backups. If a drive goes, you still have another backup.

During the first year and a half failure rate is about 5% per year, during the next two years is about 1.4% per year and after year three climbs to 11%. Data comes from Backblaze.

I agree completely about having more than one backup. I've seen too many cases where people didn't know a backup was bad until they had to use it. The biggest risk now is probably malware but for most other risks it's good to be able to keep one somewhere else. I used to tell clients to keep one on the premises and take one home and put it in the dresser if they didn't have a better place - convenience helps.

This stuff is a lot more reliable than it used to be but I think it's still true that of those drives and other electronic devices that will fail in the first few years, a huge percentage fail in the first 30-90 days.

[Eric DeSilva]

Data comes from Backblaze.

Backblaze has some very interesting drive failure data: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-q1-2016/

Personally, I like Seagate over WD--I use Seagate ES drives in my RAID. That all said, at this point, I may throw away my RAID when the next drive fails. For backups, I've started using Amazon drive--if you are a Prime subscriber, you can store unlimited photos on Amazon drive. For $60 over that, you can store unlimited anything. Given Amazon's reliability, that's peace of mind.

[Robert Payne]

I have a 4 TB Seagate external USB 3.0 drive and a 2 TB Toshiba USB 3.0 drive that are backup drives for my Toshiba 17" Laptop that I use a great deal. I run Acronis incremental backups and a weekly full backup to the Seagate. BTW the Seagate was $116 on Amazon.com and has 200 GB of free cloud storage if wanted.

[Mark Blatter]

Backblaze has some very interesting drive failure data: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-stats-q1-2016/

Personally, I like Seagate over WD--I use Seagate ES drives in my RAID. That all said, at this point, I may throw away my RAID when the next drive fails. For backups, I've started using Amazon drive--if you are a Prime subscriber, you can store unlimited photos on Amazon drive. For $60 over that, you can store unlimited anything. Given Amazon's reliability, that's peace of mind.


Another option is CrashPlan. They have a number of options, but if you use your own drive, you can download their ap and it is free. You set the frequency and the location (your own drive) and it runs. I use their family plan and back up all our computers nightly. It is about $9 a month.

[Curt Harms]

I agree completely about having more than one backup. I've seen too many cases where people didn't know a backup was bad until they had to use it. The biggest risk now is probably malware but for most other risks it's good to be able to keep one somewhere else. I used to tell clients to keep one on the premises and take one home and put it in the dresser if they didn't have a better place - convenience helps.

This stuff is a lot more reliable than it used to be but I think it's still true that of those drives and other electronic devices that will fail in the first few years, a huge percentage fail in the first 30-90 days.

Some claim the latest highest capacity drives don't have the MTBF of earlier generations. I'm not sure how much supporting data there is for that position. The latest iterations of file lockers are nasty. They install themselves but don't activate for a period of time, perhaps 30 days. So not only are current files encrypted, any backups from the past 30 days (or however long) will be encrypted as well. So it's probably wise to keep backups going back 30+ days in addition to archives.

[Jim Browning]

I have used both of them in the 2 TB versions for storage my race photos I have taken. I have never had any issues other than when I have dropped them.

Jim

[Mike Gresham]

My guess is there is not a spoonful of difference between Seagate and WD since Seagate bought WD several years ago. They kept both brands to create the illusion of competition.

That said, I have used both brands for nearly 20 years and not had a failure. The only failures I have had are with Maxtor and Hitachi.

[Mike Henderson]

You didn't say that the external drive is for backups, but if it is, I'd recommend a cloud based backup, such as Carbonite. It's automatic and it backs things up essentially as soon as you change something so if you have a failure, you don't lose everything since your last backup.

Additionally, the backup is offsite so if you have a fire, flood or some other disaster, the backup is safe.

Finally, you can access the files from your other devices. I use a small travel PC but I can go to my backup site and download any file that I have on my main computer, from anywhere in the world. For the service I use, the backups are encrypted so it would be extremely difficult for someone to see the contents of my files even if they hack into the provider.

Cost is modest, about $50/year - less if you go three years with payment in advance. And the cost keeps coming down as cloud storage gets cheaper.

Mike

[Chuck Wintle]

my option, although more costly, is to use a 1TB ssd for external storage. SSD's are very small and take minimal power, ideal for use with a laptop. But they cost a fair bit.

[Prashun Patel]

My advice is buy two of them. I have been double-backing up for a couple years. Easy and works great. 1TB is plenty for me.

[Dave Lehnert]

You didn't say that the external drive is for backups, but if it is, I'd recommend a cloud based backup, such as Carbonite. It's automatic and it backs things up essentially as soon as you change something so if you have a failure, you don't lose everything since your last backup.

Additionally, the backup is offsite so if you have a fire, flood or some other disaster, the backup is safe.

Finally, you can access the files from your other devices. I use a small travel PC but I can go to my backup site and download any file that I have on my main computer, from anywhere in the world. For the service I use, the backups are encrypted so it would be extremely difficult for someone to see the contents of my files even if they hack into the provider.

Cost is modest, about $50/year - less if you go three years with payment in advance. And the cost keeps coming down as cloud storage gets cheaper.

Mike


Yes it would be used for backups.
Cloud storage would be the best, but just don't feel 100% safe with it.

[Chuck Wintle]

Yes it would be used for backups.
Cloud storage would be the best, but just don't feel 100% safe with it.
I am with you on this..if the cloud fails or the company goes bankrupt are the files safe? At least local storage is immediate and available at all times.

[Malcolm McLeod]

...if the cloud fails...

+1

There is no 'cloud'. It is just someone else's hard-drive.

[Bill Jobe]

I have 3 WD external drives that quit. Does anyone know if and where the reset button is? I'm referring to the half and the one TB book design.

[Chuck Wintle]

+1

There is no 'cloud'. It is just someone else's hard-drive.
Yes i know that it is an array of hard drives somewhere.

[Chuck Wintle]

I have 3 WD external drives that quit. Does anyone know if and where the reset button is? I'm referring to the half and the one TB book design.
I am not aware of a reset button for these drives.

[Dave Lehnert]

Thanks everyone.

I purchased the WD My Passport Ultra 1TB.

Just got it hooked up and installed all drivers etc.... went as one would expect.

[Brian Henderson]

I've got a 1TB WD Passport, works great, have never had a problem with it.