The Ultimate Guide to Buying an External Hard Drive

External hard drives have become increasingly popular with computer enthusiasts over the past few years. Gone are the days where a 500MB (yes, megabytes) hard drive would be enough to hold your operating system, multiple software and even a bunch of games. Thanks to the internet and the ability to easily store photographs, high definition movies and home videos, the demand for having more storage has sky-rocketed.

Most people do not feel comfortable with purchasing an internal HDD and then installing it into their computer systems. Despite doing this being cheaper than buying an external hard drive, the problem many people run into is that they either do not a free slot to put the new one in, or they simply are too afraid to open their computer case and fiddle around with cables and fragile motherboards. Fortunately, manufacturers realised these issues and created what we now refer to as an 'External Hard drive'.

For people looking to buy an external HDD, however, there are still many new issues that need to be addressed to know what the best one is for your specific needs. So let's get cracking:

More than a pretty box

You just looked on Amazon and you found 20+ hard disk drives in the 2tb external hard drive category. They all look extremely different, some are prettier than others, others chunkier than others - Does it matter?

How to Backup a Computer

We all think we are protected until it's too late. A book proposal, pictures of the kids, or a work project could be gone in seconds. With the cost of storage getting cheaper by the day, there's no reason to ignore the real risk of your computer crashing. So, you know you need to back-up your data, but don't know where to start. Let's review the basic backup solutions along with the advantages and disadvantages for each.

CDs/DVDs, USB flash drive, network drive, external drive, online, tape, etc. What's the best backup solution for you?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you narrow the options:

1. How often is the data being altered?

2. What do you want to protect your data from (Computer failure, fires, etc.)?

3. How important is the data being backed up?

Pick a Computer Keyboard

When it comes to notebooks, many people get captured up in specifications. They want the quickest processor chips, the most highly effective design cards and the greatest memory money can buy. They want performance so blazingly fast in a convenient package that they ignore other significant factors, such as ergonomics.

I'm specifically referring to notebooks computer key pad here. The key pad is one of the most key elements of a computer. It's the function that creates or smashes it. If notebooks computer key pad is painful, you might as well give it to your younger brother as a gift or send it to the recycle flower. What's the use of a 2500 money computer if you're getting cts from it?

That's why when fishing for notebooks, it's essential you try out the computer keyboard first. Here are some factors to consider:

Key Dimension and Position

One of the first factors you should take note of is the key size and how they are put on notebooks computer. Nobody wants to kind on a key pad with essential factors as small as bugs. You certainly don't want a key pad with far too large essential factors too. That just looks strange.