external hard-drive

CMoore · Jan 18, 2019

I enrolled in a photo class at my local college.
The teacher wants us to get a portable hard-drive of 1 TB or more...USB.
Anybody have a recommendation.?
I looked on Amazon and Ebay and they seem to be between 45-75 dollars. Is that about right, or can i get a decent Drive for less than that.?
Thank You

Sorry, i edited my OP.
I definitely meant 1 TB.....not 1 GB.
Thank You

ozphoto · Jan 18, 2019

I'm partial to WD, especially their Elements range - nice and slim. I live in AUS, but those prices seem in line with what we pay here, depending on the brand. Currently, I can get a WD Elements 1TB for AUD59.00.

I'm not keen on Seagate - the one drive I had crashed with little use, but it may have been a dud. YMMV.

https://www.wd.com/products/portable-storage/wd-elements-portable.html#WDBUZG0010BBK-NESN

Eric Rose · Jan 18, 2019

I buy Samsung SSD EVO drives. Super fast!

Jim Jones · Jan 18, 2019

My external Seagate 5tb drive is on its third computer and has never given a bit of trouble over many years. It saves much bother when switching computers. The HD on the present inexpensive refurbished computer could only store a tenth of the files on the Seagate.

lantau · Jan 18, 2019

The brand doesn't matter, it's down to luck. Ten years ago WD had problems with heads burning out. Happened to me after a power cycle. A velociraptor also died on me a short time into it's live. Others have trouble with Seagate.

I had two of their drives die within a year, after reaching a reasonable service live. Part of a RAID that was as expected. Replaced each on the next day without data loss. The third is still going and I'll replace it soon even without failure.

My external Seagate has been running for five years now.

Just don't keep data which you can't loose on a single drive.

CMoore · Jan 18, 2019

Thanks Guys/Gals.....appreciate it
(or if you are not into Patriarchs.....Gals/Guys)

spijker · Jan 18, 2019

If you only need a few Gigabyte to bring photos to class, just get a USB memory stick, not a hard drive. Much cheaper and portable. If you meant "1 Terabyte (TB) or more", then you need a USB Hard Drive (HD) or USB Solid State Drive (SSD). SSDs are less TB but much faster than a HD. If you'll be editing (lightroom, photoshop etc) your photos directly from the HD/SSD, I'd suggest to get an USB SSD.

Pieter12 · Jan 18, 2019

For that size, a thumb drive is probably more reliable and cheaper. And easier to transport.

CMoore · Jan 18, 2019

Oh Christ...please forgive me.
I am NOT a computer person.
YES........1TB...1000 Gigs
.....NOT 1 Gig.

So Sorry, my mistake.

faberryman · Jan 18, 2019

If you don't want to buy a hard drive, just ask the instructor if you can use a card reader and one of your SD cards. There is no way you need 1TB of space for your class.

CMoore · Jan 18, 2019

faberryman said:
If you don't want to buy a hard drive, just ask the instructor if you can use a card reader and one of your SD cards. There is no way you need 1TB of space for your class.

I do not even know what a card reader is, but i will look into it.

To be fair to my teacher, she said -
500 gigs will be "fine", but more gigs does not cost much more and she recommended getting at least 1 TB for not much more money. It (500) probably would be fine for me. I imagine some students take a lot of pictures.?

We do not "need" anything other than whatever that card is called that is in the camera.
She was just pointing out that a hard drive seems to work best for most students, and that (just) the card from the camera will go onto, and then stay on, The School Computer where it is much more susceptible to loss or "damage".

There are always more than one way to do things. I will just have to assume that her experience with this class is that a Hard Drive is the "best" way to go.
Perhaps, as a teacher, it is better and easier to teach a class when students (especially beginners) are all walking the same path. I imagine it is easier for the school if the students are all using the same thing.?

GRHazelton · Jan 18, 2019

A conventional hard drive in a portable case is far more susceptible to damage than is a solid state drive. I'd suggest springing for a SSD if you can afford it; they've really dropped in price recently.

CMoore · Jan 18, 2019

GRHazelton said:
A conventional hard drive in a portable case is far more susceptible to damage than is a solid state drive. I'd suggest springing for a SSD if you can afford it; they've really dropped in price recently.

Touche`.
My teacher said similar, though she was unsure about price and said she THOUGHT that SS might be a lot more expensive.
She said to take a look and consider SS if it were not a financial burden.

bdial · Jan 18, 2019

More or less all external drives are portable, but the ones intended for laptops are smaller and are powered by the USB port. The larger desktop drives need an external power supply. I've had better luck with Seagate than WD, but either would work. An SSD would be a good choice too, for 500 GB the price premium should be minimal.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jan 18, 2019

I work at a university in a department that teaches digital cinema. What I recommend is getting 2 SSD (solid state) drives. Or if you can't afford 2, get a regular hard drive and one solid state drive. I've seen my students shuttle video files between home and school and some have had their drives destroyed in transit. Some come to school on skateboards and bikes. Use the SSD for your transit drive and backup your backups. I've seen too many student lose hours of work due to not backing their files. Your work is valuable. Storage devices or expendable. If you don't want to get a second drive and you have a high-speed connection at home, you can always use a free cloud drive like Google Drive. Here at University of California at Davis, students, staff and faculty have free unlimited storage with Box which is paid for by the school.

DWThomas · Jan 18, 2019

I'll toss in that in addition to photo gear, B&H carries tons of computer stuff. In just a cursory look I see a SanDisk 1TB SSD for $189.99.

(As someone who worked with the stuff going back to when 120 MB was a "big drive" the fact you can hardly buy something less than a TB these days boggles whats left of the mind! )

darkroommike · Jan 18, 2019

I like and use both Western Digital and Lacie external drives.

RalphLambrecht · Jan 18, 2019

CMoore said:
I enrolled in a photo class at my local college.
The teacher wants us to get a portable hard-drive of 1 TB or more...USB.
Anybody have a recommendation.?
I looked on Amazon and Ebay and they seem to be between 45-75 dollars. Is that about right, or can i get a decent Drive for less than that.?
Thank You

Sorry, i edited my OP.
I definitely meant 1 TB.....not 1 GB.
Thank You

that's about right but, try to format them right away;some just won't start and it's easier to make use of the warranty if you do it right away.Also, if you can afford it, get the SSD type; They have no rotating parts, are more reliable and ultra-fast but much more expensive.

ozphoto · Jan 19, 2019

I can only add - back up the backup!

One copy is *not* enough - if it fails, chances are you'll lose the lot. You might be lucky, but why tempt fate and lose that image you've spent hours working on, alongside the original.

Murphy's Law: If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Backup, backup, backup.

Dennis S · Mar 9, 2020

Currently the only thing I purchase are the WD product (HDD SSD and external Passport) Never let me down in the many years since I switched. Yes counting I have 3x b/up.

Mainecoonmaniac · Mar 9, 2020

SSDs are great. Backup your backups. I work at a university art department and I just saw a student lose her work with a regular HD. Also, ask if your college will provide a cloud service. University of California provides Box.com for their students. Backing up on the cloud is also another alternative.

Lee Rust · Mar 9, 2020

SSD's are still pretty expensive compared to hard drives. Personally, I've been happy with the USB-C "Rugged" 2 TB drives by LaCie. They're enclosed in an orange rubber casing and are supposedly resistant to rain, dropping and crushing. I haven't tested any of these claims though, and generally take care not to move the drives while they're reading or writing.

mark · Mar 9, 2020

I really like my sandisk sdd drive. Small. Super fast. Well worth the money.

wiltw · Mar 10, 2020

Prices found via Google without extensive search for 'best' prices...

1TB external harddrive, about $45-75
1TB externaly SSD, about $170
500GB external harddrive, about $37-65
500GB external SSD, about $65-90

VinceInMT · Mar 10, 2020

Lee Rust said:
Personally, I've been happy with the USB-C "Rugged" 2 TB drives by LaCie.

Same here. I have 4 of them and they work great.

I'll second the suggestion to look at cloud storage. I am also a university student (67 years old) and they give us Box with unlimited storage and are suppose to keep it active for 2 years after we graduate. Here in Montana those of us 65 and older get full tuition waivers so I am in no hurry to complete my BFA program so I should have Box for a long time.

external hard-drive

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