External hard drive buying decision

I have a budget of $150 maximum to buy the largest and best possible external hard drive that I can. If I was on a tighter budget, then I would buy an external enclosure and get a faster and better internal hard drive to use. With enclosures, it's harder to determine the quality and durability, so I'm sticking with a name brand.

In November 2006 I bought a 500GB Lacie external drive for $205. Now I'm getting a larger drive that should be sufficient for several years, and will have a 5-year warranty, and also costs less than any external hard drive I've bought previously.

Paying a little more means getting a better warranty. My Book Home models come with a 3-year warranty, and the higher priced My Book Studio models come with a 5-year warranty. Paying a a little more also means getting extra connections, like Firewire 400/800 and eSATA.

Top Pick



Western Digital My Book Studio 750GB 3.5" USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / IEEE 1394b / eSATA External Hard Drive Model WDH1Q7500N

$140 (free shipping on newegg)





Western Digital My Book Mac Edition 1TB 3.5" USB 2.0 Mac Storage Model WDH1U10000AN

$122 (free shipping)





HITACHI 1TB 7200 RPM 3.5" USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Formatted for Mac Model H31000US
* Only USB 2.0
* 32MB Cache
* Hitachi is new to the external hard drive market, so I'm not sure about the reliability.

$115 ($8 UPS 3-day shipping)