Something that you must know this before you buying External Hard Drive

I think some of us had experienced and fill  frustration  because of having a lack of space on our computer. With high speed connections, it is possible to download quite a bit more “stuff”. Usually one of solution to cure your hard drive is to delete things on your hard drive. This can be an effective way of freeing up a bit of space, but chances are you do not want to sacrifice many of your larger files. Another solution is buying another internal hard drive. Although internal drives are relatively cheap and provide fast data transfer times, they require opening up your computer case and installing them. Perhaps you are afraid to install your own hardware, or your computer chassis is too small to fit another hard drive safely. Remember that not all cases are designed to harbor a second hard drive, and that the more stuff you put in a case, the more airflow will be restricted and could lead to overheating of your computer components.

A third option is buying an external hard drive. These have proliferated in the past five years and are now an affordable way to either back up files or to provide extra space for a widening file library. How should you go about the search for an external drive? The first tip for buying an external drive is that you should know how external hard drives are connected to your computer.  motherboard and therefore won’t transfer data as quickly as an internal hard drive. However, some connection types are faster than others. There are three main connection types for external drives; USB 1.1, USB 2.0, and firewire. USB 1.1 is largely an outdated technology that provides slow transfer speeds compared to the other two connections. Although USB 2.0 is only marginally faster than firewire, you really can’t go wrong with that kind of connection for use on a single external hard drive.

The second tip for buying an external drive is that you should know what kind of buffer memory the external drive has. If you will be transferring a lot of large files (like video files) from your internal drive to your external drive, then you might want to look for a higher buffer memory. 16mb is a high buffer memory, and 8mb is generally the standard you will find. 16mb drives will cost more than 8mb, and it’s really up to you what you would like to get.

The third tip for buying an external drive is that you should be aware of what the drive utilizes for cooling purposes. In general, external drives with less than 300GB of storage space do not come with a fan-driven cooling system (the kind used to cool the components in your computer case or laptop). Fans are generally one of the most effective ways to cool a drive, but in many of the smaller drives, a fan will not fit. Most external drives are cooled with a vent system of sorts that allows at least a moderate movement of outside air to cool the heating parts inside. It is worth looking into to find an external drive that provides a switch to turn it on and off. This will allow you to turn off the drive if you feel that it is getting overheated, or if you are not using it for extended periods of time. Finally, and probably most importantly, you want to look at storage space/cost ratio of external drives. This is really where individual use dictates a proper buying.  MP3s on an external drive does not need a 500GB external drive. However, someone who is a movie enthusiast or videographer could very well need a drive that boasts this kind of storage space. So now it becomes a search for a drive that best suits your storage needs for the best price. Although you should look for an affordable drive, do not let price alone sway you. Some very cheap drives are solid, but others are cheaply put together and can fail due to overheating or poor construction. A good way to go about this search is to read user comments and reviews of certain external drives. If you follow these tips, then you should be able to find an external drive that fits your needs, will be dependable, and won’t drain your wallet.