| 5 Steps to Finding The Best External Hard Drive | | | | If you plan on generating full backups of your |
| Finding the best external hard drive doesn't have to | | | | computer or storing larger files, go with a 500gb or |
| be a stressful buying decision. You can get your | | | | 1TB (terabyte) hard drive. |
| hands on a high quality, low-cost hard drive in virtually | | | | 3.) Pick a brand. Is there one brand you prefer over |
| no time at all. All you have to do is learn the ins and | | | | another? What about Seagate over Western Digital? |
| outs of what you need and what's available on the | | | | You may not have a preference but if you do, |
| market. The good thing about finding a hard drive is | | | | consider which brand you might like. Generally |
| that you don't have to sacrifice size or quality in | | | | speaking they all deliver the same product and |
| exchange for price. You can easily find great deals | | | | functions but some have a better reputation than |
| right online for extremely affordable rates and data | | | | others. |
| capacities. That being said, here are 5 steps to finding | | | | 4.) Shop around. Once you target a good brand and |
| the best external hard drive. | | | | or model, shop around for the best price. You can |
| 1.) Identify your needs for the hard drive. Are you | | | | use sites like or to find good deals but there are |
| going to store photos? Movies? Software? Critical | | | | other smaller vendors online that can give you even |
| data and files like tax records? Knowing what you | | | | better deals. |
| plan to use the hard drive for will help you decide | | | | 5.) Check reviews and purchase. Once you've found |
| how large a drive you'll need and how much you | | | | a good store to purchase from that has the lowest |
| should spend. | | | | price, check out some reviews of the product and |
| 2.) Decide the size. If you just plan on storing photos | | | | store and then make your purchase. A good tip is to |
| you don't need a very large hard drive and could get | | | | try to find a store that offers free shipping so you |
| away with something about as large as 100gb or less. | | | | can save even more on your purchase. |