External Hard Drive Buying Tips
External hard drives offer an affordable way to both back up data and provide additional space for your widening file library. While purchasing an external hard drive, it's important to keep a few things in mind. Remember that an efficient and adequate external hard drive can serve you for years, so, you want to make the right choice. Here are 4 great tips to help you in making your decision.

Adequate (but not unnecessary) space
Less is more doesn’t apply to external hard drives. When you are discussing external hard drives, more is always more. Having said that, don’t get overawed by the volumes of space that many external hard drives offer. Space is paramount, but it should not be the only governing factor. The question you need to ask is how much space you really require. A good rule of thumb is - buy an external hard drive that offers 50% more storage capacity than your present need. You can use your current internal hard drive capacity as a reference. If your computer has 300 gigabytes built in, and it is being totally used up, and you know you want to at least double that capacity, then consider getting another 300 gigabytes plus 50% more, or 450 gigabytes.

Connectivity
There are three ways in which an external hard drive is connected to a computer: USB 1.1, USB 2.0, and fireware. Currently, firewire is the fastest option. However, not all computers have it. So, you need to check which connection option is available on your computer. Nearly all new computer models have one or more USB 2.0 ports, which is only slightly slower than firewire. Computers that are older than 5 years may not have a USB 2.0 connection. If you own such a machine, you may want to seriously consider installing a USB 2.0 card before spending on an external hard drive. While you can connect an external hard drive through USB 1.1, data transfer through this connection is painstakingly slow.

Speed
The faster your hard drive operates, the faster you will be able to transfer data to it from your computer and vice versa.
Look for the following specifications in an external hard drive:

· Buffer size - Minimum 4 MB buffer. In case you are going to transfer, many large files, look for more buffer size, preferably 16 MB, or at the least 8 MB.
· Seek time – Maximum 10 milliseconds. The lesser the seek time, the better it is.
· RPM – Minimum 5400rpm, preferred 7200rpm. The more the RPM, the better it is.

Brand name
Lastly, don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. It is always safest to buy an external hard drive with a recognizable brand name. Sure, it will cost you a little more than an unbranded model. However, that is often because branded hard drives use superior parts and offer better service than unbranded drives. Some well-respected brands include Seagate, Western Digital and Iomega, just to name a few.

We hope that these tips will help you locate an external hard drive that meets your requirements, is dependable, and most of all, doesn’t dig a hole in your pocket. Please browse our great selection at ComputerHardDrives.Net to find the one perfect for you!