Today in the Computer world, there are more and more devices that are getting easier and easier to use. There is the Thumb Drive (also known as the Flash Drive), CD-R and DVD-/+R's are getting more and more common in today's households, Computer Screens are moving from CRT (Tube) to LCD (Flat Panel), and Hard Drives are getting Cheaper and more sophisticated. As a seller of computer devices I have a question that is commonly put to me, "What is the best way to back up my Data on my computer." The Answer is an External Hard Drive. These Devices act very similarly to a Thumb Drive, you plug it in and start saving your information.
The Reason that Hard Drives are so good at backing up information is that they are HUGE. An average computer sold today will hold anywhere between 80-350 gb. That is a huge amount of information, and the average family will have approx. 20gb of information on their computer and this number is increasing dramatically with new Digital Camcorders, Digital Music, and Digital Photography. The things you can back up this information is Floppy Drive which hold 1.44mb (1024mb=1gb), Zip Disks hold up anywhere between 250mb-750 mb, CD's Hold 700mb, Flash Drives hold anywhere between 64mb-8gb, DVD's hold anywhere from 4.7gb-8gb, HD DVD-R's hold 15gb and Blu-Ray holds 20gb. Finally External Hard Drives hold from 80gb-1Tb or even Greater (1024gb=1Tb). External Hard Drives are also very cheap and very re-writeable. They can transport between computer's easily and they are getting faster all of the time. The one problem with an External Hard Drive is that Like any hard Drive they are Fragile. You do not want to knock one over! If you do you would have to replace it so It is nice to find a Hard Drive that can lie on it's Side and can be stored in a safe place. Also Hard Drives Don't last forever, but They work perfectly as a back up. It is highly unlikely that Your computer would Crash and your Hard Drive be destroyed Simultaneously.
So a wonderful Peripheral for anyone's computer is an external hard Drive. They are perhaps the best back up solution on the Market.
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I have been thinking about one for a few years now. So you think a External HD is a better tool than getting a DV-R and burning stuff? Also how much do External HD run? Does that number include the family discount? :) Right now we are using our iPOD as our HD backup.
Thanks Joe!
We love the External HD that you found for us.
DB
Joe, A great article....even I understood it and I am very interested in backing up everything on my computer. The thought of a crash and the loss of my data is frightening. I have my financial data all backed up and most of my seminary, but I don't have pictures and letters and some other things that are irreplaceable.
Thanks for the heads up.
MOM
Thank you for the suggestion. Which brand do you recommend? I have a laptop. Do I take the laptop to the external drive or do I take the external drive to wherever I am parking my laptop? Should each computer have its own? (ie. should Mom and I share one or get 2) It is her birthday today and I think she would simply adore that as a gift! :-)
Please let me know by dinner tonight. That's when we open the present(s?).
Love,
Desperate Dad :-)
You could get Mom a Mr. Tom-Tom.
Joe, I will do anything you say about computers. Thanks again and again for saving my life. External harddrives here I come!
Okay,Probably the Best Hard Drive Company in the Mainstream Market is Seagate, though Maxtor and Western Digital are both fine too. For mom and Dad I would Probably recomend a portable hard Drive from seagate so that dad can take the hard drive anywhere. There is no need to get seperate hard drives for seperate computers, just be warned that Portable Hard drives while more resilient and easier to take around will be more expensive. So it is your call.
When Shopping for a hard drive, there is no reason to get one that is not on sale. Good Prices are $60-$80 for 250gb $120-$210 for 500gb.
When I get to USC, let's chat and find me a good one :)
Will do
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