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Techno Commander
10-08-2010, 22:08
I dont know if anyone is interested, but Ebuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199267) are doing Hitachi 1TB external drives for £49.99, with free delivery.
Welder
10-08-2010, 23:00
Hitatchi make very reliable hard drives in my experience; I have had two in my PC which are now more than two years old and have worked faultlessly.
I also have to two 500GB drives connected to my laptop for storing my reference and play files.
I would suggest if anyone plans to use these drives for audio they consider using a galvanic isolator on the USB lead from drive to Dac if their Dac does not have any form of noise suppression or isolation because they are quite noisy.
Beechwoods
11-08-2010, 06:02
I got one of these the other day. A WD 2TB drive. It's yet to arrive but looks like it's a sensible piece of kit. Not over-designed.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204506

http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/w0204506_normal.jpg

I'm consolidating 8 250Gb drives into 1 2TB drive to reduce the number of sockets required... the old 250Gb devices will be kept as a static backup.
Mothman
11-08-2010, 11:46
A colleague bought a Hitachi hard drive from Tesco's recently for around the £50 mark. Same 1TB size but in a different case. He uses it for backing up files and has had no problems with it so far but he did say the fan is quite noisey if your thinking of using one in a music set up. Also his has no seperate power switch so if his computer is on then so is the hard drive and fan. Might be worth checking if this new model is the same.
Alex_UK
09-09-2010, 10:38
I got one of these the other day. A WD 2TB drive. It's yet to arrive but looks like it's a sensible piece of kit. Not over-designed.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204506

http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/w0204506_normal.jpg

I'm consolidating 8 250Gb drives into 1 2TB drive to reduce the number of sockets required... the old 250Gb devices will be kept as a static backup.

How are you getting on with the WD Nick? Is it as silent as suggested? I'm looking for a 1TB version for pure audio file storage, to replace a 250GB Toshiba which is now nearly full - the WD one looks to be a good option, but any other suggestions from anyone gratefully received.
aquapiranha
09-09-2010, 10:52
I got one of these the other day. A WD 2TB drive. It's yet to arrive but looks like it's a sensible piece of kit. Not over-designed.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204506

http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/w0204506_normal.jpg

I'm consolidating 8 250Gb drives into 1 2TB drive to reduce the number of sockets required... the old 250Gb devices will be kept as a static backup.

That is the one I am using. 2TB for £99 from play.com. almost totally silent and runs cool too. Recommended
Alex_UK
09-09-2010, 11:02
That's great - thanks for the endorsement Steve. Just deciding whether to go for a bigger one actually, to save having to go through this again in a couple of years!
Welder
09-09-2010, 13:16
Aren’t there reliabilty problems with the larger capacity remote hard drives?
Alex_UK
09-09-2010, 14:09
Doesn't seem to be too much of an issue reading through the Amazon reviews, John, but be interested to hear from anyone who has had problems.
aquapiranha
09-09-2010, 16:50
Aren’t there reliabilty problems with the larger capacity remote hard drives?

Not heard much about that, but I do have another 2Tb on which is a back-up, just in case! (this one is currently in the PC but will be removed and put into storage)
spendorman
09-09-2010, 17:12
If anyone has an old IDE hard drive spare and wants to use externally, this looks good value:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EXTERNAL-DRIVE-ENCLOSURE-Indicator-1000gb/dp/B0037JW1Y4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It includes a DC power supply.
Mark Grant
09-09-2010, 17:49
I'm looking for a 1TB version for pure audio file storage, to replace a 250GB Toshiba which is now nearly full - the WD one looks to be a good option, but any other suggestions from anyone gratefully received.

If you only need 1TB they are only £54.97 on amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Elements-Desktop-External/dp/B002E7HEVU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1284053215&sr=8-1

might make more sense to buy a 1TB now then replace it when full with a 2TB as prices of 2TB will have dropped by then :)

Remember to always have more than 1 copy of everything as backup :)

Mark.
Alex_UK
10-09-2010, 20:35
Thanks Mark - wandered in to PC World and they have the 1TB for £59.99 so for the extra fiver I got it there (easier to return if it does fail within the 2 year guarantee period and means I don't have to faff around collecting from the post office if I'm not in.) Looks nice, is silent in operation and cool - as has already been said. Really is Plug 'n' Play (if you are a Windows user.) Now undertaking the laborious task of moving 250GB of music - which should be easy, but never is because of the inevitable odd corrupt file. Then intend to leave the old 250GB one as is as a backup for most of the music, and possibly pick up another WD next month to run two in tandem for redundancy protection.

Thanks again everyone for your input.