The Best External Hard Drive For Your Needs

Posted by adairsawyer on February 27th, 2012

External hard drives are a relatively recent phenomenon, and they only became widely available when the use of laptops became commonplace. This is because external hard drives were first marketed to consumers in response to a pressing need for greater storage space that early laptops did not provide. Even today, although laptops have much larger internal hard drives, the size of digital files has also increased, making it necessary for many individuals to obtain a separate external hard drive. Also, if you have bought a cheap laptop, then you would most probably want to invest in the best external hard drive you can find to augment the memory on your cheap laptop.

If you have bought a cheap laptop, then there is a great likelihood that one of the compromises that the manufacturer made in order to make such a cheap laptop was to provide less digital memory. This is because large hard drives are very expensive, and the price grows exponentially as the size of the hard drive increases. Even the best external hard drive, on the other hand, would not cost anywhere near as much as a similarly sized internal laptop hard drive. This is because even the best external hard drive need not be anywhere near as small in physical size as an internal laptop hard drive needs to be.

In this day and age, there manufacturers have developed a wide variety of different external hard drives, with a range of different features that cater to the needs of different users. For example, there are different connectivity options available. The most common connectivity option is the USB cable, which describes a cable that physically connects the hard drive to the computer. The Firewire cable also physically connects the hard drive to the computer, but transfers digital information at a much faster rate, making it perfect for users who constantly have to move large files back and forth between their external hard drive and their computer. Finally, a few external hard drives feature Bluetooth connectivity, allowing them to transfer files to computers and mobile devices without the need for any wires. This is particularly useful for external hard drives that are shared between multiple users, such as in a family or an office.

When looking for the best external hard drive to pair with your cheap laptop, you also need to determine how much portability you require. Some people need an external hard drive that they can bring along with them when they leave home whereas others are fine leaving their hard drives at home. This is important because some external hard drives must be plugged into a wall socket in order to work while some do not. Depending on your portability needs, the best external hard drive for you might be one that must be plugged in or not.

The best external hard drive for you should also fit within your budget. Some external hard drives offer a whole host of features and are correspondingly expensive. Once you determine your budget, you can shop for a hard drive that has as many features as possible while still complying with the requirements of that budget.

For the best external hard drive to complement a cheap laptop, or any other laptop for that matter, look no further than Oyyy!