4TB external hard drive - suggestions under £100?

[Riley Blue]

It's been several years since I bought external storage but what's the current thinking on a 4TB HDD for use with a Windows 10 PC and laptop?

[dudleybloke]

Bit small these days.

[mmm-five]

Does it need to be portable & bus-powered (usually slower 2.5" laptop drives), or are you happy for it to require an AC-adapter and constant mains power (usually 3.5" desktop drives, can be slower 5400rom or faster 7200rpm drives)?

If we rule out SSDs...for a desktop-based solution the WD Mybooks are not bad...and for the portable, bus-powered solution the Toshiba Canvio are not bad.

I've got a mix for various ones, bought over the past 10 years or so:

• 4TB Toshiba Canvio Desk (from 2015)
• 8TB WD MyBook (from 2016)
• 4TB Seagate BackupPlus (from 2014)
• 4TB Lacie Rugged (from 2018)
• 5TB Lacie Mobile Drive (from 2021)

...but most of my 'quick' & portable storage is now on external SSDs (such as Crucial X6 / X8)...although a 4TB one of those will set you back £200+ (or £184 for a 4TB Crucial X6).

The only ones I've had issues with have been both of the Lacie ones...but both have been replaced under warranty, so at least I know the warranty works.

[Riley Blue]

Thanks, I'd found a 4TB Toshiba Canvio for £88 so will probably go for that. It's just going to sit on my desk gradually filling up with photos so nothing sophisticated needed.

[peterperkins]

You need two drives or a cloud option really for a bit more data security.

If you delete the pics off your primary device and your backup dies what then?

I have a lot of films and mirror the drives to ensure I have a double whammy.

[Riley Blue]

I have three 1TB external drives for backups of backups.

[megaphone]

I use the WD Elements portable drives,

https://www.ebuyer.com/798629-wd-elements-portable...