Harddrive too small

[·WídgêT·]

I don't know how many of you know this, but I play on a laptop (which I call something else but I'll spare you the profanity). Anyway this thing only has a harddrive capacity of 15 gb...which is TINY. Having Halo, CE, Vent, and iTunes on it, among other things, has it almost completely filled (roughly 300 mb left pending me deleting some of my halo skins to see if it does anything ).

What I need is an external harddrive to store some of this stuff onto. Things like Halo, CE, iTunes, and other things that I really don't use until I get home would save a ton of space on here and make my life a lot easier.

I already asked around and my Web Design teacher mentioned sites such as newegg and stores like microcenter nearby, but I need an opinion on two things:

a) What kind of external harddrive would be good for me

b) Possibly some reliable sites to get some from

Any and all opinions are well accepted

[BFM_saes]

Does the laptop have Firewire support?

[BFM_Kiwi]

I have a Western Digital Passport (320GB).  I think it was $99.  It's USB powered.  I use it for backup so forth.   Took all of my music collection to load on my work computer, stuff like that.

I don't use it like you'd use it, so I can't say if it's fast enough or appropriate for you laptop, but I like it. 

Amazon link

[MrMxyzptlk]

Um, I know you didn't ask this, you SPECIFICALLY asked about external HDs, but...

why don't you just replace your laptop's internal HD with a newer, larger one?!?

It's like the EASIEST upgrade that you can do to a laptop!  (And the internal 2.5" notebook drives cost almost exactly the same as the external, 3.5"-based full-size ones....  E.g. A 160GB internal laptop drive is about $60....)

Then you can either have someone (ala the "Geek Squad") copy over all your old stuff to the new drive and install it, or do it yourself by buying an inexpensive adapter cable for the notebook drive....

I upgraded my (very old!) Sony Vaio from it's original 6GB HD to it's maximum-supported 40GB for $20 a few years ago, and it was a piece of cake!

 

Notes: Check your manufacturer's specs and/or call their Support line to see the largest size drive they support! Some manufacturer's ( >cough< SONY! >cough< ) have INTERNAL HARDWARE LIMITATIONS on how large a drive they can handle!

Depending on the OS installed, you may have to deal with Windoze complaining that you've installed you OS on another machine, and require that you re-activate it with Micro$oft....  If you go the do-it-yourself route on this, PM me about what to do about preserving the Volume ID across disks....

[carl]

just go out and buy like a 5TB external hard drive, better yet go out and buy like a 20TB server just for you. 


lol jk.  go to best buy and say i need a fast external hard drive. 

[·WídgêT·]

Um, I know you didn't ask this, you SPECIFICALLY asked about external HDs, but...

why don't you just replace your laptop's internal HD with a newer, larger one?!?

Guess I forgot to mention that my laptop is owned by my school and I can't make any modifications to it until I buy it out at the end of senior year (currently a junior). And because my parents already told me that they're gonna get me a new laptop for when I go to college by the time any modifications are made my sisters will be using it...

Now to address the rest of you:

sæs: I'm not a techy, you're going to have to explain to me what Firewire is so I can answer your question

Kiwi: Yes I am looking for something that can be connected via USB, and I will look into the one you use, however, I don't need something that big, possibly only 80-100 gb will be plenty (I'm not trying to download these massive files, and my computer can't run most of the games that require that much space)

carl: That's kinda what I had in mind (the going to Best Buy part, not the 20TB server part )

[BFM_Skedog]

I have a Western Digital Passport (320GB).  I think it was $99.  It's USB powered.  I use it for backup so forth.   Took all of my music collection to load on my work computer, stuff like that.

I don't use it like you'd use it, so I can't say if it's fast enough or appropriate for you laptop, but I like it. 

Amazon link

I have the same thing only a 1TB one, and it works amazingly.
Some good suggestions from Best Buy are

160GB Simple Tech Harddrive

160Gb Maxtor External Harddrive

And some others are located HERE

Hope this helps

BFM_Skedog

[·WídgêT·]

Well I just got $125 in gift cards for Best Buy for Christmas so...Skedog your links are perfect, thank you