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Best external hard drive
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Aug 17, 2019 14:24:34   #
jdm Loc: Cape Cod
 
Hi, Awesome Hogs!

Yup, it is tax free weekend in Massachusetts; I’m planning to buy 2 external hard drives to back up my LR/PP files, just under 10k images. I would love to get your recommendations on which ones you think are the best and why. (I did do a search and the posts were rather dated.)

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Regards,

JDM

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Aug 17, 2019 14:28:07   #
DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
 
Last time I looked at the tax free weekend they were talking about limiting it to a $100 purchase so you might want to buy the drives separately (unless I'm wrong).

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Aug 17, 2019 14:29:07   #
Quixdraw Loc: x
 
I always pause at "Best" - no claim. I bought a Western Digital 4TB Passport. Inexpensive, small, does the job.

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Aug 17, 2019 14:29:46   #
jdm Loc: Cape Cod
 
Thanks, DirtFarmer. In Massachusetts, the purchase limit is $2,500!

Regards,
Jdm

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Aug 17, 2019 14:30:48   #
jdm Loc: Cape Cod
 
quixdraw wrote:
I always pause at "Best" - no claim. I bought a Western Digital 4TB Passport. Inexpensive, small, does the job.


Thank you, Quix. I’ll put that one on the list.

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Aug 17, 2019 14:44:05   #
John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN
 
Of course, the matter of $ limit to the tax free implies the $s will be important. But in terms of service quality, I would recommend the solid state drives (SSD). Can be had at the Terra byte capacities at prices that don’t break the bank and there are no moving parts to fail. Also they are not space hogs.

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Aug 17, 2019 14:49:40   #
jdm Loc: Cape Cod
 
John_F wrote:
Of course, the matter of $ limit to the tax free implies the $s will be important. But in terms of service quality, I would recommend the solid state drives (SSD). Can be had at the Terra byte capacities at prices that don’t break the bank and there are no moving parts to fail. Also they are not space hogs.


Thanks, John! Of course, $ is always important! I always shop for value, but I’ve also learned that you get what you pay for. Cheers! JDM

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Aug 17, 2019 14:55:00   #
hammond
 
This one - super fast, solid state memory, compact, and even looks cool.

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Portable-External-SDSSDE60-1T00-G25/dp/B078STRHBX/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?keywords=samsung+1tb+ssd&qid=1566068057&s=gateway&sr=8-21-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyOVk0Vk1TUjdXRTlFJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDM2MDM3NDE1RFdaODdBRUhXJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MTcwMDgzMkxTRzVTSTcwN09IJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYnRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

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Aug 17, 2019 14:57:58   #
jdm Loc: Cape Cod
 


Thanks, Hammond. And looking cool is always good!

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Aug 17, 2019 15:30:17   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
quixdraw wrote:
I always pause at "Best" - no claim. I bought a Western Digital 4TB Passport. Inexpensive, small, does the job.


I like the WD Passport Ultras. I have had two of the 1Tb drives for a few years now.
I'd have no problem getting a 4Tb WD Passport drive.

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Aug 17, 2019 15:57:30   #
therwol Loc: USA
 


Don't use a solid state drive for archiving material unless it will be powered up frequently or continuously. Data can deteriorate over time when they're not plugged in.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/205382-ssds-can-lose-data-in-as-little-as-7-days-without-power

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Aug 17, 2019 16:01:08   #
DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
 
jdm wrote:
Thanks, DirtFarmer. In Massachusetts, the purchase limit is $2,500!

Regards,
Jdm


I was probably thinking of CT

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Aug 17, 2019 16:16:45   #
jdm Loc: Cape Cod
 
Longshadow wrote:

I like the WD Passport Ultras. I have had two of the 1Tb drives for a few years now.
I'd have no problem getting a 4Tb WD Passport drive.


Thanks, Longshadow! They’re on the list!

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Aug 17, 2019 17:26:23   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
jdm wrote:
Hi, Awesome Hogs!

Yup, it is tax free weekend in Massachusetts; I’m planning to buy 2 external hard drives to back up my LR/PP files, just under 10k images. I would love to get your recommendations on which ones you think are the best and why. (I did do a search and the posts were rather dated.)

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Regards,

JDM


The "best" external MECHANICAL drive can be either a Toshiba or HGST Ultrastar - purchased as a bare drive. These are very robust drives rated for data center or enterprise use - and come with 5 yr warranties. You purchase a case that offers the fastest connection supported by your computer (Thunderbolt2, USB 3.0/3.1/C) and take the 90 secs it takes to install the drive in the case you will end up with something substantially better than the cheap pre-packaged, so called portable or external, consumer grade drives. If you open one of them you will find the mfgr's cheapest slowest drive inside. These represent a total waste of money.

If you are able to justify a much higher cost - an SSD drive is also a very good option, but don't think that because it is an SSD it will be much faster than the mechanical drive - it won't be because the speed is limited by the interface bottleneck.

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Aug 17, 2019 18:08:48   #
hammond
 
therwol wrote:
Don't use a solid state drive for archiving material unless it will be powered up frequently or continuously. Data can deteriorate over time when they're not plugged in.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/205382-ssds-can-lose-data-in-as-little-as-7-days-without-power


Seems the guy who wrote this report later clarified that this only applies to "end-of-life" SSDs stored in "abnormal temperatures"...

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2925173/debunked-your-ssd-wont-lose-data-if-left-unplugged-after-all.html

... still worth being aware of.

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