A wireless hard drive is becoming increasingly popular with computer users as home and wireless networks continue to grow. More and more of us not only have desktop computers, but also laptops, tablets and smart phones all of which are hungry for extra storage space. Music, video and photos are accumulated at an alarming rate and before you know it the device’s internal disk memory has reached its limit. All of these devices can be connected via USB to a computer to store the files but this requires the physical connection. Now with a wireless hard drive you can simply transfer and backup files wherever you are in the house.

Advantages Of A Wireless Hard Drive

A wireless hard drive offers a number of advantages to those with more than one computing device. Laptops typically still do not have the storage capacity of their desktop equivalents, and it is not difficult to utilize all of the internal disk space very quickly. With a wireless hard drive available, it is easy enough to transfer any data files that are not in regular use on the laptop, thereby freeing up the internal disk. Now with many people also possessing smart phones, the demand for storage space is even greater. These devices are usually limited to 8, 16, 32 or 64GB of storage which does not go very far when buying music or downloading films. The fact that you can transfer these files easily to a wireless hard drive means your smartphone or tablet will enjoy prolonged usage and save you from having to upgrade sooner than you would like to.

A Wireless Hard Drive Online

One of the great features of a wireless hard drive is that it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. For instance Western Digital’s WD 2go provides remote access via the internet securely so you can view photos, save and retrieve files, play music and videos form the wireless hard drive. Once you log in, the drive is mounted to your computer so it just appears as a local drive with all your files and folders available for viewing. This makes working remotely a viable option and something many people will find extremely useful.

Streaming From A Wireless Hard Drive

Another great feature offered by these wireless hard drives is the ability to stream audio and video from the media server to any DLNA-certified multimedia device such as a Blu Ray player, media player or XBox 360. You can then view these videos or photo albums on your HD TV for maximum enjoyment.

A wireless external hard drive is without doubt, a very useful addition to any home wireless network. The sheer convenience of being able to save, backup, stream and transfer data files from a number of different devices is obvious and makes buying one of these drives an essential purchase.

Seagate STBF500200 500GB GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage Average Rating: 42 total customer reviews...

WD My Book Live Personal Cloud Storage 2 TB Network Attached Storage Average Rating: 86 total customer reviews...

LaCie Network Space 2 2TB Home Connected Storage Average Rating: 40 total customer reviews...

A 3TB external hard drive would once have been viewed as a futuristic fantasy. But such is the rate of technological progress that you can now buy one of these monster drives at a very reasonable price indeed. This size of drive really proves to be essential for those users who are working with large audio and video files. Such are the volumes for HD video and 96K audio that even with a 500GB drive you will soon run out of space if you are a regular user. However with a 3TB external hard drive this will be unlikely to happen for some considerable time.

3TB External Hard Drive Brands

Most of the major brands like Western Digital, Seagate and Buffalo have 3TB models and more and more of them are equipped with a USB 3.0 interface. When transferring huge data files, USB 3.0 can make a big difference in the time it takes to copy or backup from one drive to another. And with the size of storage that a 3TB external hard drive can offer, backing up or cloning an entire drive is easily possible to do. A number come with their own backup software, some allowing continuous backing up of files when changes are made. Alternatively their are a number of standalone software products that perform similar tasks.

It really does make sense at this price to buy one of these drives. With so many families all having their own music, video and other important files that they access on a daily basis, a 3TB external hard drive allows all the family to save their data and still have plenty of capacity left over. Something like the Western Digital My Book Live Personal Storage 3TB Network Attached Storage Drive allows this to be done wirelessly over a network from smart phones, tablets like the iPAd and games consoles. You can also stream your music from the drive to anywhere in you home, and with remote access via the web, you can view photos and retrieve files anywhere in the world.

If you need a large capacity drive for all your important files, a 3TB external hard drive is definitely worth considering. Below are some popular models.

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 3TB Desktop USB 2.0 External Hard Drive with Capacity Gauge Average Rating: 19 total customer reviews...

WD My Book Essential 3.0 3 TB External Hard Drive (USB 3.0/2.0) [PC] Average Rating: 40 total customer reviews...

Buffalo DriveStation 3.0TB USB 3.0 External Hard Disk Drive Average Rating: 2 total customer reviews...

The Western Digital Elements 1TB external hard drive is without doubt one of the most popular drives on the market today. With disk capacities having risen rapidly in recent years, the huge 1TB storage provides more than enough space for most user’s requirements.

Western Digital Elements 1TB Power Saving

The drive comes with an external power supply and as such is more suited to operation with a desktop computer. It could be used in a more portable capacity as the unit only weighs 1kg, but as it is not powered from a USB port this rather defeats the object. What the Western Digital Elements 1TB does have is an eco friendly power saving system called WD Green Power technology. The drive turns on and off with your computer and goes into idle mode when it is not in use. The drive consumes less power with this technology during start up allowing more drives to spin together, making the whole system in a greater state of readiness. Western Digital take energy saving and environmental sustainability seriously which makes a welcome change in today’s market place.

Western Digital Elements 1TB Ease Of Use

The Western Digital Elements 1TB is a plug and play external drive that comes pre-formatted for PC, though can easily be formatted for use with Apple Mac products. Typically the usable storage space on the drive is around 930GB with the remainder being taken up by the drive’s file storage system. With the USB 2.0 interface, it is simply a case of drag and drop or copy and paste when you want save files to the drive. With the size of capacity you have at your disposal, you can use the drive to backup either important files on your internal drive, or maybe clone the internal drive in its entirety. With some of the newer drives now offering USB 3.0, some may feel that USB 2.0 is becoming less practical for moving large volumes of data around. This really depends on how you intend to use the drive. If you need to perform a complete backup, then doing so would be best left to an overnight operation or when you are not making use of your computer. But you can happily work away when files are being copied and it will not inhibit your computer’s performance. The Western Digital Elements 1TB is very quiet in operation and is not intrusive for those trying to concentrate on other tasks. It also runs at a low temperature, no doubt as a result of the energy saving power supply.

Overall at the price point and for the storage capacity you are getting, the Western Digital Elements 1TB represents excellent value for money. As a backup device it offers plenty of capacity and reliable operation. However all disk drives both internal and external can fail, so it is always a good idea to have the data on your Western Digital Elements 1TB drive backed up elsewhere as well.

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Western Digital Elements 1TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive - Black Average Rating: 377 total customer reviews...

The Western Digital My Passport SE 1TB external drive is one of the most popular models around and it’s no surprise as to why. Housing a huge 1TB drive and with a dual USB2.0 and 3.0 interface, data transfer rates are extremely fast. When connected via the USB3.0, transfer rates are nearly three times faster than USB 2.0. this makes a big difference when copying or backing up large data files. With the huge drive capacity, you can literally clone your internal drive and back it up in a relatively short period of time, or do it overnight for more convenience.

The My Passport Essential SE 1TB comes with the WD Smart Wave software that facilitates the backing up of your data. It can be configured by selecting just the components you need, or alternatively you can decide not to use it and instead go with an external backup solution like Acronis. Both offer continuous backup so any file changes are immediately backed up for peace of mind and worry free operation.

Another great feature is password protection. With a portable drive there is always the worry that you might lose it and though this would be extremely inconvenient, you can at least rest assured that your data and privacy is safe.

The drive is USB powered which offers great portability. No need to carry a power supply around with you, it is truly plug and play.

At such a great price for the amount of storage you get, this drive will last a long time. It is well worth considering if you are in the market for a high capacity portable external hard drive.

The Toshiba PX1626E 500GB External Hard Drive is one of Amazon’s best sellers currently. It has a stylish design with a brushed aluminium look, weighs in at only 41g and has dimensions of 18 x 4 x 12cm so is very compact. The Toshiba has a fanless design so in use it is very quiet which makes it unobtrusive and a great companion to any desktop or laptop computer. In fact it fits very well in look with the apple range of Macbook Pro and Macbook Air laptops.

The drive is plug and play so once it is plugged in you can simply follow the on screen instructions and get it up and running straight away. With 500Gb of storage space available and a USB 2.0 connection, it offers more than enough for the average user and at a great price, you really can’t go wrong.

Seven picks of the best external hard drives

Looking for an external drive with a little bit of difference? Have a look at the Hitachi Lifestudio Mobile Plus drive. Fundamentally a drive aimed at the multimedia user, it helps to organise, collate and backup your photos, videos so that your life in the digital domain is kept safe and orderly. Read more here.

The Seagate Expansions 1TB hard drive is an excellent choice for those seeking a large capacity external drive that is quiet, compact, easy to use and great value for money. With a 7,200 RPM disk speed and built in power management to ensure the most efficient operation, this drive performs very well in all situations from simple drag and drop file copying to backing up of your internal drive. With Seagate having shipped over one billion hard drives, they are an established manufacturer in this field and you won’t be disappointed should you choose this model. See review here.

The Iomega eGo Portable is a very stylish drive that reflects the desire of a number of manufacturers to provide not just a reliable piece of hardware, but also one that is pleasing on the eye. The casing is solid enough to protect the drive should it be dropped and it has silicon protectors on each corner called the ‘Iomega Power Grip Band Protector’ for added peace of mind. Talking of extra protection, the eGo Portable also has a 256-bit AES hardware encryption controller to keep your data secure if the Iomega is lost or stolen. With a USB 3.0 micro port, this drive offers fast storage at a great price.

The Seagate Freeagent Goflex range is now available offering high capacity storage and automatic encrypted backup with it’s installed software. Not only does it come with an included USB2.0 plug and play adaptor for connecting to a PC or Mac, but you can upgrade to a GoFlex 3.0 USB or Firewire adaptor for up to 10 times faster transfer of your files. See the 1TB ultra portable version here at Amazonand watch a video of the desktop version.

The Neil Poulton design Lacie 1TB drive is one of our favourites. With its striking looks  emphasised by a blue LED diode on its underside that emits a calming glow, this  drive offers huge storage capacity and user friendly operation. And unlike most other external drives the  Lacie utilises a cooling system that dissipates the heat without the use of a  fan. This gives it a near silent operation which helps reduce noise in your  working environment. Connection is via Hi speed USB2.0 and plug and play operation make it easy to setup and start copying files.

Western Digital’s 1TB Elements drive is incredibly good value for money which is one  reason why it is so popular. Offering 1TB storage, USB 2.0 connectivity and  rubber sides on the casing allowing for good desktop grip, this drive is simple  and efficient. If you want a no frills good value drive for backing up those  important files then the Elements should be top of your list.

Another one of our favourite drives  is the Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB model.  This portable drive has a very respectable  capacity and is powered via its USB connection so there is no worry about  finding a powerpoint if you are on the move. This makes it perfect for laptop  use and for general “on the go” data storage and backup purposes. It is easy to  carry and will provide invaluable use for those large files that need to be  moved from one computer location to another.

Synology is a company that provides some great network storage devices. These cost effective models give a backup solution and raid array protection for your files and data. Files can be shared over the internet on different platforms which makes the whole process more seamless with in built web applications and user privileges. These models are predominantly designed for business users so if you have your own small business with large data flows, then you will get peace of mind when it comes to your data storage.

Synology DiskStation 2-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS212j (White) List Price: $199.99 Price: Too low to display Read Reviews

Synology DiskStation 2-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS212 (Black) List Price: $299.99 Price: $299.73 Read Reviews

Synology DiskStation 2-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS212+ (Black) List Price: $369.99 Price: $369.99 Read Reviews

Synology DiskStation 4-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS411J (White) List Price: $399.99 Price: $355.00 Read Reviews

Why do you need a dual external drive?

As I inevitably seem to gather more information by way of data, mp3 music, video and photo digital files, not only do I need a larger external hard drive but also a backup for my existing external hard drive. The reason for this is that my internal hard drive is nearing capacity and whereby my original external drive was intended as a backup to this, it is now being used to store fresh information. My worry now is if this drive fails, data that is not on my internal drive will be lost. The obvious alternative is to buy a second maybe larger external drive to use for this purpose. However my one thought on this is do any manufacturers offer a “dual” external hard drive that would contain two separate discs so should one fail, then your data would still remain safe? As it turns manufacturers have identified this vulnerability and there are indeed dual drives now available.

One such drive is the Western Digital 1TB My Book Mirror Edition dual-drive storage system. With it’s RAID based system and software that automatically backs up your data, you are safe in the knowledge that should one drive fail then you have the other disk available to access your files. It works by “mirroring” or duplicating the data automatically so the disks have identical files and information on each. Each time you save a file it is mirrored on the second disk drive. Unfortunately this drive is not available for the time being.

However another one to consider with similar features is the Verbatim 47528 2TB RAID (2 bay) 3.5-inch External Hard Drive. It has user selectable RAID options to enable the drive to work as one large disk or two separate mirror disks.

PC Advisor magazine recently ran a group test to determine the top 5 portable external hard drives. As you would expect the well known makes featured with Western Digital occupying two of the five spots. What makes these drives so attractive is their size and portability, and whereas not so long ago capacities were limited, they are now offering huge storage for your data and files. Not only that but more and more drives are now supporting USB3.0 which makes file transfer considerably quicker than via USB2.0. And the winning drive provides both USB 2.0 & 3.0 as well as Firewire and eSATA giving you huge flexibility in usage. If you need a drive that you can fit in your pocket and take anywhere then check out these great options.

WD My Passport Essential 500 GB Midnight Black Portable Hard Drive (USB 3.0/2.0) Average Rating: 467 total customer reviews...

Hitachi LifeStudio Desk Plus Drive 2TB; (External) (0S02676) Average Rating: total customer reviews...

Western Digital My Passport Essential 640GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive - Black Average Rating: 1 total customer reviews...

Adata Nobility NH01 2.5 inch 750GB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive Average Rating: total customer reviews...

Seagate STAA1500200 1.5TB GoFlex Ultra Portable USB Hard Drive Average Rating: 3 total customer reviews...

For those people who have huge amounts of data to file, save and backup, a 2TB external hard drive or larger is the way to go. These drives are extremely large and should be able to store all the information you save on them for a long time to come. Cloning internal disks as large as 1TB will be easily achievable and and storing huge HD video files will be no problem either. If possible it is advisable to get a drive that has a USB3.0 connection so you are able to greatly increase the speed of transfer of up to 6 or 7 times faster than USB2.0. This will make a huge difference when backing up a whole disk.

If you are in the market to buy a 2TB external hard drive or possibly even a 3tb external hard drive, below are some of the best sellers.

WD My Book Essential 3.0 2 TB External Hard Drive (USB 3.0/2.0) Average Rating: 100 total customer reviews...

Seagate Expansion 2 TB External Hard Drive, USB 2.0 Average Rating: 051 total customer reviews...

Samsung S2 USB 2.0 1TB Ultraslim Portable Hard Drive - Black Average Rating: 44 total customer reviews...

WD My Book Essential 3.0 3 TB External Hard Drive (USB 3.0/2.0) [PC] Average Rating: 40 total customer reviews...

Seagate Expansion 3TB Desktop USB2.0 External Hard Drive - Black Average Rating: 4 total customer reviews...