I'm interested in buying a reliable, large capacity (750GB-1TB) external hard drive with eSATA compatibility. Any recommendations?
The Seagate Free Agent is a great drive (I've got two, one at 1TB and another at 1.5TB). Ryan's suggestion to check out Newegg is great advice, their prices are almost always rock-bottom dirt-cheap and their shipping and customer service are great. Two important things to note: for now, avoid drives over 1TB as there have been consistent, documented problems with them. Second, the e-sata connection is rarely simple to set up; many times the e-sata link is finicky and is a lot more difficult to set up than a comparable Firewire 800 or a USB 2.0 connection, so if your machine has an FW800 port, make sure the drive you decide on has one as well. Also, many drives that have esata ports don't come with the cable, so plan on picking one up when you pull the trigger on the drive. Quick note, make sure the drive you're considering is a 7200RPM model if possible.
You can expect to pay around $150 for a Free Agent Extreme/Desk drive with an e-sata connection and the cable shouldn't be more than $20 or so.
3 Answers
The Seagate Free Agent is a great drive (I've got two, one at 1TB and another at 1.5TB). Ryan's suggestion to check out Newegg is great advice, their prices are almost always rock-bottom dirt-cheap and their shipping and customer service are great. Two important things to note: for now, avoid drives over 1TB as there have been consistent, documented problems with them. Second, the e-sata connection is rarely simple to set up; many times the e-sata link is finicky and is a lot more difficult to set up than a comparable Firewire 800 or a USB 2.0 connection, so if your machine has an FW800 port, make sure the drive you decide on has one as well. Also, many drives that have esata ports don't come with the cable, so plan on picking one up when you pull the trigger on the drive. Quick note, make sure the drive you're considering is a 7200RPM model if possible.
You can expect to pay around $150 for a Free Agent Extreme/Desk drive with an e-sata connection and the cable shouldn't be more than $20 or so.
I work for a film production company and we only use G-Tech Drives (http://www.g-technology.com/), I wouldn't trust an other drives with our data. They cost more than most other drives, but they are worth it for the reliability and speed. You'll sleep better at night, trust me.
They have different drives for different needs (All of the following have eSATA btw). If you are looking for speed (i.e. HD Editing) then go for the G-Raid3 drives. If you want portability, then look at the G-DriveQ. If you are looking for speed and portability, then the G-Raid Mini2 (however, be prepared to pay for it). Finally if you want lots of storage, go for the G-Speed es.
Hope that helps!!
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Look at Seagate and check everything you look at on cnet.com, great site for electronics reviews. For purchasing, Newegg.com or Amazon is sometimes cheaper. Newegg could probably have specific suggestions too, great customer service.