If you have shopped for an external usb hard drive recently, you probably already know how many different options there are on the market. Each manufacturer seems to have several different drives with varying storage capacities. The task of choosing the hard drive best suited for your needs can be confusing.

Pre-installed External USB Hard Drives
Pre-installed external hard drive enclosures, commonly called USB hard drives, are the most popular type of external hard drive. These drives come with the hard drive itself, power supply and hard drive interface. All you need to do is plug the device into your computer, no formatting or drivers are required.

Empty External Drive Enclosure
If you enjoy tinkering with computers and learning as you go, then an external hard drive enclosure is worth considering. It's basically a complete hard drive case, with a power supply and hard drive interface, the only thing that is missing is the hard drive itself. You can use a new drive or an existing drive from an older computer. If you do choose an external hard drive enclosure, you have to install the drive yourself. Setting up a drive in an external case is not actually quite simple and not as difficult as it sounds. You simply plug in a cable or two and screw the drive in place.

Gigabytes and Terabytes
A external harddrive usually has the capacity quoted in gigabytes or terabytes. Older HDDs quoted their smaller capacities in megabytes, the first drives for PCs being as small as 5 or 10 megabytes . These days you will find hard drive capacities ranging from 20 gigabytes to 1000 gigabytes . If you are using your external hard drive as a backup device, the higher capacity drives will probably be most appropriate. [spin] If you are looking to travel | If your job requires travel or you simply want to transport files from one computer to another, a smaller capacity portable drive will be your best bet.

Understanding the Actual Available Storage Space
The storage size discrepancy is a factor you should take into consideration when selecting your external hard drive.

A USB Drive is an Excellent Choice for Backup Solutions
If it’s ease of use and convenience that you are looking for

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