Programs and applications are getting bigger and bigger,while our collection of digital pictures (we like to keep the hi resolution ones for "just in case") and our ever-growing music collection is also expanding. Now, add the HD movies and you are running out of space quickly. But fear no more. There are now spacious hard drives that can be had for a reasonable price these days...
Iomega Ego Desktop Hard Drive
The Iomega eGo Desktop Hard Drive USB 2.0 provides a simple way for your storage needs. Ideal for adding capacity, this plug and play drive includes a 3 year limited warranty. We like that it's the easiest to set up and the vertical stand saves precious desk's real estate.
Lacie Starck
A collaboration between LaCie and world-renowned designer Philippe Starck, this external hard drive is the perfect union of form and function. We love the sturdy aluminum casing and an intelligent, touch-sensitive surface. The drive features a thick aluminum exterior that gives the drive a very organic look while also providing resistance to shock and overheating. An LED on the front of the drive glows in the form of Starck's signature symbol and changes color to indicate drive activity. The most striking feature is a touch-sensitive surface on the front panel of the drive. The surface can be customized to open the application of your choice in response to light tapping or firm touches.
Hitachi Lifestudio Desk Plus
The LifeStudio Desk Plus external drive automatically organizes your photos, movies, music, and files into a stunning 3D wall so you can easily view all your content both on your computer and from sites like Facebook. We love The included detachable USB key enables you to carry files around without having to move the drive itself.
Justin's Contemporary Contrast
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
yeah, but which ones are reliable? After having my external seize up and become a silver brick, I want form AND (reliable) function...
Any insights into reliable 2TBs?
M@ can't virtually vouch for reliability, but I'm personally interested in trying out these Verbatim external drives, in no small part due to their 7 year warranty.
2tb is old news since the 3tb drives are coming out and being announced.
@m@
i have had pretty good luck with lacie drives. I know that is all most design studios will run. We have about 5 in our studio and on my desk right now i have 3 different brand of externals
Lacie 500gb tri interface - great drive, reliable, been running for years. It was an always on backup for most of those. Very quiet and cool. Fast.
Western digital 320gb home premium - it "was" a good drive. Had it for 4-5 years. External casing failed. The drive still works. Had connection issues, took forever to mount most times.
Seagate 1tb freeagent desk with fw800 - not a fan. I got this to be my time machine since it has fw800. Runs VERY hot, not that quiet. It sits unused now. Will probably sell it on ebay and drop a bigger HD into the lacie.
WD elements 500gb portable - great drive. small, light, no frills. Decent speed even though it is portable, quiet. This was my time machine for awhile. No problems
WD elements 1tb portable newer style - this is my currnent time machine. same as above, great drive.
What i would look at doing too is buy an old lacie drive off ebay or soemthing (make sure it has the right connections!) and then drop a new drive in it. Their enclosures have been realli reliable for me, so why not use that and put a nice big drive in it. The samsung spinpoint drives have treated me well. I have a 1tb 7200rpm F3 in my imac now, and will probably get one of their larger and more "green" drives to put in the lacie i have.
As M@ has said, there is no way in hell I'm trusting my data to a single drive any longer. I'll stick to my Dorbo, thanks.
I've been a long Lacie user having trusted them for the past 10 + years with out much trouble.
Purchased a 2TB drive about 8 months ago and was using it sparingly to back up important data. About a month ago the drive failed to mount on my desktop. . . Called support and argued with them for hours and the best they could do was offer me a quote of $399-1499 to recover my data. . .
Completely ridiculous when you buy their product to securely store your data. I'd say beware, they definitely aren't made the way they were a few years ago. Last time I'm purchasing Lacie products as well.
I have purchased several different brands of hard drives, they all eventually give up. (I am a graphic designer so my drives get worked hard. I maintain client files and travel around a lot to different working spaces.) I have never (knock on wood) had to use data retrieval because my computer repair store has always been able to re-seat the drive in a new enclosure. Just to be safe, I backup and always maintain duplicate drives.
My Lacie external drive also failed to mount on my imac recently. I thought it might be a power source issue, as Lacie seems to have issues with that per my internet research. However, a new power cord didn't solve the issue either. Finally, I bought Diskwarrior by a friend's recommendation, and that did allow me to retrieve my lost data. Not cheap, $99, but better than other data recovery services!
Does anyone know if Consumer Reports has done a recent overview of hard drives?