Best External Hard Disks in India – Buying Guide

One of the excellent ways to build or maintain your personal or professional data for a lifetime is by buying the best external hard disks in India. External hard disks are great backup devices as they help you store and backup your current data at an offsite location. 

Each external hard drive has a unique storage capacity which is great for storing photos, videos, and other important files. The following are factors to consider before buying an external hard disk.

Storage Size

You measure the size of your external hard drive in gigabytes (GB). Your storage capacity increases as your GB increases. However, don’t let the numbers mislead you. Instead, focus on what kind of files you need to keep. 

If you take many photos and videos, go for a larger capacity to have plenty of room for new pictures and videos. If you’re looking for something to backup work documents or other types of files, then buy a smaller capacity so that it’s easier to manage your storage needs.

Compatibility With Your Computer Software

The format of some external hard drives is FAT32, while others are NTFS or HFS+. Because the latter two formats support more features, such as file permissions and encryption, they are better suited for Macs than FAT32. If you plan on using an external hard drive with both Windows and Mac computers, look for one that supports both formats. Otherwise, ensure that the external hard drive comes pre-formatted with NTFS or HFS+, so there’s no need to reformat the device after purchasing it.

Transfer Speed

The transfer speed of an external hard drive is an important consideration. If you need to transfer large files, a slower external hard drive will not be able to meet your needs.

Megabytes per second (MBps) and gigabytes per second (GBps) are the units of measurement for data transfer. Transfer speeds are faster when the number is higher. For example, an external hard disk with a transfer speed of 5GBps can transfer data at five times the rate of 1GBps external hard drives.

Security Features

You can prevent unauthorized access to your data by using external hard drives with built-in security features. Some have options for password protection, while others offer 256-bit encryption and even fingerprint scanning for added security. An external hard disk with more advanced security features is a bit expensive. However, a simple password-protected external should suffice if you’re looking for something affordable and portable that offers essential protection against unauthorized access.

Connectivity

You also have to consider connectivity when purchasing an external hard drive. Consider a portable external hard drive that supports Wi-Fi connectivity.  This will allow you to easily connect mobile devices to connect to your computer. Also, if you want to use it with multiple computers at once, go for network-attached storage (NAS). This model has various interfaces like Ethernet and USB 3.0 ports.

Interface

The interface is a critical factor to consider when buying external hard disks. Different interfaces have different speeds, so you want to ensure that your external hard disk can transfer data at the speed you need. The two standard interfaces are USB 3.0 and eSATA, which are high-speed interfaces. Some older computers may not support these newer interfaces, but most newer computers should use them without issue.

Durability

Durability is another crucial factor when buying an external hard disk. When you plan on using or moving your disk frequently, you’ll want one that can withstand wear and tear without being easily damaged. Additionally, a third party should ensure that your hard disk has been tested for durability before purchase. Otherwise, it could fail unexpectedly or break within the first year of use if not properly made of sturdy materials and construction techniques.

Your Budget

Budget is an essential factor when buying a hard disk. Drives are available in two types: SSDs and HDDs. The price of these drives varies from each other.

• Solid State Drive (SSD): SSD is the most expensive storage device. It is faster than HDD and provides more durability than HDD. However, SSD has limited storage capacity because it uses a flash memory chip with little space to store data.
• HDD: HDDs are also known as Hard Disk Drives, and they come in different sizes like 500GB, 1TB, etc. Their storage capacity is large, but they’re cheaper and slower than SSDs.

Size of the Drive

External hard disks with larger capacity allow you to confidently store more data in them. However, the bigger the hard drive, the more expensive it gets and the less portable it is. Consider whether you want to carry your external hard drive around or leave it at home. 

A large-capacity device may be a good choice if you intend to use your external hard drive only at home. If you plan on taking your external hard drive with you on trips or keeping it in your office bag, go for something smaller in size.

Warranty

The longer a manufacturer’s warranty period, the better its products are likely. This is especially true if an external hard drive has a warranty that lasts for five years or more. Such devices tend to have fewer issues than their counterparts with shorter warranties. Look for manufacturer’s information about their warranties before buying any device. Thus, you will know what kind of coverage you will get when something goes wrong with your purchase.

Over to You…

You now know the vital aspects to look for in an external hard drive. It isn’t rocket science, but there are certain things you should remember. You don’t need to be ashamed of spending money on what you need, so create a budget. For some people, that means buying a top model name because they don’t mind paying a little more for backup storage and extra longevity. The others think differently and figure they already have enough backup storage, so why did they buy a more expensive one when they could get something more affordable? Always choose what works best for you.