You’re running out of room in your current hard drive, and you’ll need to free up more space. Or you can invest in an external hard drive.
You’re looking out for a new external hard drive that you can upgrade to. You may not have enough room in your current hard drive.
And you may be in the market and are on the lookout for, what the best backup PC external hard drive is.
Well no worries, you’ll be able to see a list of the following external hard drives recommended.
Buyers Guide
You can dive into this buyers guide; however, if you know how this all works, you can skip and proceed below to see a list of external drives.
External hard drives (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD), can be connected to your computer through a USB port, rather than internally. And they come with different storage capacities.
You can connect them to a FireWire, USB, eSATA or wirelessly.
So Why Would You Want To Use An External Drive?
You’ll be able to carry around an external drive everywhere you go. It’s convenient and very portable. You can store a lot of files, especially video and other multimedia data in your external drive.
You’ll be able to use your external drive on any computer that has USB.
Having an external drive is very useful because most of the drives come with 1 Terabyte of storage. This is perfect if you’re thinking about backing up your videos, multimedia, music, pictures or regular files.
If you’re a laptop user, upgrading your hard drive is typically hard to do. However, thanks to external hard drives, you’ll be able to store and backup your files with ease.
Thanks to its simple USB plug, you can plug your external hard drive in any computer.
Pros And Cons of Internal and External Drives
External Drives
The Pros
With a simple external hard drive, you can plug it in a USB, and you’ll be able to move any files into or out of it. And you’ll be able to use it anywhere.
The Cons
External drives can be easily lost, damaged or stolen. However, it always has password protection just in case you ever lose your external drive while traveling.
Internal Drives
The Pros
Internal drives are part of the computer, and it’s internal. It’s integrated with your computer. And it’s less likely to get lost or stolen.
The Cons
Internal hard drives must be plugged into a motherboard and must be mounted or screwed inside your computer.
Internal drives also need all the operating system’s files and software for it to function.
Though you can take it out and be mobile, you won’t be able to easily plug it into any computer and start using it without having to disassemble your computer.
How Do You Choose Which External Drive To Get?
You can choose accordingly how you’ll use your external drive. What will it be used for?
With a lot of drives you can choose from, you may be overwhelmed or may don’t know what to want.
External drives are ranging from 500 GB to 2 TB.
Ask yourself, are you using it mostly indoors and in an office or room? Or will you be traveling with it?
If you’re traveling, you’ll need to invest in a water resistant and extra protected drive. If you’re only using it for the office, you’ll do great with a simple fancy drive.
Your Usages For The Drive
If you’re a regular user that uses multimedia, picture and some videos you’ll do great with a 200 GB.
If you’re a gamer or use different software and need the backup for your games or files, you’ll do great with 500 GB.
For those who need it for image editing or video editing or are a massive Adobe Premiere or Photoshop user, you’ll do good with a 1 TB drive.
If you’re a video editor and use 4K videos for editing, then you’ll need around 1.5 to 2 TB.
Best External Hard Drive List
With its inexpensive price and excellent performance, weighing in only 8 ounces and the actual size of a passport, you can get one for only 50 USD.
You’ll be able to transfer files at a speed of 174 MBps read, and 168 MBps write. You’ll be able to choose one ranging from 1 TB to 4 TB in storage space.
If you’re concern about security, no need to worry.
Thanks to its password protection, you’ll be able to set up a password every time someone tries to access the drive, the password window will prompt.
It uses a USB 3.0 port with it being USB 2.0 compatible as well. You can use it on any operating system from Windows to Mac OS.
This is one of the best backup PC external hard drive in the current market. If you’re on the go, then WD’s My Passport is the way to go.
If you’re working in an office all day, then the Backup Plus by Seagate will suit your storage needs.
The design for the Backup Plus is excellent. However, due to its size, this is great if you want a stationary external drive in your office.
You’ll have the option to choose the storage space, ranging from 4 TB to 10 TB worth of space. It’s both compatible for the Mac OS and Windows series.
It does come with two integrated 3.0 USB ports in the front of the drive.
Backup Plus comes originally formatted for Windows computer. However, you’ll need to install the NTFS drivers that go with it, for it to be Mac compatible.
The Backup Plus runs smooth, quiet and cool without any fans as well.
If budget is not a problem, and if you’re always working indoors and not traveling, then the Backup Plus will suit you perfectly.
The Backup Plus for Mac is another excellent hard drive. Like the regular Backup Plus, the only difference between these two is that this one is specially made for Mac.
However, this Back Plus for Mac also works for Windows as well. It comes with 4 TB worth of storage and room.
This drive also has USB 3.0 ports, no need for an adapter or a power cord. Just plug in your drives USB, and your drive should be ready for use.
The external drive also has Cloud capabilities and can connect to Cloud. Also, it can back up all of your social media as well, just in case anything happens or if you need extra room — that feature’s convenient.
Weighing only half of a pound, this is very convenient if you’re always traveling. And different features specifically made for the Mac, this makes it one of the top backup PC external hard drive for Macs.
With its great features and design, and if you do have the budget for this impressive drive, then investing in one of these will be worth it.
The U32 Shadow by Oyen Digital is one for the console gamers that have the Xbox One.
If you’re running out of room and storage in your Xbox One, then you’ll need to invest in the U32.
With its great aesthetic design and size, it’s lightweight and small in size, which is very convenient if you need to pack, travel or go over to your friends or cousins place to game.
The U32 holds around 1 to 2 TB, which is incredible. For only 75 USD, you’ll be able to use this with convenience, ease, and portability.
If you get one for 1 TB, you can hold up to six hundred fifty thousand photos, with two hundred fifty thousand worth of music and five hundred worth of videos.
If you’re an Xbox One gamer and looking to have more storage room, then the U32 Shadow would be most suitable for you.
With its super fast read and write speeds of 540 MB/s, you’ll be able to transfer files amazingly quickly; this is all due to its SSD built. And that’s about five times faster than an ordinary HDD.
You’ll have the options of choosing sizes ranging from 250 GB up to 2 TB worth of storage.
With its excellent aesthetics and metal finish to the T5 design, it’s also very portable, thanks to its weight, weighing only two ounces. You’ll be able to carry this around quickly and with convenience.
If safety is your concern, no worries, thanks to its integrated AES 256 bit hardware, your files are encrypted and kept safe as well.
The T5 works for all OS from Windows to Max and also can work with Android devices.
This easily makes it on the list of one of the best SSD external hard drive out there in the market.
In Conclusion
There’s a lot of great backup PC external hard drive to choose from. If you go through this list, you’ll be able to get an excellent grasp of what each external hard drive can give you.
Hopefully, this list has served you well and make you better decide which external drive that you can choose from.
18 thoughts on “Best Backup PC External Hard Drive For 2020”
I have two external drives with 3 TB capacity at the moment and cloud capacity of an additional 3 TB with AWS, pCloud, and DropBox (plus Google drive 100MB 2x for email/attachment storage). If that sounds like overkill, it may be, but possibly not in my case.
Because I sell digital products online, I have a large library of content that includes, graphics, images, files and folders to support the clients as they buy these products. I need to have backups ready to go if plan A fails for any reason, and also I like to keep a certain number on the external drives for quick access.
The Western Digital My Passport drives are what I am using now, and they have performed wonderfully for me over the past years. Because I use them so much, I do get concerned that they may fail me at some point. This is why I started doing some research to see what is available these days.
Based on your recommendations, it appears I can stay with the My Passport line of drives, they are as good as ever! I have heard good things regarding the Seagate drives as well. I likely will not venture into the untested (for me) drives and will go with the Western Digital drives. They are really great.
Having mentioned all this intent, I do like the Samsung T5 portable SSD drive a lot. Faster access speeds is something I like, time is money, plus the mobility and small footprint are attractive features for me. I think I will check that out too before making my final decision. Thanks for the great post and leading me in the right direction!
Thank you for the feedback, Dave.
I couldn’t agree more, The WD drives are awesome drives.
Wow! This article was amazing! I am looking for an external hard disk, just to make a backup from time to time. I didn’t really know which one I should pick. Thanks to your work I made a decision. I will pick Seagate Backup Plus STEL6000100. I hope it will be good 🙂 Thanks again for a nice piece of work!
Thanks, Igor. I’m glad this article has helped you made an excellent decision.
External hard drives! (Further: EHD) Very useful pieces of hardware. For many reasons. Easy to transport, a lot of additional storage place, secure backup of your data, easy to store them at home or in the office, portable data storage, easy to connect to your advice, etc…
When using EHD storage hardware, such as external hard drives, it is important to choose one form the reputable hardware producer in the industry. Many EHD starts to be less reliable during the time. Also, some of them can get USB issues. The strange volume is also an issue. So, choose wisely and store your EHd on a dry and safe place to avoid any further damages. Also, be sure to secure the connectivity and functionality along the everyday enhancement of the devices and operative systems. If you are using MAC or Windows as your operational systems, with every update or a new version of them, you may fall in risk your EHD I not working properly. Besides keep your EHD and your device OS free of any viruses, malware, etc. EHD is a great additional piece of hardware you need to have in your hardware arsenal.Thanks to some great reviews and offers, your choice making becomes far easier. When I chose my EHD then I mostly look after three main things:- the storage volume- security- compatibility with my OS
Best regards,IgorStay well, market better, convert best!
I agree, Igor.
Choosing a reputable brand is key when deciding on which EHD devices to get.
Thank you for the feedback.
Great.
I got the Information at the right time.
I have to back up old photographs and videos that have been accumulating for a couple of years.
I have an old 120 GB Western Digital External hard drive. It’s time to buy a new one, faster with more memory. I am satisfied with Western Digital hard drives. I’ll study a few more of these, maybe I buy someone else.
Have a nice day,
Leo
Thanks for the feedback, Leo. I’m glad you found this article helpful.
The WD drives are always great and reliable.
Great post and good info.
I have a Western Digital external back up for a while, and I can say it is really the best.
It isn’t cheap, but as you see the quality that you have from it, I really recommend this one.
Anyway, thanks for sharing it, you will help people with it, because you have a lot of them that have no idea what it is.
Thanks, Emmanuel.
WD is the way to go for external drives.
I agree the quality it has is worth the investment.
Hi Jose,
Thanks for providing this overview of why you may need an external hard drive and a review of the best external hard drives available on the market. Most people don’t think to explain why someone may even need a hard drive and as someone new to all this, it really put my mind at ease, that I’m looking at the right thing. Of your suggested products, which would you recommend as being the most user friendly, as I’m not a “technical genius”
Thanks for the feedback, Nate.
They are all simple to use; however if you’re always on the go, I’d recommend getting Western Digital. They’re cheap and are easy to set up.
Thank you for posting this, I have always purchased hard drive severally to an extent that I am almost loosing hope in it, I think I am never lucky in selecting the light hard drive, most of the time I buy and within some times they get damaged loosing all my content in it, mostly I used them to store some video games, movies and songs, I find it easy and fashionable to have a original hard drive as it can help you save alot of data separately from the pc. From today having gone through your post I have learnt more of the hard drive and the appropriate stalls or shops to purchase, am sure to follow your posts to learn more about them. Kindly vbaya link some affiliate links with prices related to the images of hard drive you posted on the post, this will help me get the real product.
thank you.
from Joy.
Thank you for the feed Joy. I’m glad this article has helped you.
I hear you; some external drives are susceptible of natural damage. I would get extra cover or case for your drives to prevent damage.
The irony is, one wouldn’t understand the true meaning of external hard drive for computer until he suffer system crash or virus attack on his computer before he can truly understand. I’ve always depend and use external hard drive to back all my files and documents so I’ll be able to operate on any other computer (another advantage) apart from mine.
So as said in this article, having external hard drive has more advantages than it disadvantage
Nice write up
Thanks for the feed Kehinde.
I’m glad you’ve found the article helpful. I agree, using external drives are a saver.
Your review was well presented with useful information esp for people who don’t know much the difference between the two drives. All the info you have provided were easy to understand since technical terms were explained. For some like me who isn’t knowledgeable about which one’s the best in the market, this review is indeed very handy.
I appreciate the feedback MrsMommai.
I’m glad the article has helped you and gave you insights on the two different hard drives.