Our data storage needs keep growing each day, let’s take a look at the best 2TB external hard drive that’s currently on sale. With an external hard you can share your data between computers, take regular backup of your data and add more data storage space. The advent of HD videos and high resolution photographs has started to shrink our computer storage space at an alarmingly fast rate. So an external hard drive always comes in handy. Not only for movies and videos you can back up your spread sheets, pdfs, MP3s etc and carry them easily from place to place.
Tips to buy Best 2TB external hard drive:
- Basically there are two types of external hard drives, portable drives and drives that require an external power source (adapter). Portable drives are designed to work without an external power source and are ready to go once you plug in the connecter cables to your computer. They are compact and are called Notebook or Pocket hard drives.
- Drives which need an external power adapter on the other hand are just that, besides connecting them to your computer, you need to plug it to a power adapter to power up the drive. They are much larger and are called Desktop-style drives. It you are looking to buy a desktop-styled drive, buy one with a built-in fan as the extra cooling will increase the drive’s life.
- Speed of connectivity. With a standard USB 2.0 connectivity you get file transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbps. Now most drives come with USB 3.0 connection speeds which are much faster and are also backward compatible with USB 2.0. It means you can connect the same drive to your computer USB 2.0 port (you will get only USB 2.0 transfer speed). There are also FireWire and eSATA drives which offer significantly higher transfer speeds but are costlier.
- Other factors you may consider are warranty (try to buy drives with at least 3 or 5 years of warranty, rather than the standard 1 year warranty offered by some companies) and whether you need built in backup software within the drive (if you plan to use the default Windows or Mac OS software backup programs you won’t need it).
Following are the best 2TB external hard drives:
1. WD My Passport Ultra 2TB Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Auto Backup – Black
Manufacturer: Western Digital (WD). Portable drive, with 2 TB of storage space. It has got USB 3.0 connectivity, with automatic and cloud backup. It has also got password protection and hardware encryption features. Weighing just 8 ounces, it has got a 3-year limited warranty. It is a fast drive with USB 3.0 connection speed (great for transferring large media files), is black in color and looks pretty sleek. Included USB cable is 15” in length which is long enough for some extra reach. The added soft pouch is a good addition (keeps dust and dirt out and is easy to carry).
2. Seagate Expansion 2TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0
Manufacturer: Seagate. It is a Desktop-style drive, that is, it requires an external power adaptor, with 2TB storage capacity. It has USB 3.0 connectivity and is heavy, weighing at around 2.1 pounds. It is a good option as a backup drive and if you are not frequently moving, as it requires an external power source. It is large enough and the file transfer speeds are fast with USB 3.0 connectivity. The drive runs hot with holes drilled on top of the back panel as vent, not a very effective way of cooling.
3. Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Seagate. Portable drive, storage capacity: 2 TB. It is has got USB 3.0 connectivity. It is very compact and easy to carry, weighing just 5.9 ounces. It is pretty fast with USB 3.0 connection speed, is quiet and is backward compatible with USB 2.0. Design and build of the drive is, it is made of matte plastic, with a USB port in the back and the blue power activity light is located in the back top portion of the drive. The provided USB cable is short, so it is easier to connect to a laptop rather than a desktop.
Overall, it again depends on portability or moving requirements. If you want to access your drive on the move you are better off with a portable drive, on the other hand if you are going to use it just as a backup, leaving it sitting on your desk most of the time, you can opt for a Desktop-styled drive.
