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Jan 14,2020 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

External Hard drives are a convenient and easy way to store large data such as .jpg files and important official documents. These also help to organize and share digital information like media files and other important files. Hard disk drives were introduced in the year 1956, for data storage and real-time transaction processing computers. Using hard drive devices, one can easily store the official and personal data for the future use. Various performance characteristics are there that you must know before making a final purchase like storage capacity, seek time, data transfer rate, latency, power consumption, shock resistance, audible noise, and price. The top 10 cheap external hard drives that offer great utility, excellent design and additional storage for your personal and official data are:

Part-1: Picking from the Best and Cheap External Hard Drives

1. Seagate Expansion

Company: Seagate

Specs: Seagate Expansion hard drive is one of the best-suited data storage programs. The portable device comes with a wide range of data storage capacity that varies from 1 TB to 4 TB. The staid designed portable hard drive has sheer space to store data and it is highly compatible with USB 2.0. Seagate Expansion devices come with 3 years of guarantee and easily compatible with the Windows Operating system and is a favorite for the ones looking for a large hard drive.

Reviews: Fast and Easy Access, portable device, additional data storage and quickly copies files from internal drive.

Media Site which recommends it: PCMag

Price: $54.98 for 1 TB and $83.33 for 2 TB as listed on Amazon.

2. Samsung M3

Company: Samsung

Specs: Samsung M3 comes with an advanced intuitive software that offers easy plug and play operation with Windows. It is one of the best USB powered drives in the portable segment. Opting this device, one can easily manage the drive security as it features secured password protection. Generally, 1 TB and 2 TB Samsung M3 are available that deliver handy portable storage for important files and documents. It is compatible with USB 3.0 and can be easily connected to laptop or tablet, making it a useful large external hard drive.

Reviews: Fast data transfer, excellent performance, additional data storage, personal backup solution and safety key protection.

Media Site which recommends it: CNET

Price: $62.99 for 1 TB as listed on Amazon.

3. Toshiba Canvio Basics

Company: Toshiba

Specs: Toshiba Canvio Basics drive features an internal shock sensor and 5400 RPM speed. The portable device is highly compatible with Windows, DOT and Linux. The device has 5 gigabits/second data transfer rate and 12ms average seek time.

Reviews: Cheap and best external hard drive, additional data storage capacity, USB 3.0 interface, complete data protection, lightweight and small in size.

Media Site which recommends it: CNET

Price: $49.99 for 1 TB and $77.99 for 2 TB as listed on Amazon.

4. WD My Passport Ultra

Company: Western Digital Company

Specs: WD My passport Ultra features an auto backup software and hardware encryption for the best storage value. The device is durable, reliable, shock tolerant and comes with high capacity compact data storage capacity. WD My passport ultra device is compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 port and it secures your files from unauthorized access with password protection.

Reviews: Ultra-fast backup storage, Password Protection, double safe drive and additional storage capacity.

Media Site which recommends it: TechRadar

Price: $59 for 1 TB and $87.60 for 2 TB as listed on Amazon.

5. WD My Passport for Mac

Company: Western Digital Company

Specs: WD My Passport for Mac offers up to 2 TB data storage and USB 3.0 interface for the ultra-fast data transfer. For the MacBook users, the drive is an ideal companion as it offers fast and easy access to the users and saves files in a blazing speed.

Reviews: Sleek and compact design, additional storage for videos, images and files, WD security and massive data storage capacity.

Media Site which recommends it: CNET

Price: $59.99 for 1 TB and $97.99 for 2 TB as listed on Amazon.

6. Transcend 1TB Military-Grade Shock Resistance

Company: Transcend

Specs: Transcend 1 TB Military-Grade Shock Resistance drive has additional features like Shock resistance and one touch backup feature. It is specifically designed with a Silicon shell on the outer surface, standard casing and damper tech to meet drop test standards.

Reviews: Easy plug and play operation, anti-shock rubber case and maximum data transfer speed.

Media Site which recommends it: TechRadar

Price: $54 for 1 TB as listed on Amazon.

7. Seagate Expansion Portable

Company: Seagate

Specs: Seagate Expansion Portable hard drive offers maximum data storage capacity for digital data like photos, videos, DVD films and music. The drive features 5000mbps data transfer speed, which is pretty fast when compared to other cheap external hard drives.

Reviews: Sleek Design, Excellent performance, no need of external supply, durable, competitive price and easy to access.

Media Site which recommends it: PCMag

Price: $67 for 1 TB and $83.33 for 2 TB as listed on Amazon.

8. Seagate Wireless Plus

Company: Seagate

Specs: Seagate Wireless Plus is one among the best hard drive programs as it offers fast access to Windows and Mac users. It provides start guide to first time users. Opting the advanced storage program, you can easily transfer the files without wires or internet. It adds 1 TB storage space to multiple devices.

Reviews: Portable hard drive, wireless network, impressive performance, compatible for multiple devices like Android, iOS and Windows.

Media Site which recommends it: PCMag

Price: $139.99 for 1 TB and $199.99 for 2TB as listed on Amazon.

9. Samsung D3 station External Desktop Hard Drive

Company: Samsung

Specs: For those who want to expand data storage space, Samsung D3 station External Desktop hard drive is one of the brilliant options as it comes with a wide range of storage capacity that varies from 2 TB to 6 TB, thus making it a favorite among those seeking cheap external hard drives.

Reviews: Streamline shape, massive data storage capacity, USB 3.0 Interface and portable version.

Media Site which recommends it: GeekDaily

Price: $65.98 for 2 TB, $118.88 for 4 BT and $136 for 5 TB as listed on Amazon.

10. Western Digital My Passport Wireless

Company: Western Digital Company

Specs: Western Digital My Passport Wireless is an excellent data storage solution for laptops and desktop computers. The drive is equipped with a rechargeable battery that can last up to six hours and comes in handy while choosing from many cheap external hard drives.

Reviews: Wireless connection with mobile devices and USB 3.0 port for fast data transfer.

Media Site which recommends it: TechRadar

Price: $ 153.90 for WD 1 TB and $195.81 for WD 2 TB as listed on Amazon.

Part 2: What is an External Hard Drive?

External Hard Drive is a device that allows easy and fast access to store important data like documents, media files, photos and other files for the future use. External hard drives are the best alternatives for data backup and come in a wide range of data storage capacities and sizes. Certain facts that you must know external USB devices are performance, design, and storage capacity. Performance determines the overall operations of the hard drives including data transfer speed and storage capacity. When the files are transferred from computer internal drive to an external drive, then the data transfer rate is measured in terms of megabits per second or gigabits per second. Look for the devices that quickly transfer data without any loss, additional storage capacity and provide an easy access.

With numerous options to choose from in the market, the technology that drives cheap external hard drives is consistently progressing, thus leaving the user happy. For the ones looking to expand their digital library, this list offers more than just a few names, as it complies the cheap external hard drives that are ruling the world market currently.

Part 3: External Hard Drive Data Recovery

If you lost data on your external hard drive unfortunately, don't worry! You still have the chance to get lost data back. To recover files from external hard drive, you can have a try the following tool.

Your Safe & Reliable Hard Drive Data Recovery Software

• Recover lost or deleted files, photos, audio, music, emails from any storage device effectively, safely and completely.
• Supports data recovery from recycle bin, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera and camcorders.
• Supports to recover data for sudden deletion, formatting, hard drive corruption, virus attack, system crash under different situations.

Video Tutorial on External Hard Drive Recovery

What's Wrong with Drive

Recover Your Drive

Fix Your Drive

Format/Wipe Drive

Know Your Drive

BestExternal Hard Drives for MaciMore2020

We understand that your data is important to you. Whether its personal documents, important work files, or just making sure you have everything you need to be backed up, you can never be too safe. External hard drives are not only useful for storing data but are an excellent way to transport files from one location to another. When you take into account price, ease of use, and portability, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the most reliable hard drive you can carry around with you at all times.

Best Overall: Seagate Backup Plus Slim (2 TB)

If you want a reliable external hard drive that has a decent amount of storage, is super easy to carry around and has a very affordable price tag, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the best option for most people. Formatted for Windows and Mac right out of the box, it's easy to carry all your essential documents from desktop to laptop without missing a beat.

The Seagate Dashboard back up system is a fantastic simple tool that can let you schedule backups to ensure you never miss any critical files you need in case something terrible happens to your computer. You can set automatic backups daily, weekly, or monthly, and change the frequency whenever you want.

Seagate also throws in a one-year complimentary subscription to Mylio Create. This can help you wrangle your photo library if you don't already use some photo managing tool, and a two-month membership to Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Great backup software
• USB 3.0
• Metal enclosure

Best Overall

Seagate Backup Plus Slim (2 TB)

Reliable, portable, and affordable.

Don't worry about lengthy setups or formatting procedures. Plug in the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB, which is formatted for Mac right out of the packaging.

Best USB-C hard drive: Samsung T5 Portable SSD (1 TB)

This small compact SSD drive from Samsung comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A, meaning it's perfect to use with your MacBook or Mac.

Its fast 540 MB/s read and write speeds are more than enough to transfer any file. And should be able to store all your photo and video files with ease thanks to its straightforward software. Plus, if you're worried about encryption, the Samsung T5 Portable SSD has you covered with an optional password to launch the drive, and AES 256-bit hardware encryption on all your files.

Pros:

• USB-C
• SSD
• Super compact
• AES 256-bit hardware encryption

Best USB-C

Samsung T5 Portable SSD (1 TB)

Fast and encrypted

With 540 MB/s read and write speeds, the Samsung T5 Portable SSD is fast enough for photographers and videographers to transport all their work.

Source: Western Digital

Compatible with Time Machine right out of the box, the 8 TB storage capacity on the Western Digital My Book is perfect for people looking for a lot of stage at a reasonable price. It's USB 3.0, meaning it's easy to take advantage of its storage speed with fast transfer speeds.

While portability is not the Western Digital My Book's strong suit and it needs a separate power source, it does offer 256-AES encryption when you download its easy-to-use security software. It ensures all your important files and documents stay private.

If you're looking for a drive that has lots of space, os you don't have to have multiple as your storage needs grow, look no further.

Pros:

• Lots of storage
• 256-AES encryption
• Time Machine compatible

Best Capacity

Western Digital My Book (8TB)

Lots of storage for those who need it

Western Digital offers 256-AES encryption when you download its security software, meaning you can rest easy knowing your private information and personal data is safe.

Best Thunderbolt 3 Drive: LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt

LaCie hard drives have always been good for people on the go because of the rugged design. The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt can withstand some dust, dirt, and even a tiny bit of water being splashed on it.

It's 7200 RPM Hard drive keeps things running smoothly. And the included USB-C cable — which supports Thunderbolt 3 — makes it perfect for MacBook and Mac users alike!

Cons:

• Only 130MB/s

Best Thunderbolt 3 Drive

LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt

Rugged design with Thunderbolt 3

The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 3 is a favorite because it can withstand drops, dust, and even the occasional splash of water, making it easy to carry around!

Best for Legacy Hardware : G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB)

While Apple has been going the way of USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 for a while now, some of us still use older hardware and thus don't need hard drives that have USB-C connections. Kernel for outlook pst repair corporate license. If you're still rocking USB-A or even a Thunderbolt 2 connection from your Mac, the G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB) is a perfect companion.

Its all-metal design is not only more durable than plastic hard drives, but it also looks stylish! Plus, it's 7200 RPM speed allows the G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 to achieve 195 MB/s read and write speeds. This makes it fast enough to transfer large video files quickly and efficiently.

Cons:

• Needs to be reformatted for Windows

Best for legacy hardware

G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB)

Stylish and fast even on older computers

With 7200 RPM, this hard drive works hard and fast to get your files transferred quickly. Plus, it uses USB 3.0, and it even has a Thunderbolt 2 port.

Source: CalDigit

The CalDigit Tuff does the best it can to live up to its name, giving you a hard drive that isn't as delicate as most. Its official IP rating is IP57, meaning it can be submerged in 3-feet of water for 30 mins and come out the other side functional. That's not all; this Thunderbolt 3 compatible drive can also withstand falling from about 4-feet high. We still don't suggest that you purposely abuse the CalDigit Tuff. Still, it's always good to have peace of mind when you're carrying your hard drive around.

Cons:

• Only come in 2TB

Best rugged drive

CalDigit Tuff

Can withstand drops and water

Official rated IP57, the CalDigit Tuff can survive an accidental dip into the water and has a great price tag.

Source: Samsung

If you're used to dealing with giant file sizes and need a hard drive that can handle transfer data fast, the Samsung X5 is one of the fastest SSD's you'll find. Its read and write speeds are 2,800MB/s and 2,300MB/s, respectively, and the entire body is made of metal, making it much harder than plastic drives. Plus, The internal frame on the inside is shock resistant for drops from 2 meters.

This SSD comes with Thunderbolt 3 technology included. This you can take advantage of the fast speeds on your Mac or MacBook Pro, and it doesn't need any formatting, so it's plug and play!

Pros:

• 2,800MB/s read speed
• Shock resistant
• Thunderbolt 3

Best fast drive

Samsung X5

Incredibly fast SSD

If you need blazing fast speeds for giant files, the Samsung X5 is a monster external SSD that can handle any workload.

Bottom line

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the most reliable hard drive you can carry around with you at all times. It is formatted for both Mac and Windows right out of the box, and its easy-to-use software can automatically do backups for you as often or as little as you want.

Seagate also throws in a one-year complimentary subscription to Mylio Create. This program can help you wrangle your photo library if you don't already use some photo managing tool. A two-month membership to Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan means it's perfect for budding photographers as well.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Luke Filipowicz is an iMore staff writer who has been carrying around his Seagate Backup Plus Slim since his college days.

Lory Gil is the Managing Editor of iMore and an avid believer in having as many backups of your important files and documents as possible.

Rene Ritchie is the foremost authority on all things Apple and has insider knowledge about the goings-on at the biggest tech company in the world. When it comes to accessories for Mac, Rene has used them all.

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