Top 5 Best Portable External Hard Drives

Portable hard drives are one area of technology which has really advanced in recent years. You can literally carry all the data held on one or more home computers or laptops in your pocket. Whether it is movies, music, photographs, software, or a combination of many different types of file, portable external hard drives can cope with all sorts of data. Other uses for them include backing up data on a PC or laptop in case you suffer severe computer problems, or your computer is stolen.

They are also great just for acting as an overspill when your computer’s main internal drive is full or nearly full – the great thing being that with external hard drives, you just plug them in and you don’t have to spend time and energy opening up your computer and installing them, like you do with internal hard drives. In recent years, advances in technology has seen the amount of data that a portable external hard drive can hold increase dramatically and prices drop drastically in relative terms. Many now use their USB connection cables to power them too, which makes them even more convenient.

Here are my choices for the top 5 best portable external hard drives.

The Toshiba Canvio portable external hard drives are good quality products for a very competitive price. I have highlighted the 500 GB version but you can get the Canvio in other sizes. They are small and lightweight with no software to install, so you can just plug in and go!

Perfect for the traveling businessman, or for keeping at home to back up your PC, this Hewlett Packard storage device is one of the best portable external hard drives on the market on at the moment for its price and quality, it is compact, attractive looking, and does the job it’s supposed to! (Comes in different data storage sizes as well as 1TB)

This portable external hard drive by Buffalo Technology needs only one USB connection to power it and it is fast when it comes to transferring data to and from your computer. It looks good and is lightweight too! (Available in different data storage sizes, as well as 1TB)

The U32 Shadow advertises itself as the thinnest of all the 2.5" USB 3.0 portable external hard drives on the market and its ultra-compactness certainly make it appealing for those who need data storage on the go. As well as protecting the hard drive, its solid aluminum housing also ensures effective heat dissipation. (Also available in a 1TB data storage size)

This model is one of Western Digital’s best portable external hard drives. It is powered through its USB connection so there is no need for a power adapter. The WD Elements is easy to use and weighs only a few ounces (Also available in 500GB and 640GB data storage size)