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USB Powered
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Seagate Backup Plus Slim ‑ 2Tb
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$82.49
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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159g
Info
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2TB
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Info
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Feb 2019
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88
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Seagate Backup Plus
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$132.48
Overstock
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Info
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860g
Info
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4TB
Info
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Info
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Sep 2015
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Seagate Backup Plus ‑ 5Tb
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$134.99
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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265g
Info
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5TB
Info
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Info
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Sep 2015
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Seagate Archive HDD Backup Plus Portable ‑ 2Tb
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$93.25
Overstock
+1 more shop
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Info
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140g
Info
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2TB
Info
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Info
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Feb 2015
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Seagate Backup Plus ‑ 2Tb |
$92.29
Overstock
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Info
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151g
Info
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2TB
Info
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Info
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Nov 2013
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86
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Seagate Backup Plus Portable ‑ 4Tb |
$104.99
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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265g
Info
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4TB
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Info
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Jul 2015
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86
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Buffalo DriveStation Velocity ‑ 2Tb |
$109.99
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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950g
Info
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2TB
Info
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Info
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May 2013
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86
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Seagate Backup Plus Slim ‑ 1TB |
$62.49
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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159g
Info
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1TB
Info
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Info
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Feb 2019
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86
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Shortlisted
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Seagate Backup Plus ‑ 1Tb |
$54.99
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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126g
Info
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1TB
Info
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Info
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Nov 2016
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86
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Seagate Expansion Portable ‑ 500GB |
$59.49
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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170g
Info
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500GB
Info
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Info
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Feb 2015
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84
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Western Digital My Book ‑ 6Tb |
$249.55
Overstock
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Info
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1.1kg
Info
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6TB
Info
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Info
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Oct 2016
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83
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Western Digital My Passport Mac ‑ 3TB |
$141.69
Overstock
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Info
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230g
Info
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3TB
Info
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Info
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Jun 2015
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83
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Western Digital My Passport X
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$145.96
Overstock
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Info
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230g
Info
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2TB
Info
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Info
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Apr 2015
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83
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Seagate Wireless Plus ‑ 1Tb |
$142.74
Overstock
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Info
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272g
Info
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1TB
Info
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Info
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Jul 2017
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82
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Western Digital My Passport ‑ 1Tb |
$75.99
e-Global Central US
+1 more shop
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Info
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170g
Info
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1TB
Info
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Info
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Jun 2012
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82
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Western Digital My Passport Ultra ‑ 500Gb |
$79.99
Overstock
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Info
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150g
Info
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500GB
Info
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Info
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May 2015
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82
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Western Digital My Passport ‑ 2TB |
$79.99
Adorama
+1 more shop
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Info
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250g
Info
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2TB
Info
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Info
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Jan 2018
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82
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Western Digital My Passport Ultra Metal ‑ 1Tb |
$100.56
Overstock
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Info
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162g
Info
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1TB
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Info
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Sep 2014
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82
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Western Digital My Passport Ultra ‑ 3Tb |
$141.69
Overstock
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Info
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230g
Info
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3TB
Info
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Info
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May 2017
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No matching products found.
What Are The Best External Hard Drive Brands?
We looked at the reviews for every external hard drive and used this to calculate the average overall rating of each brand. The top rated external hard drive brand is Western Digital with an average rating of 89%. Compare all award winning external hard drives.
Rank | Brand | Number of External Hard Drives | Price Range | Average Rating | |
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#1 | Western Digital External Hard Drives | 112 | $76 - $250 |
89%
1,557 reviews
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#2 | Seagate External Hard Drives | 88 | $52 - $253 |
85%
262 reviews
|
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#3 | Silicon Power External Hard Drives | 39 |
77%
89 reviews
|
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#4 | Buffalo External Hard Drives | 34 | $79 - $213 |
75%
14 reviews
|
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#5 | iStorage External Hard Drives | 30 |
71%
29 reviews
|
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#6 | A-DATA External Hard Drives | 55 |
61%
38 reviews
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#7 | Freecom External Hard Drives | 25 |
56%
7 reviews
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#8 | LaCie External Hard Drives | 65 | $70 - $700 | ||
#9 | Toshiba External Hard Drives | 64 | |||
#10 | G-Technology External Hard Drives | 37 | $78 - $850 | ||
#11 | Intenso External Hard Drives | 26 | |||
#12 | BUSlink External Hard Drives | 24 | |||
#13 | Fantom Drives External Hard Drives | 23 | $75 - $201 | ||
#14 | Transcend External Hard Drives | 21 | $60 - $145 |
Trending External Hard Drive Comparisons
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
External Hard Drive Buying Guide
External hard drives are portable and used to backup files and data from your computer, so they’re safeguarded in case of accident or for retrieval at a later date. While Cloud-based backups are being used more and more for backups, external hard drives still have several important benefits compared to online backups:
- Peace of mind: many people don’t 100% trust the Cloud yet, and having their data stored in some unknown, invisible server somewhere leaves them worried about the long-term safety of their data. External hard drives offer tangible, physical objects to safely backup your files, without having to rely on 3rd-party companies.
- Backing up and restoring files is far faster, especially with newer models that use USB 3 for transferring data.
- Data can be retrieved without needing a net connection, making them useful if travelling or if you find yourself somewhere without a solid net connection.
- High-level security options - such as fingerprint scanners, palm vein scanners and number pads - offer vastly increased security and peace of mind when storing very important files. Moreover, there is the increased security of being able to physically lock away the hard drives away from prying eyes.
- Finally, USB hard drives are still one of the best methods for quickly moving very large files between different computers. It is frequently easier (as long as the computers aren’t too far apart) to simply transfer the file to the drive, plug it in to the second computer, and transfer rather than having to deal with slower upload/download speeds from services such as Dropbox.
Capacity
The main important consideration when choosing an external hard drive is the capacity. This Is a measure of how much data the drive can hold, and is measured in gigabytes (Gb) or terrabytes (Tb) . A gigabyte is 1000 megabytes, and a terabyte is 1000 gigabytes. Our drives range from relatively small portable 120gig drives to enormous 5Tb drives, which can safely hold all the data from multiple machines at once. Generally speaking the higher the capacity the better, but it does depend on what you’re going to be backing up. If you only use your computer to store documents, low-res photos and the like, a 2-500 gig drive should be enough. On the other hand, large capacity drives are useful for storing RAW photos, video editing or Photoshop files.
Size & Portability
Hand in hand with the capacity of the drive is its size. Generally speaking, the larger the capacity of a drive, the bigger it is. Small-capacity drives are extremely portable, being no larger than a mobile phone, so can be transported very easily. On the other end of the scale, the very large capacity drives are not meant to be portable, and usually sit in or under your desk as a safe deposit for all your data. Portability and weight will only become a real issue when choosing the very high-capacity drives, but it is worth paying attention to if you plan on transporting the drive frequently.
Read/Write Speeds
Read & write speeds measure how quickly data can be written from & to the external hard drive. This is measures in bytes per second - the higher the speed, the faster large files (such as movies) will be transferred onto or from the drive. The read-write speeds are also affected by the USB version supported - USB 3.0 supported drives allow far higher transfer rates than USB 2 drives, so it is worth seeking out the newest drive you can for the fastest data transfer speeds.
Power
On the subject of USBs, external hard drives are powered by 2 main methods: via USB or externally power lead. Smaller drives will be powered via USB - this means that the same lead that transfers the data also powers the device. This means no battery, no extra leads, and they are far more portable. Larger drives may be so big and powerful that USB alone can’t provide enough power - in which case they may need an external power connection to properly function. This means that extra consideration has to be made for a spare power socket and the required leads - making them less use when on the go.
Extras
Finally, there are a wealth of extras that can be found in more advanced models of external hard drives. Some of these may only be useful in specific situations, and you will usually pay more for them, but the utility may well be worth the extra cost. Some examples of extra features include:
- Integrated card reader: a built in card reader in the drive allows the device to also read/write to SD cards.
- Fingerprint scanner: an optical fingerprint scanner drastically increases the security of your device, by meaning only specific fingerprints can unlock the device and access the files. For even greater security, a ‘palm vein’ scanner detects the blood pumping through the unique arrangement of veins in your hand, meaning that the scanner cannot be fooled by severed fingers - the owner has to be there in person and alive.
- Ruggedized outer layer: for those who frequently take drives outdoors or in harsh conditions, a hefty rubber or metal basing protects the device from damage, keeping your files intact through even the worst conditions.
External Hard Drive Retailers, Prices and Features
External Hard Drive Prices
In total we found 139 external harddisk ranging from $45 to $850. A new external hard drive costs on average $194 and 80% of external harddisk are priced between $78 and $413. The G-Technology G-DRIVE Thunderbolt 3 - 8Tb is the most expensive external hard drive that we found at $850, and the Seagate Expansion Portable - 1Tb is the cheapest at only $46.
External Hard Drive Brands - Price Range
IoSafe external hard disk start at $413 and their most expensive external hard drive costs $702. The average price of ioSafe external hard disk is $503 which is the highest average price of all external hard drive brands.
The average price of DataLocker external hard drives is $387 which is the second highest average price of all external hard drive brands. DataLocker external hard drives range in price from $312 to $450.
Glyph external hard disk drive start at $120 and their most expensive external hard drive costs $600. The average price of Glyph external hard disk drive is $340 which is the third highest average price of all external hard drive brands.
External Hard Drive Brands - Average Ratings
We have checked 118 expert reviews and 1,883 user reviews for external hard disk and used this information to calculate the average rating for each brand of external hard drive. The top rated external hard drive brand is Western Digital with an average rating of 89%. The second best brand is Seagate with 85% and the third best brand is Silicon Power with 77%.
Biggest External Hard Drive Retailers
We found 83 current offers for external hard drives from Adorama making it the biggest external hard drive retailer. That is significantly bigger than the second biggest retailer, Overstock for whom we found 60 current offers for external hard drives. The third biggest retailer is Pictureline with 2 current external hard drive offers.
When Are Most New External Hard Disk Drive Released?
We couldn't see any prominent trend in the release dates for new external hard drive over the last 3 years. Last year most new external hard drive were released in February, with five new external hard drive released that month. The biggest month in 2019 for new external hard drive releases was September, with 10 new external hard drives released that month. 57 new external hard disk drive were released in June 2018 making it the biggest month that year for new external hard drive releases.
How Fast Do External Hard Drive Prices Drop After Release?
New external hard disk drives drop in price by an average of 0% in the first 6 months after they were first released.
That means a saving of $0 on a typical $193 new external hard drive if you wait 6 months before buying.
Weights
'Weight' denotes the weight of the external hard drive, measured in grams (g).
Across the range of external harddisk, the weights range from 41g to 11.4kg. The weights of most external hard drive range from 0g to 300g. The ioSafe SoloPRO - 2Tb, which is available at $413.03, has the heaviest weight and is a 6.8kg external hard drive. The Seagate One Touch - 500Gb, which is on sale for $69.99, has the lightest weight and is a 65g external hard drive.
USB Powered
Whether the hard drive is powered by USB or not.
The vast majority of the 836 new external harddisks currently listed on Kagoo are USB powered external hard disk. 686 external harddisks (82%) are USB powered external hard disk.
Hard Drive Capacities
'Hard Drive Capacity' denotes how much data the hard drive can hold, measured in gigabytes (GB).
Across the range of external hard disk drives, the hard drive capacities range from 1GB to 64TB. The hard drive capacities of the majority of external hard disk drives range from 0GB to 1.5TB. The external hard drive with the biggest hard drive capacity is the Glyph BlackBox Pro - 14Tb, which is a 14TB external hard drive and is on sale for $599.95. The Western Digital WD My Passport Wireless - 2TB, which is priced at $193.28, has the smallest hard drive capacity and is a 1GB external hard drive.
Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for External Hard Disks?
The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying external hard disks. For each retailer it shows the total number of external hard disks where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying external hard drives. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was Overstock. 53 of their external hard drive prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.
Proportion of External Hard Drive for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?
Assessing how cheap each retailer is for external hard drives by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of external hard drive prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's external hard drive prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was Overstock. 88.3% of their external hard drive prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.