5 Best External Hard Drives Under $200 in the US - January 2021

What External Hard Drive Under $200 to Buy in January 2021?
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Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb | Seagate Backup Plus | Western Digital My Passport - 2TB | Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB | LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The highest rated external hard drive under $500. It is USB powered and has a hard drive capacity of 5TB. | The top rated external hard drive under $100, with a very good spec. It is USB powered and has a hard drive capacity of 4TB. Multiple reviews mentioned that it's really well designed, brilliant in terms of connectivity and very easy to carry around. | A fully featured and cheap 250g external hard drive. It has a password protection and a read speed of 400MB/s and is USB powered. | A fully featured and cheap 230g external hard drive. | A cheap and fully featured 240g external hard drive. It is USB powered and has a password protection. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Reason For
Better Brand |
4 Reasons For
Better Kagoo Score More Shops Are Selling It Two More Awards Better Brand |
3 Reasons For
Password Protection More Shops Are Selling It Two Years Newer |
1 Reason For
Lighter |
3 Reasons For
Password Protection Cheaper by $25 More Shops Are Selling It |
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6 Reasons Against
43% Heavier Does Not Have a Wi-Fi Worse Kagoo Score $81 More Expensive Not As Many Stockists Over Two Years Older |
6 Reasons Against
A Lot Heavier 1TB Smaller Hard Drive Capacity Does Not Have a Wi-Fi 97% Slower Data Transfer Rate More Expensive by $55 Older by Over Two Years |
7 Reasons Against
8% Heavier Vastly Smaller Hard Drive Capacity Does Not Have a Wi-Fi Does Not Support RAID Support Worse Kagoo Score $25 More Expensive Worse Brand 1 More Item
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6 Reasons Against
Vastly Smaller Hard Drive Capacity Worse Kagoo Score $72 More Expensive Less Retailers Over Two Years Older Worse Brand |
5 Reasons Against
Marginally Heavier Smaller Hard Drive Capacity Worse Kagoo Score Older by Over Two Years Worse Brand |
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Full Details |
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Full Details |
Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb
$150.82
Overstock
Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb |
Buy Now |

5TB
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860g
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The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb has a Kagoo Score of 87. However with a price tag of $150.82 this external hard drive is a bit expensive. For further details check out our full review of the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb or read our article on whether you should buy a Seagate external hard drive.
The highest rated external hard drive under $500. It is USB powered and has a hard drive capacity of 5TB.
86
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Fully-Featured |
85
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Quite Popular |
87
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Very Good |
87
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Excellent |
1 Reason For for Choosing the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb
Seagate external hard drives have an average rating of 95%, however LaCie only has an average rating of 91.6% and Western Digital only has an average rating of 92.7%.
6 Reasons Against for Choosing the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb
The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is an 860g external hard drive, and so does the Seagate Backup Plus. That's 620g heavier than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB (240g), 610g heavier than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB (250g) and 630g heavier than the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB (230g). More ...
'Weight' denotes the weight of the external hard drive, measured in grams (g).
A heavier hard drive will be bulkier, and more annoying to carry around.
The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb does not have a Wi-Fi (As do the the Seagate Backup Plus and the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB), however the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB have this feature. More ...
'Wi-Fi' indicates whether the hard drive can connect to wireless networks or not.
A wi-fi connection on your hard drive means that you can connect directly to it to read/write data without an actual physical connection, meaning you can access your storage from anywhere.
The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb has received a Kagoo Score of 87, but the Seagate Backup Plus scored 88.
The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is more expensive than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB by $81, more expensive than the Seagate Backup Plus by $26, more expensive than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB by $56 and more expensive than the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB by $9.
Only 1 store sell the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb, however 2 shops sell the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB, 2 stores sell the Seagate Backup Plus and 2 retailers sell the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB. More ...
The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is older than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB by two years. The Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is the same age as the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB and the Seagate Backup Plus.
The cheapest price that we could find for the Backup Plus - 5Tb in the US is $150.82 but in total we found only 1 price for it.
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$150.82
Delivery unknown
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Go to Store |
Seagate Backup Plus
$124.99
Adorama
Seagate Backup Plus |
Buy Now |
4TB
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160 Mbit/s
DATA TRANSFER
RATE |
860g
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The Seagate Backup Plus has a Kagoo Score of 88. However with a price tag of $124.99 this external hard drive is a bit expensive. For further details check out our full review of the Seagate Backup Plus or read our article on whether you should buy a Seagate external hard drive.
The top rated external hard drive under $100, with a very good spec. It is USB powered and has a hard drive capacity of 4TB. Multiple reviews mentioned that it's really well designed, brilliant in terms of connectivity and very easy to carry around.
95
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32 Reviews + 2 Awards |
87
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Fully-Featured |
86
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Quite Popular |
87
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Very Good |
88
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Excellent |
Purchasers report that Seagate Backup Plus has good expert reviews and fantastic user reviews with 100% of buyers recommending this external hard drive to others.
4 Reasons For for Choosing the Seagate Backup Plus
The Seagate Backup Plus has received a Kagoo Score of 88, whereas the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB scored 83, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb scored 87, the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB scored 82 and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB scored 83.
A greater number of shops increases the chances of the product remaining in stock and also increases the price competition amongst retailers for this external hard drive.
The Seagate Backup Plus has received 2 awards from expert review sites, but the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB has received no awards, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb has received no awards, the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB has received no awards and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB has received no awards.
Seagate external hard drives have an average rating of 95%, but LaCie only has an average rating of 91.6% and Western Digital only has an average rating of 92.7%.
6 Reasons Against for Choosing the Seagate Backup Plus
The Seagate Backup Plus has a weight of 860g (as does the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb), but the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB is a 240g external hard drive (620g lighter), the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is a 250g external hard drive (610g lighter) and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is a 230g external hard drive (630g lighter). More ...
'Weight' denotes the weight of the external hard drive, measured in grams (g).
A heavier hard drive will be bulkier, and more annoying to carry around.
The Seagate Backup Plus has a hard drive capacity of 4GB, whereas the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB is a 1TB external hard drive (3TB smaller), the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is a 5TB external hard drive (1TB bigger), the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is a 2TB external hard drive (2TB smaller) and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is a 3TB external hard drive (1TB smaller). More ...
'Hard Drive Capacity' denotes how much data the hard drive can hold, measured in gigabytes (GB).
A bigger hard drive capacity means that it can hold more files and data at once.
The Seagate Backup Plus does not have a Wi-Fi (As do the the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb and the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB), but the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB do. More ...
'Wi-Fi' indicates whether the hard drive can connect to wireless networks or not.
A wi-fi connection on your hard drive means that you can connect directly to it to read/write data without an actual physical connection, meaning you can access your storage from anywhere.
The Seagate Backup Plus is a 160 Mbit/s data transfer rate external hard drive. That's 4,840 Mbit/s slower than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB, the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB (5,000 Mbit/s). More ...
'Data Transfer Rate' indicates how fast data can be transferred to/from the external hard drive.
Faster data transfer speeds means that you will be able to transfer larger files to/from the hard drive faster.
The Seagate Backup Plus is $55 more expensive than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB and $30 more expensive than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB.
The Seagate Backup Plus is two years older than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB. The Seagate Backup Plus is the same age as the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb.
The cheapest price that we could find for the Backup Plus in the US is $124.99 but in total we found only 2 prices for it.
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+2 more prices
In stock
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$124.99
Delivery unknown
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In stock
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$154.99
Delivery unknown
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In stock
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$274.99
Delivery unknown
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+1 more price
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$132.48
Delivery unknown
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Go to Store | |
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3 Year Warranty
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$197.48
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Go to Store | |
- Show less prices from Overstock |
Western Digital My Passport - 2TB
$94.99
e-Global Central US
Western Digital My Passport - 2TB |
Buy Now |

2TB
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5,000 Mbit/s
DATA TRANSFER
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250g
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400MB/s
READ SPEED
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The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB has a Kagoo Score of 82. With a price tag of $94.99 this external hard drive is good value for money. For further details check out our full review of the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB or read our article on whether you should buy a Western Digital external hard drive.
A fully featured and cheap 250g external hard drive. It has a password protection and a read speed of 400MB/s and is USB powered.
84
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Fully-Featured |
83
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Very Good |
82
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Excellent |
3 Reasons For for Choosing the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB has a password protection (as does the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB), whereas the Seagate Backup Plus, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB do not have this feature. More ...
'Password Protection' indicates whether the hard drive has password protection as a security measure against unauthorised entry.
Setting a password on your hard drive stops anyone plugging it in and reading the information stored on it - it's a good mid-level security feature.
A greater number of stores increases the price competition amongst retailers for this external hard drive and also increases the chances of the product remaining in stock.
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB was released two years later than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB, released two years later than the Seagate Backup Plus, released two years later than the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb and released three years later than the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB
7 Reasons Against for Choosing the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is a 250g external hard drive. That's 10g heavier than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB (240g), 610g lighter than the Seagate Backup Plus and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb (860g) and 20g heavier than the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB (230g). More ...
'Weight' denotes the weight of the external hard drive, measured in grams (g).
A heavier hard drive will be bulkier, and more annoying to carry around.
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is a 2GB external hard drive. That's 1TB bigger than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB (1TB), 2TB smaller than the Seagate Backup Plus (4TB), 3TB smaller than the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb (5TB) and 1TB smaller than the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB (3TB). More ...
'Hard Drive Capacity' denotes how much data the hard drive can hold, measured in gigabytes (GB).
A bigger hard drive capacity means that it can hold more files and data at once.
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB does not have a Wi-Fi (As do the the Seagate Backup Plus and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb), whereas the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB have this feature. More ...
'Wi-Fi' indicates whether the hard drive can connect to wireless networks or not.
A wi-fi connection on your hard drive means that you can connect directly to it to read/write data without an actual physical connection, meaning you can access your storage from anywhere.
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB does not support RAID support, whereas the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB, the Seagate Backup Plus, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB do. More ...
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a system to allow multiple hard drives to link together as a single unit, pooling their capacity to create a single large drive.
A RAID array is helpful for storing very large amounts of data and to allow for additional protection for the data stored on it - if one of the drives fails, the data on the other drives will remain safe.
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB has received a Kagoo Score of 82, however the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB scored 83, the Seagate Backup Plus scored 88, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb scored 87 and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB scored 83.
The Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is more expensive than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB by $25.
Western Digital external hard drives have an average rating of only 92.7%, whereas Seagate has an average rating of 95%.
The cheapest price that we could find for the My Passport - 2TB in the US is $94.99 but in total we found only 2 prices for it.
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Out of stock
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$79.99
Delivery unknown
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Go to Store | |
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24 Months Warranty
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$94.99
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Go to Store |
Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB
$141.69
Overstock
Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB |
Buy Now |

3TB
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5,000 Mbit/s
DATA TRANSFER
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230g
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The Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB has a Kagoo Score of 83. However with a price tag of $141.69 this external hard drive is a bit expensive. For further details check out our full review of the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB or read our article on whether you should buy a Western Digital external hard drive.
A fully featured and cheap 230g external hard drive.
85
|
Fully-Featured |
84
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Very Good |
83
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Excellent |
1 Reason For for Choosing the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB
The Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is a 230g external hard drive. That's 10g lighter than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB (240g), 630g lighter than the Seagate Backup Plus and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb (860g) and 20g lighter than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB (250g). More ...
'Weight' denotes the weight of the external hard drive, measured in grams (g).
A heavier hard drive will be bulkier, and more annoying to carry around.
6 Reasons Against for Choosing the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB
The Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is a 3GB external hard drive. That's 2TB bigger than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB (1TB), 1TB smaller than the Seagate Backup Plus (4TB), 2TB smaller than the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb (5TB) and 1TB bigger than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB (2TB). More ...
'Hard Drive Capacity' denotes how much data the hard drive can hold, measured in gigabytes (GB).
A bigger hard drive capacity means that it can hold more files and data at once.
The Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB has received a Kagoo Score of 83, however the Seagate Backup Plus scored 88 and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb scored 87.
The Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is more expensive than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB by $72, more expensive than the Seagate Backup Plus by $17 and more expensive than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB by $47.
Only 1 store sell the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB, whereas 2 retailers sell the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB, 2 retailers sell the Seagate Backup Plus and 2 sellers sell the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB. More ...
The Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is older than the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB by three months, older than the Seagate Backup Plus by three months, older than the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb by three months and older than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB by three years.
Western Digital external hard drives have an average rating of only 92.7%, whereas Seagate has an average rating of 95%.
The cheapest price that we could find for the My Passport Mac - 3TB in the US is $141.69 but in total we found only 1 price for it.
LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB
$69.99
Adorama
LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB |
Buy Now |

1TB
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5,000 Mbit/s
DATA TRANSFER
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5,400 RPM
HARD DRIVE
ROTATIONAL |
240g
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The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB has a Kagoo Score of 83. With a price tag of $69.99 this external hard drive is good value for money. For further details check out our full review of the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB or read our article on whether you should buy a LaCie external hard drive.
A cheap and fully featured 240g external hard drive. It is USB powered and has a password protection.
84
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Fully-Featured |
82
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Quite Popular |
84
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Very Good |
83
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Excellent |
3 Reasons For for Choosing the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB
The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB has a password protection, and so does the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB, however the Seagate Backup Plus, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB do not. More ...
'Password Protection' indicates whether the hard drive has password protection as a security measure against unauthorised entry.
Setting a password on your hard drive stops anyone plugging it in and reading the information stored on it - it's a good mid-level security feature.
The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB costs $69.99, whereas the Seagate Backup Plus is $124.99, the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is $150.82, the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is $94.99 and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is $141.69.
A greater number of shops increases the chances of the product remaining in stock and also increases the price competition amongst retailers for this external hard drive.
5 Reasons Against for Choosing the LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB
The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB has a weight of 240g, however the Seagate Backup Plus and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb are both 860g external hard drives (620g heavier), the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is a 250g external hard drive (10g heavier) and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is a 230g external hard drive (10g lighter). More ...
'Weight' denotes the weight of the external hard drive, measured in grams (g).
A heavier hard drive will be bulkier, and more annoying to carry around.
The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB has a hard drive capacity of 1GB, but the Seagate Backup Plus is a 4TB external hard drive (3TB bigger), the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb is a 5TB external hard drive (4TB bigger), the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB is a 2TB external hard drive (1TB bigger) and the Western Digital My Passport Mac - 3TB is a 3TB external hard drive (2TB bigger). More ...
'Hard Drive Capacity' denotes how much data the hard drive can hold, measured in gigabytes (GB).
A bigger hard drive capacity means that it can hold more files and data at once.
The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB has received a Kagoo Score of 83, but the Seagate Backup Plus scored 88 and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb scored 87.
The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB is two years older than the Western Digital My Passport - 2TB. The LaCie Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB is the same age as the Seagate Backup Plus and the Seagate Backup Plus - 5Tb.
LaCie external hard drives have an average rating of only 91.6%, however Seagate has an average rating of 95% and Western Digital has an average rating of 92.7%.
The cheapest price that we could find for the Expansion Rugged Mini - 1TB in the US is $69.99 but in total we found only 2 prices for it.
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In stock
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$69.99
Delivery unknown
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Go to Store | |
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2 Year Warranty
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$119.99
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Go to Store |
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