it is a testimony to our ~ love of digital ~ entertainment and dependence on the Internet, that no matter how large the internal drive on your PC, it is never too late for a dedi¬cated external drive to offioad the constant barrage of data that keeps invading your computer. Burning heaps of DVDs is not an affordable option anymore, and their durability is sus¬pect after a year or two. Hence, it is sensible to buy
an external drive since they don't cost the moon, and are easy to connect to your computer. No complicated installation required, just plug-n-play and you're good to get started.

Features and Specifications

Since prices for 1 TB external drives are still high enough to upset the wallet, the 500GB bracket offers good cost-per-GB value right now. To aid you in your decision, we got hold of 500GB, nOOrpm drives from leading manufacturers like Sea gate, Western Digital, Verbatim, Buffalo, and Iomega. They all connect to your PC via the USB 2.0 interface, although some also support high¬speed eSATA and FireWire ports. These drives aren't powered by USB (like portable drives) and come with separate adapters to plug into the wall socket.

Since these are external hard drives that are meant to stay connected next to your computer all the time, Seagate and Iomega came with detachable stands, while the others didn't need any. Buffalo's DriveStation, and Verbatim are pretty much dull black boxes in terms of looks. But Seagate has a remarkably slimmer, attractive design, and a funky activity indicator surrounding its logo. Though good looking, the Western Digital MyBook Studio, with its stylish silver design and "morse code" heat vents, is a little too bulky in terms of portability. But it looks something straight out of the stables of Apple. It has a flashing drive capacity indicator which adds to the good looks but isn't very accurate.

Except the My Book and FreeAgent, none of the drives have an activity indi¬cator. Also worth noting is the fact that Verbatim, Iomega and the Western Digital My Book have power on-off buttons on their casing, a handy addi¬tion. A design feature unique to the FreeAgent is the inclusion of a drive lock slot, found in most laptops these days, for physically securing the drive to your computer-or to your desk.
Seagate's FreeAgent XTreme and WD's My Book Studio Edition both support eSATA and FireWire 400 interface, although WD supports FireWire 800 as well. FireWire and eSATA interface are considerably faster in comparison to USB transfer speeds.

However, one disappointing discovery on this front was that both these drives don't come with a bundled eSATA cable, which doesn't make sense. Why then have the eSATA port in the first place? Both Seagate and Western Digital mention the fact on the packaging, and potential customers are expected to request the retailer for the missing eSATA cable and buy it. Buffalo, Verbatim and Iomega don't complicate matters and just connect via USB, hence missing out on overall feature bundle.