Find The Right Hard Drives

Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive (320GB)

We're impressed by the Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive's burly security features and rigorous performance results, but the bloated price tag prevents us from recommending it to anyone other than business consumers. If you're shopping for an external hard drive, competing drives give you a cheaper cost per gigabyte in a fancier package.

Specs: 320 GB, Hi-Speed USB, External, 5400 rpm

Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive (160GB)

We're impressed by the Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive's burly security features and rigorous performance results, but the bloated price tag prevents us from recommending it to anyone other than business consumers. If you're shopping for an external hard drive, competing drives give you a cheaper cost per gigabyte in a fancier package.

Specs: 160 GB, Hi-Speed USB, External, 5400 rpm

Iomega eGo Helium

The Iomega eGo Helium is a cost-effective solution for MacBook Air users who need additional data storage and don't want to sacrifice form for function.

Specs: 320 GB, Hi-Speed USB

Iomega StorCenter ix2 (1TB)

The Iomega StorCenter ix2 is a two-drive NAS device that offers Bluetooth support but no remote access via the Web. We don't like the fact that you can't access its two hard drives, but it still holds appeal for novice users looking for a dead simple NAS drive.

Specs: Iomega StorCenter Ix2 Network Storage - NAS server, 1 TB, PC, Mac, RJ-45, 4 pin USB Type A, Standard, Ethernet, Hi-Speed USB, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

Iomega StorCenter ix2 (2TB)

The Iomega StorCenter ix2 is a two-drive NAS device that offers Bluetooth support but no remote access via the Web. We don't like the fact that you can't access its two hard drives, but it still holds appeal for novice users looking for a dead simple NAS drive.

QNAP TS-109 II NAS Server

The QNAP TS-109 Pro II is a single-volume NAS drive that offers a lot more than just network storage. It's a little pricier than its peers, but its many features--including PC-free downloads--are well organized and easy to use.

Specs: QNAP TS-109 II - NAS server, PC, Mac, Unix, 7 pin external Serial ATA, 4 pin USB Type A, RJ-45, Standard, Gigabit Ethernet, Flash

Zyxel NSA-220 NAS

If you don't need remote access and can look past sluggish RAID 1 performance, the Zyxel NSA-220 NAS drive offers a useful set of basic features, solid performance, and best-in-class Web-based management.

Specs: ZyXEL NSA-220 - NAS server, PC, RJ-45, 4 pin USB Type A, Standard, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

Intel X-25M solid-state drive (80GB)

Intel's X-25M solid-state hard drive enjoys several advantages over both spinning disk drives as well as other SSDs, including improvements to data throughput, boot time, and laptop battery life. Its one drawback is that it's pricier than even its other solid-state competition, but if you can forget about its cost, this is by far the fastest data drive available.

Specs: 80 GB, Serial ATA-300, 2.5"

Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB)

The Seagate FreeAgent Go is our favorite portable hard drive to date and takes our award for Editors' Choice. The drive is well designed and fast, and you won't find a better value for the price.

Specs: 320 GB, Hi-Speed USB, External, 2.5", 5400 rpm

Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme (500GB)

The Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme offers three interface options, a useful software bundle, and a lengthy warranty for a fair price. We like this direct-attach external drive.

Specs: 500 GB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB / eSATA-300, External, 3.5", 7200 rpm

Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme (640GB)

The Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme offers three interface options, a useful software bundle, and a lengthy warranty for a fair price. We like this direct-attach external drive.

Specs: 640 GB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB / eSATA-300, External, 3.5", 7200 rpm

Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme (1TB)

The Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme offers three interface options, a useful software bundle, and a lengthy warranty for a fair price. We like this direct-attach external drive.

Specs: 1 TB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB / eSATA-300, External, 3.5", 7200 rpm

Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme (1.5TB)

The Seagate FreeAgent Xtreme offers three interface options, a useful software bundle, and a lengthy warranty for a fair price. We like this direct-attach external drive.

Specs: 1.5 TB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB / eSATA-300, External, 3.5", 7200 rpm

Thecus N3200

If you can get by the lackluster bundled software, the empty three-bay Thecus N3200 offers much to like, including lightning-fast throughput (even in RAID 5) and a useful feature set that will appeal to home and small office users alike.

Aluratek Tornado Plus (160GB)

The Aluratek Tornado external hard drive is a RFID-secured hard-drive enclosure that doesn't have the performance or the innovation to warrant its expensive price tag. We don't recommend the poorly designed Tornado since the competition offers more storage space and a higher level of security at less cost.

Specs: 160 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5"

Aluratek Tornado Plus (250GB)

The Aluratek Tornado external hard drive is a RFID-secured hard-drive enclosure that doesn't have the performance or the innovation to warrant its expensive price tag. We don't recommend the poorly designed Tornado since the competition offers more storage space and a higher level of security at less cost.

Specs: 250 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5"

Aluratek Tornado Plus (80GB)

The Aluratek Tornado external hard drive is a RFID-secured hard-drive enclosure that doesn't have the performance or the innovation to warrant its expensive price tag. We don't recommend the poorly designed Tornado since the competition offers more storage space and a higher level of security at less cost.

Specs: 80 GB, Hi-Speed USB, External, 2.5", 5400 rpm

Maxtor Central Axis NAS server

The Maxtor Central Axis is a simple, compact, and fast NAS device that offers 1TB of storage at a fair price. Be warned, though, that it runs hot and comes with confusing desktop software, a sluggish, unintuitive Web-based interface and a limited backup application.

Specs: Maxtor Central Axis NAS server, 1 TB, PC, Mac, RJ-45, 4 pin USB Type A, Standard, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

Drobo (Second generation)

The second-generation Drobo adds a FireWire 800 connection, but the original USB-only on the now discounted Drobo might be the best bet for Windows users until better FireWire 800 drivers arrive. The device remains the most automated and easy-to-use redundant backup product we've seen.

Drobo (second generation, 2TB)

The second-generation Drobo adds a FireWire 800 connection, but the original USB-only on the now discounted Drobo might be the best bet for Windows users until better FireWire 800 drivers arrive. The device remains the most automated and easy-to-use redundant backup product we've seen.