Shop for external hard drives

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.1 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: With an ultrathin, sturdy design and fast performance, the Seagate GoFlex Slim external hard drive makes a great companion for a laptop that has built-in support for USB 3.0. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 7200 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.4 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 3 reviews

The Bottom Line: Small business and personal users with large amounts of data will appreciate the Clickfree's painless backup drive that practically automates all the work through the embedded software. People running older Windows operating systems are out of luck, but the lightning-fast transfer speeds and excellent performance scores secure the Clickfree a solid recommendation for up-to-date Windows and Mac users. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.4 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: Even with the slightly low USB 3.0 performance, the GoFlex Ultra still makes an excellent portable external hard drive for people who need to expand their computer's storage. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, SuperSpeed USB 3.0

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, SuperSpeed USB 3.0

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 71 reviews

The Bottom Line: Maxtor's OneTouch II external hard drive makes a good thing even better, with 250GB to 300GB's worth of one-button backups, but be warned: it eliminates any excuses for not backing up a computer. Read review

Specs: 300 GB, External hard drive, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB, 16 MB, 9 ms, 7200 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.9 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: 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. Read review

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

• CNET Editor rating:
  2.5 stars Average

  Overall score: 5.8 (2.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.0 stars out of 15 reviews

The Bottom Line: The Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive is an attractive, lightweight drive with a decent price point for a drive of this capacity. Its size makes it great for travel, but the write speeds aren't up to par with other drives we've seen. We can't recommend it due to its lack of performance. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5"

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.9 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0.5 stars out of 4 reviews

The Bottom Line: The LifeStudio Mobile Plus is a good external storage solution that makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it, among your "digital mess." However, its lack of USB 3.0 support and the limited functionality of the LifeStudio and Backup software might make you want to keep looking. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5"

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.1 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 2 reviews

The Bottom Line: With an ultrathin, sturdy design and fast performance, the Seagate GoFlex Slim external hard drive makes a great companion for a laptop that has built-in support for USB 3.0. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, 2.5", 7200 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 2 reviews

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 3.5", 16 MB, 9.3 ms, 7200 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.5 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 38 reviews

The Bottom Line: 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. Read review

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

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

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

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.5 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.0 stars out of 12 reviews

The Bottom Line: The Hitachi SimpleTough is by far the most indestructible external hard drive we've tested, capable of surviving drops of up to 10 feet and up to one ton of pressure. With a built-in USB cable, two-tiered data security package, and an impressive three-year warranty, we have no issue recommending this external hard drive to shoppers looking for space and security. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5"

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: The Clickfree C2N makes an excellent backup solution for home users, including those with multiple network computers. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.3 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: LaCie's Rikiki mobile USB hard drive is an elegant storage solution that comes in three sizes up to 640GB. Its simple design exudes timeless style in a very affordable package. As long as you're not a stickler for fast transfer speeds, the LaCie Rikiki will make a worthwhile addition to your mobile arsenal. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 10 reviews

The Bottom Line: If write speed isn't a top priority, the Western Digital MyBook is a good deal at around $300 for a 500GB drive. It'll look good on your desk or bookshelf, too. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB, 8 MB, 8.9 ms, 7200 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.8 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: Western Digital designed and preformats the My Passport Studio for use with Macs; however, it works well as a portable external storage solution for Windows and OS X, as long as USB 2.0 is your connection of choice. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, IEEE 1394b (FireWire 800) / IEEE1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB, 8 MB, 7200 rpm

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.9 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: The LifeStudio Mobile Plus is a good external storage solution that makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it, among your "digital mess." However, its lack of USB 3.0 support and the limited functionality of the LifeStudio and Backup software might make you want to keep looking. Read review

Specs: 320 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5"

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 1 review

Specs: 300 GB, External hard drive, Hi-Speed USB