Guest MtEmilyScrapper Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Someone mentioned that an external hard drive for storage of graphics, photos, etc., will help with not bogging down the main computer (or in my case laptop). Is this kind of what you're talking about? [url="http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?TabPage=overview&sku=A0422741&c=us&l=en&cs=19&ManufactSelection=Optiplex&ModelSelection=86765&category_id=&ModelName=OptiPlex+GXM&category_name=View+All+Results&RPU=&page=dellpartsproductlisting.aspx"]http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/Product...uctlisting.aspx[/url] I live in a small town and rely on on-line sources, and this particular one is on sale for under $200. TIA! Trina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MtEmilyScrapper Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Also, does my laptop need to have a particular storage capability to support the hard drive? I have a very low-end laptop (basically will run a word processing program and run DVDs but not much else, according to the Dell rep I bought it from). Can I load PS CS2 or PSE on this external HD or is that not a good thing? I'm just trying to utilize the equipment the best way possible. TIA! T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapsoflife Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 I have a Dell laptop with a fair amount of capability, but it didn't have enought space to install Corel Painter when I bought my graphics tablet so I bought an external harddrive. You can load programs on it but understand that running them from the external harddrive may make them a little slow, but usually not so slow that it's unbearable. The drive you're looking at (via the link) is actually a very good one, though I went with the Western Digital (which is basically IBM) 160GB for $125. Maxtor is another really good brand. The additional benefits to having the external drive are being able to store the layouts without space issues and back up the files already on your laptop in addition to the CDs or however you back up your files now. As long as you have an open USB port in the back of your machine (which you should probably have at least two) you should have no problem plugging it in and starting to install and use the space! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LissaD Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 I know nothing about hardware, really, but my husband bought me a maxtor brand external harddrive and it has been fine. I would be concerned a little about the amount of memory that your laptop has since you said it was a low end laptop , this will greatly affect how quickly your program will work. RAM on laptops can be pretty low for graphics. Do you know how much memory you have? We just got a free Dell laptop in a contest (woohoo) and it only had 256K memory. Again I know nothing of hardware but it was excrutiatingly slow! We upgraded to one gig for about $100 and it is about comparable to my desktop now. I plan on taking the external with us on vacation and such to use with the laptop, right now I am still getting it set up with stuff from my desktop. It takes a little bit to get all this stuff set up, but it is such a fun hobby! I hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamsNJ Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 For backup of the big computer at home we have a Seagate 300GB external. Every week someone has externals with some sort of rebate or big sale. Never pay full price! For the laptop I have a Maxtor 120GB external. That's to back the whole system up. Again, we purchased on sale with a rebate. Last of all, I have a 40GB Firelight external drive that I use as my portable SB stuff. I keep a copy of my SB files organized on there so I have it whether on the laptop, home computer or work. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anneke Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I've been trying to decide on an external hard drive, gee-wiz there are so many! I've reviewed several on pcworld.com and read too many bad reviews that Maxtor drives run hot then crash (some withing 5-6 months). And not all models state they are compatable for desktops and laptops (I want one to use on both). I'm not sure how many GB I would even need, or what transfer rate speed would be best since I would be accessing it off and on over a long period of time, not just backing up and then turning it off. If anybody has any input on this it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest babydoll37 Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 I just bought a SeaGate 500GB for $89.99 At Office Depot. I thought that was a great deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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