Factors to Take Into Account When Buying a Portable Hard Drive

Everyday we gain and save more and more relevant information in our lives, especially those related to school and work, for that reason a portable hard drive has become a need. A regular PC or laptop typically has 200 GB to 750 GB of internal memory, but as many of us have experienced this is not enough over time; many of our work or home related files like pictures, emails, videos and such can eat a lot of space. In order to catch the attention of potential clients, manufacturers of portable external hard drives add a lot of unique and amazing features on their respective products.

Before purchasing a portable hard drive, you should take a few factors into account, but reviews are also useful; best portable hard drive 2017 reviews can be one.

1. Usage: The most important factor that you need to decide is the usage of the portable hard drive; decide whether it would be for recreational files or for work. Was the warning of a low space the only factor that triggered you to purchase a portable hard drive? Are there any sensitive data such as bank accounts and tax information that you’d rather store offline to better protect them? It may be a tradition of yours to send homemade videos to friends and family, but you want to opt for a way where you won’t have to hand your laptop. Depending on your usage, you have to decide how much capacity you actually need; of course you’ll need a higher capacity for videos compared to only storing emails and word files.

2. Software Capabilities: almost all the newest versions of portable hard drives have already included applications that can back up and restore data; others can also add passwords to files and folders. A handful of these portable hard drives can also be configured; doing so lets the software run in the background, it efficiently backs up updates when they appear. Files can be easily restored alongside the latest updates, so all critical data especially those related to business, can be backed up and restored.

3. Power Source: some of the best portable hard drives out there contain plug and play capability. The portable hard drive are formatted in a way that they’re readily available to receive files once connected to the computer without any installation needed. In terms of power source, the bigger portable hard drives need to be plugged into an outlet but for the smaller ones, the USB ports will suffice. In case you plan on travelling a lot and you need a portable hard drive, pick the one that doesn’t need a power source, especially if you’re going to a place where it’s not readily available.