Our Backup choices: External hard drives

Backup choices: External Hard Drives

SeaGate FreeAgent GoFlex drives From £60
With a swappable dock that allows a USB 3, Firewire or SATA unit to be attached, the FreeAgent GoFlex is able to adjust to a new setup or separate computer. The connector units are interchangeable and a network base station is also available separately for multi-computer access to the drive.

Lexar Echo ZE Backup Drive From £30
A USB stick with 8GB up to an impressive 32GB capacity, if the physical size of the drive is a major concern then the Lexar Echo ZE can easily fit into a pocket, handbag or camera bag. Being compatible with both Mac and PC also means your images can be swapped between both without issues. 

LaCie Rugged USB 3 drive From £80 
If you have to take your hard drive on location, the Rugged is at least protected against the majority of bumps and scrapes. Being drop resistant to over two metres, and with a potential capacity of up to 1TB, there are plenty of reasons to make this the out-and-about drive of choice to accompany a laptop.

Western Digital MyBook From £60 
Thanks to its discreet appearance and up to 2TB storage, the USB 3 compatible MyBook is at home next to any stylish desktop computer. There are USB 2.0 connections too, and plenty of software included for simple archiving procedures without the need to use a third party when backing up your images.

Online backup Backup.com $50

Norton's online backup service is a pay-for service, which provides 25GB of storage and has the ability to allow you to view files on any computer. There's also a downloadable utility to schedule the backup so it can be performed automatically. Although there is an amount of money involved to join the service it's less expensive than an entirely new hard drive, and is accessible from virtually anywhere.