External vs. Internal Hard Drives

Reader Tim writes: I know about external hard drives a little bit but would like to know more. What does an external hard drive usually run you? Also what are hard drive enclosures, is that so you can put an internal hard drive in one and have it function as an external hard drive?

First let's do a little comparison shopping. Here are some typical current costs for internal and external hard drives of the same capacity. (I'm looking for the most affordable name-brand products I can find, without any special features.)

100GB: External $100, Internal $70
250GB: External $120, Internal $90
500GB: External $240, Internal $225

So there you have it. Expect to pay around $30, sometimes less, to go from internal storage to external storage at the same capacity. These prices vary widely based on vendor and the many frequent sales that you can find on storage products, so be sure to shop around. As with computers and automobiles, when new models are introduced, the old ones usually get a steep discount fast.

Now to your second question: What's a hard drive enclosure? You hit it right on the nose. A hard drive enclosure is an empty shell with a USB port on it, used to convert an internal hard drive into an external one. These are very easy to work with, but quality can be a concern. I've purchased several ultra-cheap enclosures, only to find that they didn't come with a required A/C adapter, were built too cheaply, or the things just didn't work at all. Expect to pay $30 to $50 for a quality enclosure.

Enclosures are good to have if you've recently upgraded a computer's internal hard drive and you still want to keep the old drive for backup purposes (maybe for multiple computers). This is especially useful for laptop hard drives, as, unlike desktops, you can't usually install two hard drives in a notebook. (Just make sure you buy a laptop/2.5" hard drive enclosure (pictured) instead of a desktop-sized one.)

But if you're trying to save money, you'll do better by simply purchasing the external hard drive with the disk already installed. It's cheaper and more reliable than trying to cobble an external drive together by buying the parts separately.