Newegg.com
- Seagate 1TB Hard Drive $60
Seagate 1TB 7200rpm Hard Drive for $60 when code EMCXSWM22 is applied in the cart (6¢/GB).
It's one of the fastest hard drives we used, our own performance tests showing 163 MBytes/sec sequential writes when hooked up to a SATA3 (6 Gbps) interface.
In comparison
a Western Digital Black 1TB drive performs around 100 MBytes/sec, and costs more.
an SSD performs around 150 to 550 MBytes/sec, but costs more per GB.
Only a 2-year warranty is included with this Seagate.
If you are building a server for running a medium-size database, and do not want to spend a lot of money for an SSD or a 10,000rpm drive, we would recommend this Seagate.
For a larger capacity, a Seagate 3TB 7200rpm Hard Drive reportedly gives 220 MBytes/sec sequential reads/writes, and costs less at 4.5¢ per GB.
For a small database or small amount of data, a Samsung 840-Series SSD would be our pick since its random access time (time it takes to access a small amount of data) is around 50-100 times of a hard drive, but comes at a cost of around 60¢ per GB.
Newegg.com
- Western Digital Black 1TB Hard Drive $80
Western Digital Black 1TB 7200rpm Hard Drive for $85 with code EMCYTZT3293 (8.5¢/GB).
Includes a 5-year warranty.
We have one, which performs at around 100 MBytes/sec, so it performs very well and includes a near enterprise-grade warranty coverage.
Seagate 1TB 7200rpm Hard Drive for $75 (7.5¢/GB).
We have one that performs at 163 MBytes/sec.
In comparison, an SSD performs around 150 to 550 MBytes/sec, but does cost more per GB.
Rosewill 4-Port USB Wall Charger for $9 with code EMCXTVP94 .
$1 less than it was previously.
Provides 4 USB charging ports, and strong enough to charge 4 MP3 players, 3 mobile phones, 2 phones & 1 ebook reader, or 1 phone & 1 iPad.
It's very lightweight and easy to travel with, but beware that the lightweight plastic could break if you bump into the device when plugged into the wall.
Zyxel 24-Port Gigabit Switch for $80 with code EMCXTVP54 .
This is about the fifth time this deal has come up in the last year, and we recommend it each time for someone with a lot of computers and looking for true gigabit speeds between computers.
HP 32GB USB Flash Drive for $15 ($0.47/GB).
USB2 (not faster USB3) but does have mostly good reviews.
USB flash drives are great for bringing files between home & work, and for playing movies on Blu-Ray players that have USB ports.
BHPhotoVideo.com
- Portable 1TB USB Drive for $68.50
Western Digital Elements SE 1TB Portable USB Drive for $65.
Usually sells for around $80. Update:
Price raised to $68.50.
Newegg.com
- Western Digital 2TB Hard Drive $90
This model, WD20EZRX, was released last summer and seems to have good reviews.
$90 for 2TB comes out to $0.045/GB.
A drive like this is "internal", meaning it can be used one of two ways:
Either installed inside a desktop computer, or with a hard drive docking station.
Docking hard drives lets you swap drives when needed, so you can safely off-load videos, files, and backups off your computer, eject the drive, keep in an anti-static bag and store safely in a drawer or safe.
Essentially, with a docking station, hard drives of today are removable storage media that CDs and tapes were of the past.
Newegg is also offering a Western Digital 1TB Hard Drive for $65 with code AFNJ0253 ($0.065/GB).