usb hard drive question

I would never choose direct usb connections. I would always go with hard wired, that is AC powered drives. Remember your computer has very limited power to run stuff so run AC whenever you can.

Looking for a external wireless harddrive for my PC. Have W10. Want to remove cables from my PC as possible.

I never use the software on the drives. I just reformat them and let the mac do all the work.

Hello,

Another option to consider is an external USB SSD.

If you plan to carry it around, this drive is smaller and weighs less than a standard USB HDD. It’s also more efficient so it draws less power from your laptop battery. More importantly, if you drop the external USB drive, your drive is more likely to survive than a standard HDD model. Sure it costs a bit more but I think the difference in price is worth the peace of mind.

HTH and good luck.

I don't think they have SSD's out that are usb that are 1t or higher, at least that are a decent price. Lol! Not yet anyway. That is another option though.

I would know. I guess look for a directory entry on here, or ask on a mac list if you are on one.

Good luck.

I've never used or even researched wireless drives. My only experience is with NAS and USB external drives. Neither have batteries.

I have 2 NAS drives, both Western Digital. One is a 2TB MyBookLive and the other is a 4TB MyCloud drive. As someone else mentioned previously, I've never run the software that came on the drives. I simply plugged them into my router via Ethernet cable and Windows found them and connected. I just use File Explorer to access the drives. This, of course, makes them perfectly accessible.

I have installed the WD MyCloud app on my iPhone and it's also accessible. I can access both drives using that app. I also have the File Browser app which is very accessible and will access both drives. I can only assume that accessing a wireless drive would be equally accessible.

I don't know anything about the wireless aspect of the wireless drives. It's likely that if it uses a web interface it's probably accessible, but I just don't know for sure. I can say that I'm very happy with my drives and with Western Digital in general, so the WD drive would be my recommendation.

Hello,

Okay. I thought you planned to carry it around thus I suggested an external SSD drive. Yeah they are a bit pricey right now. I thought I got a good deal with an OWC 1TB in an envoy enclosure for 250 USD.

Have you gone to a local store to check out the drives? If you want wireless, chances are it will be a bit bigger than the portable USB drives and will need a battery source or AC adapter. Not the lightest or most portable solution but it is doable.

Like Jeff, I like WD. I had two Seagate Black Armor NAS drives and they both failed after 2 years. I have a WD My Book World 8TB NAS running RAID 1 for four years now and a 4TB USB drive running about a year. WD support is also really good.

Here are some thoughts or things to consider. Check out your router. Some have USB ports which means you can connect a USB drive to it then share it’s content across your network. Then you can unplug it and take it with you if needed. Do you really want to store all your data in an external drive and take it around with you? Should you lose the drive or drop it, all your data will be lost. I thought you said you have a PC, but for Mac users, they should not install the WD software as it has been proven to cause premature disk failure. So if you can, use the file utilities built into Windows or OSX to prevent complications. And lastly, consider purchasing your drive from a retailer that will allow you to exchange or return the drive without penalty should you find it doesn’t suit your need.

HTH and good luck.