Best external hard drive?

[alsoknownasadam]

What would be an ideal external hard drive for use with a Macbook? Not necessarily for use with time machine, but simply just extra space for media, and most likely to move existing content on my current Macbook to a new one I might get in the future.

[xcorvis]

Most commodity hard drives are roughly equivalent. Folks will swear by one brand or another, or notice that a particular model has a poor track record, but generally speaking they're all fine. Make sure to look at the reviews on Newegg or other sites.

MacBooks don't have Firewire any more, so you need a USB 2.0 connector. It's probably too early to go USB 3.0 and there's no way of knowing what future MacBooks will have.

Macs have a direct connection user migration feature that will let you move data from one to the other when you buy a new system. They can do it over wired ethernet these days, so don't buy a drive just for the data transfer.

[lefrenzy]

Western Digital Passport 500GB is what I have. You can buy a 1TB one for less than $100 at Sam's Club. It's small, and very portable.