Thus far I've given you my astute recommendation on a list of laptops and desktops that will suit your academic need this upcoming school year. Here's the thing, you're going to need to back up all of your content on some form of storage device, data that consist of gathered notes from classroom lectures and research material for that term paper that's due tomorrow. Now I can easily recommend a cloud base storage, which is usually the most cost effective solution. The likes of DropBox and Google offer an reasonable amount of gigabytes of storage for free, and boast claims that their services are highly secure. But for me, trust in cloud base storage is met with skepticism, you certainly won't find me storing sensitive data on the cloud.
Seriously though, would you even consider saving all of your research material and footnotes onto a storage server run by Google or DropBox? When hackers are keystroke away from a data breach.
I strongly recommend that you go with the external solution, external drives that is,where stored data is accessible without resorting to typing in a password to access a cloud base account.
I just so happen to have a couple of external hard drives you may want to consider buying for the upcoming school year.
The Beast Mode Option
LaCie Rugged RAID external drive
If you're like me and have propensity to inadvertently drop stuff on the ground then you really need to safeguard your gadget thwarting any sudden moment of disaster. External drives can succumb to such mishaps and sudden case of the drops so if you're prone to dropping gadgets on the ground, then you'll need a external drive that's ruggedly built, shock proof and water resistance, because you never know when the unexpected can happen. With the LaCie rugged Raid , you should have no more worries of unexpected moment of the oops The drive is tough enough to withstand against the shock of the sudden drops, ward off dust, and water resistant thanks and part to it having a IP 54 rating.
Rugged and all, this external drive have the features that might peak your interest, starting with a beefy amount of storage at 4TB which technically there is two external drives in one. With it being two drives in one, this means the LaCie Rugged have RAID 0 and RAID 1 capability already preconfigured.
The other feature that you may find interesting is the LaCie Rugged RAID has a the standard USB 3.0 interface, but its also Thunderbolt powered which means if you have a computer that has a Thunderbolt port, you have a very rapid data transfer between computer and external drive.
The design is rather unique in that it has a shock guard around the drive, but surprisingly LaCie Rugged RAID fits nicely in pockets, no space compromising in your knapsack.
With greatness come a price at $399, but if you're in the hunt for a external rich in features and offers great protection against the elements, then the LaCie Rugged RAID is the top choice on this recommended list of drives.
Price: $399
Selling Point: Rugged against outdoor elements, RAID 1 AND 0 capability, Thunderbolt Interface
There's Always This Option
Seagate 1TB Expansion
If you're just looking for the external drive without all the super hero type features much like the one I just mention above this passage then there's this option, the Seagate Expansion 1TB. Nothing in a way of anything spectacular, but you do get 1TB of storage, 5,400 RPM which is decent speed and standard for a external hard drives, USB 3.0 interface. Nothing spectacular yes but its stable external that stands the test of time and functional, I should know I have two sitting on my desk.
Nice compact external drive and importantly, its consumer price friendly at $59.99.
Price: $59.99
Selling Point: Nice and compact, price reasonable, very stable
Then there's the thumb option, Thumb drive that is....
SanDisk 128GB Thumb Drive
You can never have enough sources of backup, when cloud base servers get hacked, there's a fire at your place of dwelling and external drive get destroyed, or even worst stolen. There's always the old reliable thumb drive, which have been around for ages and still serves a purpose today. I mean what techno geek don't have a desk draw full of thumb drives (I'm raising my hand).
Add the SanDisk 128GB thumb drive to this list of recommended external storage options. Standard performing Ultra USB 3.0 Flash drive. Importantly, it has a extreme fast transfer speed, capable of transferring a full lenght movie in under 40 seconds.
Let's not forget how ultra portable the drive is, small enough fit in ones shirt pocket.
Price: $29.99
Selling Point: Surprisingly fast data transfer speed