New USB 3.0 external drives are a must for fast backup

By Mike Meyer

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 27, 2011

~~<p>In a recent “Tech View” column, I suggested that readers with a small business or home office avail themselves of hard drives as an inexpensive data insurance policy. The same goes for the new crop of low-priced USB 3.0-ready external drives.</p>
<p>Our team looked at two popular external drives, a 2-TB GoFlex system from Seagate and the 3-TB MyBook from Western Digital. (They were priced at $90 and $140 at Costco.) Both were tested on desktop units with Windows XP and Windows 7 operating systems. Both units come with software that automatically backs up files. (I preferred Western Digital’s backup software.) Both drives were quiet, dependable and, with USB 3.0, were roughly 10 times faster transferring data than the older 2.0 standard. (To get this speed you’ll need a USB 3.0 card installed.)</p>
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In a recent “Tech View” column, I suggested that readers with a small business or home office avail themselves of hard drives as an inexpensive data insurance policy. The same goes for the new crop of low-priced USB 3.0-ready external drives.

Our team looked at two popular external drives, a 2-TB GoFlex system from Seagate and the 3-TB MyBook from Western Digital. (They were priced at $90 and $140 at Costco.) Both were tested on desktop units with Windows XP and Windows 7 operating systems. Both units come with software that automatically backs up files. (I preferred Western Digital’s backup software.) Both drives were quiet, dependable and, with USB 3.0, were roughly 10 times faster transferring data than the older 2.0 standard. (To get this speed you’ll need a USB 3.0 card installed.) Login for more...