Our Success is in our members who value our strength as a valued community.
Forum Statistics
Forums65
Topics76,546
Posts1,034,372
Members15,026
Most Online244,501
May 17th, 2026
Who's Online Now
5 members (1 invisible), 17,611 guests, and 1,747 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters
sunnyside 45,164
MattLFC 22,315
Mark 21,270
granny 17,811
_Ste_ 16,348
Newest Members
Kewfish, Lagoon, Rebuild_1008, Waring51, leah1113
15,026 Registered Users
New General Forums
Family of Henry waring
by Waring51 - 7th Sep 2026 9:39pm
How long does it take to get money out on weekends
by JunxinH - 6th Sep 2026 5:18pm
New Wirral History
On The Trail Of A 1970's Club
by Erainn - 25th Aug 2026 10:31am
Hind Street Gas Works area & Thomas Street
by Reno37 - 25th Nov 2013 1:37pm
Hillside Primary & Junior School
by Mr_Ice_Man - 4th Mar 2009 2:13am
Top Posters(30 Days)
bert1 5
Erainn 3
Topic Replies
Hind Street Gas Works area & Thomas Street
by missyb - 12th Sep 2026 3:44pm
WikiWirral usage.
by Mark - 11th Sep 2026 10:28pm
Mersey Barrage
by diggingdeeper - 11th Sep 2026 1:36pm
Family of Henry waring
by bert1 - 11th Sep 2026 9:38am
Deva Mental Asylum, Chester
by _Ste_ - 6th Sep 2026 3:30pm
Hillside Primary & Junior School
by AnnieT - 26th Aug 2026 11:28pm
On The Trail Of A 1970's Club
by Erainn - 25th Aug 2026 2:03pm
September
M T W T F S S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30
Top Likes Received (30 Days)
bert1 1
Top Likes Received
bert1 33
Mark 4
casper 4
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 545
mp3_85 Offline OP
Smartchild
OP Offline
Smartchild
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 545
As above, second hand, third hand whatever just dont want to pay PC World prices.

Google Ads
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
try aria.co.uk

or

microdirect.co.uk


both are cheap. If you have a credit card, theres an even cheaper company in Liverpool called CMS. It's mainly for business sales, but I'm pretty sure you can buy stuff really cheap using credit card without an account smile

other than that, I don;t have a spare external one sorry


Autowirral.co.uk - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Motoring Enthusiasts.
Cruisewirral.com - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Modified Car Enthusiasts.
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 404
Smartchild
Offline
Smartchild
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 404
uhm if you can wait till sunday then goto the comp fair.. or even better go on wednesday to the one at aintree race-course I can guarantee that you will get a good one for about £50.. Good Luck...

Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 441
Smartchild
Offline
Smartchild
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 441
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Don't bother with computer fairs mate. www.aria.co.uk www.scan.co.uk www.ebuyer.co.uk www.dabs.com !@@!!@


Cruisewirral's number one speller!
[Linked Image]
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
computer fairs are good, nice an cheap 'n' all, but I wouldn't go buying anything like a hard drive from one as there is no warranty and unlike the sites listed, you can't send em back if it becomes faulty


Autowirral.co.uk - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Motoring Enthusiasts.
Cruisewirral.com - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Modified Car Enthusiasts.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,793
Forum Guardian
Offline
Forum Guardian
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,793
I would never buy from a computer fair again.

Full of rogue traders, you buy a faulty product and never hear from them again.


[Linked Image]
I am a signature virus, copy me into your signature to help me spread.
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 22,315
Likes: 1
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 22,315
Likes: 1
What do you want it external for? As there are two types of external drive, both with different pricing.

The first type is when you only want it for backing up data and is therefore not compact enough to travel with easily. The second type is mobile drives, that are usually slimline enough to fit in a pocket.

Although at the moment, the Freecom slimline ones are getting to around the same price as standard ones.

Try ebuyer - I have used them for thousands of pounds worth or computer stuff and have never had much of a problem.

smile

Joined: May 2005
Posts: 545
mp3_85 Offline OP
Smartchild
OP Offline
Smartchild
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 545
I need one to store media files that my laptop cant handle. I have about ten data sticks lying around but it is too inconvenient. I need to categorise them and onto a hard drive seems the easiest way.

I dont mind the price as long as it's reasonable but eBay is too dodgy in my opinion.

Thanks anyway

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
if you have ever expanding amounts of data like me, don't ever go near DAT Tapes unless you have top notch software designed to go with the tape drive. Instead, like I did, you might want to opt for a DVD-R(W)? dual layer perhaps too?

You can also buy USB to IDE cables and buy a standing 3.5" computer or 2.5" laptop harddrive. I have 3 which I'm currently using. Quite quick too as it's 2.0.


Autowirral.co.uk - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Motoring Enthusiasts.
Cruisewirral.com - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Modified Car Enthusiasts.
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 22,315
Likes: 1
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 22,315
Likes: 1
Believe me Joe, I think Marty has chosen the correct option already in going for an external hard drive.

The talk of DAT's is rediculous nowadays, even for corporates, given the low cost and ease of use compared to hard drives and reliability of SCSI.

Using a DVD to back up is all well and good, but its tedious, DVD's can be unreliable at the best of times and they are easily scratched and damaged. Also, you can end up with loads of DVD's (even DL) when it could all be catered for by one HDD.

The kits to convert internal HDD's to external ones are good, but given the cost of external HDD's nowadays, there isnt that much need for them. Also, its simpler and safer to transport/carry an external drive then an internal drive.

Only before I was looking at internal drives in Bidston Tesco, and they have a decent range in stock for a Tesco lol. Noticed a 250GB Freecom for £99, which to be fair, considering Tesco arnt really a PC retailer or anything, I though was very competitive even with online retailers.

I am even thinking of getting one myself at that price!

And of course it has the added beauty of being able to be returned if its broken. A lot simpler then any type of RMA service.

smile

Joined: May 2005
Posts: 545
mp3_85 Offline OP
Smartchild
OP Offline
Smartchild
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 545
I bet the girls love it when guys talk technical!

Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 22,315
Likes: 1
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 22,315
Likes: 1
BTW, looking at Joes post above, if you need anything from CMS, I am pretty sure they are a distributor only and you therefore need an account with them.

When I was a computer engineer used to use them as our main supplier and we always had use our account, even if we were paying for the item there and then. If you need to get anything, my old boss still uses CMS, so I can get the latest price list (updated daily, avialble as PDF) from them and can get him to get anything you need.

Not the best way though, but as I say they are usually only a distributor (and i seem to remember they were rated as the UK's number 1 distributor in 2004 by Computer Trade Only magazine - who only review the PC dist industry, we used to get them all the time, not that they ever got red lmao).

smile

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 404
Smartchild
Offline
Smartchild
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 404
poor guy.. I hope he got his hard drive in the end.. sooo much info just for a Hard Drive tease

Quote
Originally posted by BeemerRacer28:
computer fairs are good, nice an cheap 'n' all, but I wouldn't go buying anything like a hard drive from one as there is no warranty and unlike the sites listed, you can't send em back if it becomes faulty
above comment is wrong

Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 12,369
Likes: 2
Quote
Originally posted by Steve:
poor guy.. I hope he got his hard drive in the end.. sooo much info just for a Hard Drive tease

Quote
Originally posted by BeemerRacer28:
[b] computer fairs are good, nice an cheap 'n' all, but I wouldn't go buying anything like a hard drive from one as there is no warranty and unlike the sites listed, you can't send em back if it becomes faulty
above comment is wrong [/b]
whats wrong about it? tease Unless its a known company with a stall who are at local fairs often, you probably wont ever see the trader again once he;s sold you something dodgy. Doesnt happen all the time, but it can if your not on your tippy toes


Autowirral.co.uk - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Motoring Enthusiasts.
Cruisewirral.com - The Northwest's Biggest forum of Modified Car Enthusiasts.
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,797
Wiki Veteran
Offline
Wiki Veteran
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,797
I paid 80quid for a 250GB External last month from PC world. Packard Bell. works great and backs up your files for you.

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Mod 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Random Wirral Images

Click to View Topic.
Newest Topics
Family of Henry waring
by Waring51 - 7th Sep 2026 9:39pm
On The Trail Of A 1970's Club
by Erainn - 25th Aug 2026 10:31am
WikiWirral usage.
by Excoriator - 4th Jul 2026 7:52pm
Mersey Barrage
by Excoriator - 20th Sep 2024 10:43am
Hind Street Gas Works area & Thomas Street
by Reno37 - 25th Nov 2013 1:37pm
For Sale & Free
Member Spotlight
Beaty59
Beaty59
Port Sunlight
Posts: 237
Joined: May 2009
Today's Birthdays
There are no members with birthdays on this day.
New Wirral Info
WikiWirral usage.
by Excoriator - 4th Jul 2026 7:52pm
Mersey Barrage
by Excoriator - 20th Sep 2024 10:43am
News : New Topics
New Enthusiast Forums
Deva Mental Asylum, Chester
by robbo_theman - 11th Oct 2008 11:06pm
Popular Topics(Views)
10,896,219 CW Chat room thread
6,010,833 WIKI WALK CHAT
4,718,888 Spotted!
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5