Cheap Hard Drive Deals: Buying Guide

If you're looking for cheap hard drive deals for some extra storage space for your photos, music and documents, there are a wealth of choices available. Whether you're buying internal, external or SSD, the following guide will give you some hints and tips on how to get a cheap hard drive that suits your needs.

Remember that many of the cheapest hard drive deals are short lived - if you want to get the best bargains, you'll need to check in on the HUKD forums on a regular basis, and be ready to buy when the best bargains appear. Some of the hottest deals have only lasted a matter of hours.

Some general buying tips when looking for cheap hard drives

Buy MORE space than you think you will need. Buying a larger capacity hard drive in the first place gives you enough storage space, meaning you won't have to go buy another new hard drive in the near future - you're spending money now to save cash in the long run.

Always be on the lookout for bargains from the various stores. Competition can be pretty stiff, so there are often specials on specific brands where you might be able to get a cheap hard drive for a super price. The deals tends to be on the lower tier hard drives though, rarely on the newer models or high capacity drives.

If you'd like shared storage, consider a NAS drive. The cost per GB might actually be higher than regular hard drives, but you've got a very handy network attached device for all your files. Watch out for deals and rebates on NAS drives - you might find manufacturer deal that throws in a free hard drive when you purchase the NAS, which we've seen in the past. Remember, it's good to choose a NAS that's easy to upgrade, so you can potentially swap in higher capacity drives in the future, if you find another super hard drive bargain down the line.

The Cost per GB rule

For any hard drive, costs per GB can generally be ranked like this:

• Internal hard drives - cheapest
• External hard drives - medium
• SSD hard drives - most expensive

When you spot what you think could be a good deal on a hard drive, work out the cost per GB to make sure you're getting a bargain. Compare it to some of the baselines mentioned below, and you'll be able to see if it is a good deal.

Internal Hard Drive Deals

Current prices for cheap internal hard drives depend on capacity. Here are some examples to use as a baseline to find the best hard drive deals:

3.5" hard drives

• 500GB hard drive for £50 to £70
• 1TB hard drive for £80 to £100
• 2TB hard drive for £90 to £110

2.5" hard drives

• 250GB notebook drive for £50 to £60
• 500GB notebook drive for £60 to £90
• 750GB notebook hard drive for £90 to £110

If you're looking for higher hard drive capacities than the above examples, prices start to increase dramatically.

INTERNAL HARD DRIVE BUYING TIP: You can buy internal hard drive deals from most of the major online computer stores, with Novatech and eBuyer having particularly good offers. For both these stores, it could be worth signing up to their weekly email newsletter to watch out for the best hard drive deals. It's also worth keeping your eye on Dabs and Aria.

External Hard Drive Deals

When buying a cheap external hard drive, you can expect to pay in the region of:

• 1TB from £50
• 1.5TB from £60
• 2TB from £90

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE BUYING TIPS: If you are looking for an cheap external hard drive, the choices of where to make your purchase are much wider, as many more retailers offer this type of device, compared to internal hard drives. For example, you can extend your search for cheap hard drives to the likes of Play.com and even in-store at your local supermarkets.

Accessories: Check what cables come with your new hard drive, and what free slots you have on your PC. Some external hard drives may use a firewire connection, meaning you don't have to use up another one of your coveted USB slots. Alternatively, you might want a longer cable so that you can position your external hard drive somewhere handy. If you need to pick up cheap cables for your hard drive, we recommend that you have a quick search on eBay where you can easily find inexpensive cables.

SSD Hard Drive Deals

If you want to invest in a solid state hard drive (SSD), you will be looking at the following price ranges:

• 32GB SSD for £50 to £60
• 64GB SSD for £60 to £75
• 120GB for around £100+

Conclusion

Three aspects should be factored in when looking for a deal on a cheap hard drive; decide which type of hard drive you want, the cost per GB, and your budget. To make sure you find the best deal for your needs, monitor the bargains from all the major tech stores, and watch out for the best hard drive deals on HotUKDeals.

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HotUKDeals.com was founded in August 2004 as a place for consumers to freely share deal tips, voucher codes and other consumer information. The purpose of the site is to escape from the marketing messages and ads that surround us and get genuine advice from other people about hot deals.

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