External harddrives?

[Heretic Apostate]

I've got a small (20GB, but 5GB partitioned for backups (???)) harddrive installed. I have no slots available for installing new harddrives, so internal expansion is out.

So, what is the best value for an 80GB external harddrive (USB2.0, of course, whatever the heck that means... I do have two ports on the front for USB2.0, I know that much...) under $100? Items on eBay count for that price!

 

[Ranger REG]

USB 2.0 is the latest version of Universal Serial Bus. It can transfer data up to 45MB per second, as opposed to USB 1.1 which can only handle 11MB per second. Hooking up an external HD with USB 2.0 on a USB 1.1 port will only move at 11MBps.

I picked up a Western Digital 80 GB External HD about a year ago, but it was priced around $150. Thankfully I got some huge rebate from Circuit City, so I pretty much got it for less than a hundred. So far so good, it's still working out well for me.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

So, what would your opinion be of these items:

http://search-desc.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?sacategory=41911&sotextsearched=2&sotimedisplay=2&sosortproperty=3&ht=1&satitle=Western+Digital+80GB+external+usb+-internal&sasaleclass=2&catref=C1&basicsearch=&sosortorder=1

 

[Usurper]

So, what would your opinion be of these items:

http://search-desc.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?sacategory=41911&sotextsearched=2&sotimedisplay=2&sosortproperty=3&ht=1&satitle=Western+Digital+80GB+external+usb+-internal&sasaleclass=2&catref=C1&basicsearch=&sosortorder=1

I'm seeing better prices from vendors at www.pricewatch.com with shipping included than those ebay vendors (where shipping doesn't seem to be included). Just looking at the usb 2.0 ones with 80 gigs at 7200 rpm's...

Check this one out. The pricewatch entry says:

Bytecc - ONLINE ORDER ONLY - USB 80.0GB External USB 2.0 + 80.0GB/7200rpm EIDE HDD
Details:
Mention PRICE WATCH - for special shipping fee -External USB 2.0 Case with 80GB/7200rpm HDD USB 2.0 w/Cable
Part - HD-ME320U2-080

So either the shipping is free, or you can get special (rushed?) shipping at no extra cost, depending on how you read it. To my zip code, it came out to be a little under 92 bucks. 1 year warranty on it.

Here's a better one:

Western Digital - ONLINE ORDER ONLY - OEM WHITE LABEL EXTERNAL USB 80.0GB EIDE 7200RPM HARD DRIVE W/ USB 2.0 ME-320U2 ENCLOSURE
Details:
1 YEAR WARRANTY. AVL. IN FIREWIRE OR USB2.0/IEEE CASE
Part - WD800BBWL-ME320U2

1 year warranty again, free fedex ground shipping, 85 bucks. Better brand name and it's cheaper still.

Edit: (sometimes you have to mention pricewatch, or go from the pricewatch link to get the discount; there's often an 800 number if you have questions)