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Buy a Better Drive

Need more room for data? We help you steer through your storage options.

An external storage device is one of the most important investments you can make for your Mac. Sure, Macs come with nice new hard drives that have a vast amount of free space, but once you add applications, buy (or make) digital music and videos, and move photos from your camera to your computer, your Mac may tell you that “your startup disk is almost full” at an unexpected moment. An external storage device can also help you better organize your files. And if you want to perform data backups with Mac OS X’s Time Machine, an external storage device is a must-have.

You have myriad storage choices—external hard drives, desktop RAIDs, optical disc burners, solid-state drives, flash drives, and network-attached storage. Depending on your situation and your file types, some storage devices will serve you better than others.

In this buyer’s guide, we’ll provide insight into storage media and technologies, and help you determine which solution is best for you-so you can unleash your inner packrat.

Storage Buyers' Guide 2009

Tips for buying storage.

External desktop hard drives buying guide
If you’re looking for a quick and painless way to add massive amounts of storage for your music, photos, videos, or system backups, an external hard drive is hard to beat.
Internal hard drives buying guide
With a little bit of handiwork, you can upgrade the hard drive that came with your Mac. Here's what to look for when buying a new internal hard drive.
Portable hard drives buying guide 2009
A portable hard drive allows you to carry a large amount of data without you, in a device that can easily fit in a bag, backpack, briefcase, or pocket.
Desktop RAID buying guide
If you have heavy-duty storage needs, a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is the most cost-effective, mind-easing solution.
DVD burners buying guide
If you have a Mac with a Combo drive (CD burner that can read but not write to DVD) or a single-layer DVD burner, buying an external DVD drive is an affordable and attractive upgrade.
Network-attached storage buying guide
Network-attached storage (NAS) makes it easy to add file servers to your network.