portable ext hdd for £40?

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Hi, im looking to get a portable ext hdd. One thats powered via usb only. I want to get one from tesco as i have a £40 voucher and wondering if this is ok?

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.205-5486.aspx

[peterb]

Yes - it'll do what it says on the box. If you are determined to stay with Tesco, your choice is limited. However the reviews for the same product on Amazon are quite good.

As for powering off the USB connector, a lot depends on the machine you are connecting to. Some don't supply quite enough power for some drives.

Usually you can get round that using a 'double headed' usb connector. One plug provides power and data, the other increases the power available to the drive. (You can also get cables that plug into an external kbd socket on laptops (if fitted) which does the same sort of thing - they plug into an external power connector on the drive)

It would be worth checking to see if that particular drive comes with the double headed USB cable - but you won't really find out if you need it until you try it out.