External hard drives are the ultimate solution for personal data storage. In the recent 12 to 24 months the capacities of external hard drives have increased at an exponential rate -- while their prices have dropped low enough for all of us to be able to afford.

Should I have an external hard drive?

Good question.

I think it's worthwhile for all of us to have at least some sort of portable storage -- whether it's for computer backups or transferring files. These devices are quite usefulfor a number of reasons including:

• Keeping all important files in one place
• Separating personal documents from the actual computer hardware -- if the computer crashes it's not difficult to access the same files from a different machine
• You can use the same documents from multiple locations
• Great for travel
• More reliable backup option than CDs

There are three forms of portable digital storagethat I'd like to discuss on this hub. USB thumb drive storage -- pocket storage devices and external hard drives.

USB Thumb Drives

The benefit of using USB thumb drives is that it's easier to fit them onto a chain or to keep them stored in an accessible location at all timesdue to their small "thumb" size. The disadvantage is that thumb drives cannot store much more than about 10GB of data. Nonetheless for some of us this is sufficient. You can purchase a 4GB thumb drive for about $29 at the time of writing.

Pocket Storage Devices

Pocket storage devices are a bit larger than thumb drives - their size is more like the equivalent of a palm. However some pocket storage devices can handle as much as 200GB of data making them a sleek and compact option. Pocket storage devices can cost around $200 or less.

External Hard Drives

External hard drives are much larger in size than the previous two options. The average external hard drive is about 20cm in height - a few cm in width - and about 20cm in depth. However external hard drives can store 1,000GB or more data. This makes them an ideal option for computer backup. External hard drives can cost a few hundred dollars or more.