After some recent scares with failing hard drives my GF has decided that she wants an external hard drive. Not too expensive and not too big memory wise. I have seen a cool looking one on novatech, 30GB for £35 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/Components/HardDrives-External/USB/Novatech/NOV-E30GB.html) which isn't great value but it looks quite suitable. Has anyone had any experience with one of these?

Thanks,
Jam

I have a Western Digital Passport which has been in use for about two years without any problems. I use to keep all my data on, not just for backups. It's small, doesn't need a power supply other than the PC, but only works properly with USB 2.0, so no use if you have an old laptop. I've since acquired a second one for backups.

The one you linked to jam, is a 1.8" harddrive, so really small and portable, but really slow.

I'd be tempted to go for either what nico mentioned or this http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0012GTJXA/300002836-21/?m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

If it's for someone else you'll want a small HD based one (uses a laptop size hard drive, can be run directly from the computer through one or a pair of USB cables as opposed to a desktop size hard drive, which gets you more storage for your money but is bigger and requires a separate power brick/plug).

You should be able to get about 300 GB for £50 no problem.

Also got a WD Passport, no problems to report