Desktop-class drives, with 3.5-inch mechanisms inside, require a power adapter. But which to choose? Here's everything you need to consider when shopping for an external hard drive. And if you're lucky enough to have multiple I/O ports, you can hook up many more. Every computer you can buy, from huge desktop towers to budget-price Windows tablets, can connect to at least one hard drive, with no complex installation required. That's enough to house hundreds of movie files or hundreds of thousands of MP3s or photos. For as little as $50, you can add a terabyte (TB) to your laptop or desktop via an external drive. Storage has never been more plentiful or less expensive.
