Western Digital My Book

The My Book line of external hard drives by Western Digital have been around for ages, and they're still going strong. They've changed look a few times, but they're still popular, and firmly targeted at desktop users who need a little more storage space (and don't necessarily need to take that storage with them on the go). Like the My Passport series, the My Book line comes with Western Digital's "Smartwave" automatic backup software, that will back up your PC anytime you choose or on a regular, pre-defined schedule. The drive can also be password protected and encrypted, so you have to authenticate before you can access or open any of the files on it. The desktop version supports system backups using Acronis as well as WD's own software, and can be configured to sync with cloud storage services like Dropbox. The other nice thing about the My Book line is that you have plenty of connectivity options. It supports USB 2.0 and 3.0 out of the box (at least on the new models), and comes in capacities between 2TB and 4TB. Those of you who highlighted it praised its history of quality drives and customer support, not to mention reliability. If you want to pick one up, they're available at Amazon from $90 for 2TB, $110 for 3TB, and $160 for 4TB.