I confess to not having checked any out in the past three or four years. I make my own. Most of the externals out there run at 5400rpm which is not fast enough. Also, some of the interface chips for the usb/1394/esata etc are not well designed. I like Seagate generally but their first gen Free Agent Pro was notorious for locking up from the USB/eSATA card getting too hot. When I use it for large data transfers I stick a blue ice pack underneath to prevent that issue.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love external enclosures for both 3.5" and 2.5" drives. I use Vantec, Macally, and Mapower. It just isn't obviously cheaper to build them yourself anymore by default unless you need particular specs.

thank you, but i guess i should have specified that this was for just general data backup, not for any audio production... sorry about that.

(i know i know its an audio forum)

Any standard WD or Seagate offering. Costco or Newegg usually have sales on something. I still stay away from >1Tb drives but thats just personal.