Buying Computer Stuff

[Ununhexium]

Hi! I'm looking to buy an external hard drive for my computer, but I know nothing about computers and stuff so I decided I'd ask people who know a lot more than I do.

I have a Lenovo L540 mainstream laptop, and it has served me well except for its lack of a lot of memory space (94.9GB lol). It works fine, but it has hardly any memory for games or really anything aside from system / operating files and Civilization V and VI. The reason I'm asking is because I don't really know what size I would want/need (I was thinking 1TB because they appear to be only marginally more expensive than 500GB) but if there are many different kinds or whatever I'd like to know what's good and what's not.

Thanks guys!

 

[faint]

Hello. Self-proclaimed computer expert here.

I would highly recommend this drive due to it's great price/gig, compact style, and speed: Seagate Backup Plus Slim External HD

 

[Soul Fly]

1TB+ is a no brainer these days. go with whatever's cheaper between competing WD/Seagate products in your favourite website/store. Rest are really niche or iffy. Just make sure you have USB 3.0 compatible, otherwise transferring large files is a pain in the ass. some ultra cheap high-capacity HDDs stick to older standards to cut costs.

you really cannot go very wrong.

edit: re-reading your OP I have a feeling you want to run games off your external HDD? (which is a much more complex scenario and requires a very niche product)

 

[Ununhexium]

Soul Fly faint so games run well off of them, right? I'm not particularly worried about graphics or anything I just want to be able to like get from A to B in terms of playing games.

 

[Grey Knight]

external drives are slow as fuck and this vono doesn't have a type-c, if i was you id go for an internal ssd upgrade. you can find cheap ones at 256gb on ebay.

 

[Soul Fly]

Soul Fly faint so games run well off of them, right? I'm not particularly worried about graphics or anything I just want to be able to like get from A to B in terms of playing games.

nah man it's a different ballgame because data transfer rate, constant bitrate and caching matters. It's doable but game might hang/crash/freeze if your rig and knowledge aren't up to par. Most external mechanical drives aren't even fast enough to do that without SATA connectivity in the first place.

Just try to get an internal hard drive upgrade, it's way simpler.you can go for a 256 gig SSD if you need the speed, or if you want 1TB+ storage just go for a mechanical drive and it'll still run you cheaper. If you're willing to put up with slow af loading times and the more-than-occasional trouble shooting then feel free to go with whatever external SSD you think is best.

 

[Lemonade]

budget?
looks like the hard drive is easy to get to

regardless getting a bigger internal would be the most convenient overall unless you don't move around. What kind of files are you going to have? Mostly games or a few main games etc.?

 

[Ununhexium]

budget?
looks like the hard drive is easy to get to

regardless getting a bigger internal would be the most convenient overall unless you don't move around. What kind of files are you going to have? Mostly games or a few main games etc.?

I'm not doing any like heavy academic computing so yeah games like Civilization TF2 CSGO and a few others I don't have a ton

 

[Lemonade]

I'm not doing any like heavy academic computing so yeah games like Civilization TF2 CSGO and a few others I don't have a ton

budget still

 

[jeb4]

depending on your budget its probably better off to just buy a new laptop. L540 is what 4-5 years old? external hard drive is slow, people normally use it for storage

 

[Ununhexium]

budget still

Sorry didn't see that I'm probably willing to spend ~$80

 

[faint]

Sorry didn't see that I'm probably willing to spend ~$80

In that case the external drive I recommended is best for you. While an SSD is the single best upgrade you can achieve, you will not find an SSD that solves your storage issues while also staying within your budget.