Lynn -- External hard drives are pretty much a commodity item nowadays, and pretty much anything you buy should last you until drives are even larger and cheaper :-) Head over to DealMac and see what they have for hard drives: http://dealmac.com/Computers/Storage/Hard-Drives/External-Hard-Drive-Deals-472.html For instance, right now they're showing a Western Digital 1.5TB USB External Hard Drive for $70. To make it last, if it's a USB drive, make sure that it automatically powers down when not in use for a while, or that you'll remember to turn it off. Firewire drives should all do this automatically but they'll cost a little more. Hope that helps -- Eric A. Cohen | eac2222 at gmail.com