disksBuying guides
Practical, no-nonsense guides to buying storage — how to compare drives, what the jargon means, and how to get the most capacity for your money.
SSD vs HDD: which should you buy?
The honest trade-off between solid state and spinning disks — speed, cost per terabyte, reliability and what to buy for each use case.
Understanding price per terabyte (£/TB)
Why £/TB is the only fair way to compare storage, and how to use it to spot genuinely good value.
Choosing hard drives for a NAS
What makes a NAS drive different, why it matters for always-on storage, and how to pick capacity.
How much storage do you actually need?
A quick, practical guide to sizing your next drive without overspending — or running out in a year.
NVMe vs SATA vs M.2: SSD interfaces explained
The jargon decoded: what NVMe, SATA and M.2 actually mean, how much speed difference you will notice, and which to buy.
SMR vs CMR hard drives: what to watch for
Shingled (SMR) drives are cheaper but can be painfully slow for the wrong job — here is how to tell them apart and when to avoid them.
Best storage for gaming
How much storage modern games really need, why NVMe matters for next-gen consoles, and the cheapest way to add space.
External vs internal drives
Portability and plug-and-play versus speed and value — how to choose between an external and an internal drive.
How long do drives last, and how to protect your data
Realistic lifespans for HDDs and SSDs, the warning signs of failure, and why every drive needs a backup.
Refurbished and renewed drives: worth the risk?
Used and renewed drives show the lowest £/TB of all — here is when the saving is worth the risk and what to check.