What's the difference between portable & external hard drive?

Besides the names of them? And which would be better 4 my computer? I know that I would need one 2 hold all these mb's of clips, not just fart clips. And + 1 of these days I might be 4ced to redo the computer cause it's been screwed up by a virus I had late May :[. And lots of things I need on the computer were erased :cry. I feel that all I need is between 160, 250 or 320 gb's. And something under $100. And which brand name of portable or external hard drive is considered the best? Can't think of anything else I need 2 say on this.

Portable and external harddrives are basically the same thing just different names; however, If an external harddrive is being advertised as "portable" then it will probably be easier to carry around if you want to access your files from different computers.An internal harddrive can become external if you get an external enclosure for it.I recommend seagate or western digital hard drives because i have had positive experiences with them. Here are some that you might want to look at Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 250 GB USB External Hard Drive or Seagate FreeAgent Desktop 250 GB USB External Hard Drive

What I can say internal SATA or ATA hard disks are still the most safest hard disks.

Thanks wise lion man! ::great

Does anyone know if the I/O Magic Quick external hard drive is any good? Cause today on the Target sales paper, there's one thats 320 GB & its $88. Sounds like a great deal for something that's a whole lot of GB's & under $100.

I have never had any experience with that brand but it shouldn't be too bad. I usually check review sites for consumer's feedback if i am getting ready to buy something unfamiliar, but sometimes you have to rely on your own critique because people like different things.

Portable generally means that it's built to withstand some shock.