Should I get an external HD?

I love my external HD. But if you can get dvds free and you're not going to use it much...eh

I use mine for all my documents. The only thing on my laptop's hard drive are applications.

I'd vote yes.

Tough question. I will go with no, just to be difficult.

I would totally 100% say yes. i love my HD. put all my music and pictures and movies and tons of stuff on it. do it, its totally worth it.

i would say yes cause you dont have to wait 5 mins to burn a 4gb dvd plus you can can set up automatic backup which is an awesome functionality

i also vote yes - depending on what you're backing up, it can be easier than dividing it up onto the discs, plus with the added bonus of changing around, updating (like regular backups above), or adding to the content in the future. if it's a backup of stuff you'll never or almost never use, and/or you're not wanting/able to spend much money, then perhaps go with free DVDs. but you've got 30GB now (presumably more in the future) and you can get external HDs much bigger than that for pretty cheap and it'll be extremely useful for many purposes from now onward.

Yes -- backing up is an annoying thing to do, so make it as easy as possible. You're much more likely to backup your computer if it takes 1 min rather than 1 hour.

The HDD has the added advantages of being multi-use and easy to access.

HD is the way to go all my iTunes are on one so the dont clutter up my laptop and photos too. It much easier to work with also you can modify files stored there easier. Also less chance of losing data due to disc damage

I would totally get an external HD. I bought two Western Digitals for a killer deal on http://www.newegg.com - check them out!

yes. prices have really dropped lately. i keep all my media on the hard drive, which makes it easier when you need to buy a new computer.

Yes. Purchase a external drive. DVDs are difficult to search, catalog and reference.

With the herd on this one. 30 GBs certainly takes a few DVDs, and DVD clutter will become an issue. (This is assuming you are using write-once DVDs). Harddrives are getting cheaper, and unless you are really strapped for cash, then you might as well spend some, to rid yourself of the headache of backing up manually on DVDs.

I would say “Yes, absolutely!” Having recently witnessed a big layoff at our company (and since we don’t have security rules that forbid it), I have started doing routine backups of my work—to my own hard drive. And that gets packed up and taken home with me daily. If they fire me or lay me off, I’ll still have samples, examples, and evidence of my work (and the attachments from email that I have chosen to save), without having to worry about “what they might let me keep” from my computer. I won’t be without an external HDD any more.