I would avoid using store bought externals unless it is strictly for back up. The biggest problems reported are with the power supply. Use to be most of the time you could pull the drive out of the defective case and put it in another and be good to go. Now manufactures are putting proprietary power connections in their cases. If & when it goes, the drive is useless.
I would recommend purchasing a bare internal and an external case with a fan. Really simple to install. The fan keeps the drive cool even with continuous usage. If something goes wrong with the case, just throw the drive in another one. This Rosewill is a good one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817173042
I like the Western Digtal blacks. I look for drives with the longest warranty. Not that the warranty matters a whole lot if the drive fails, but hopefully those with several years worth of warranty are better builds.
With all that said, every drive will eventually fail. Back up everything.
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