ALDI and PCs, etc.

ALDI are having a 'special offers' day next Thursday.

I am intererested in buying a 500 GB external hard disk for €80.

Can anyone advise me on the performcance / reliability of PC add-ons from ALDI? And because I'll probably be buying a PC in the next 12 months, can comment on the PCs sold by ALDI?

What make is the hard drive as some are more reliable than others? Also does it have a data recovery option if it develops a fault?

Aldi hardware is fine in general as far as I know. Like most of this stuff it's built from stock parts anyway. They come with a good 3 year gurantee in most cases. This does not cover data recovery from a hard disk that fails same as most if not all storage manufacturers. However just because it's an Aldi (or Lidl) deal does not necessaily mean that you can't get a better deal elsewhere by shopping around. Also some of the PCs/laptops on sale from Aldi/Lidl are way over specified for many people's requirements.

Thanks for your replies.

The brand of the external disk on sale in ALDI is Medion. Like most ALDI products, I've never seen this brand on sale anywhere else and that's I posed my original question.

I don't know if it has a data recovery facility but I would back up any crucial files with Yahoo! Briefcase also.

I shall be using the external disk mainly to store digital audio files and I shall back up the most important of them with either my internal hard disk or another external disk I already have (a 320 GB Seagate).

While the brand of the box is Medion almost certainly the drive inside is made by one of a small number of hard disk manufacturers - e.g. Samsung, Western Digital etc. It will probably not be obvious who until you open the box or attach it to a PC and look at, say, Device Manager under Windows.