500 Gigabyte Harddrives

Internal hard drives are the method on which computers store information. Over the past decades, the capacity, or "size," of hard drives have exploded. Several companies manufacture 500 gigabyte hard drives, at different prices.

Western Digital is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of hardware for personal computing. It currently offers external hard drives, such as the "My Book," and internal hard drives, such as the "Caviar," which include storage space up to and over 500 gigabytes. Prices range from $90 to almost $300.

Seagate is perhaps the second-largest manufacturer of hard drives in the United States. It also offers internal and external drives with capacities up to and beyond 500 gigabytes. Seagate's "Free Agent" is its line of portable, external drives while "Barracuda" represents the internal hard drive line. Prices range from $70 to about $120.

Hewlett Packard is a manufacturer of computers, printers and other hardware for the personal computer. It also offers 500 gigabyte hard drive options. Its external HD5000S is a USB hard drive that retails for about $110.

Maxtor, a subsidiary of Seagate, offers the OneTouch4 external hard drive with capacity up to and in excess of 500 gigabytes. The OneTouch4 retails for around $105.

Iomega, a subsidiary of EMC of San Diego, began production of hardware in 1980. It offers the external "Prestige" 500 gigabyte hard drive for around $90 to $100.

Samsung, a manufacturer of a variety of electronics ranging from televisions to telephones, also offers 500 gigabyte hard drives for the personal computer. The "Spinpoint" internal hard drive retails for around $150.

There are numerous other companies that produce the large 500 gigabyte hard drives. These companies range in price and in quality and may be based in any number of countries. The average of these "other" hard drives ranges from $65 to over $500.