The problem with just a Maxtor external hard drive is that it will fail. Hard drives have a 100% failure rate over time, and then your data will be gone. All the cds that I have burned have only had a self life of about 5 years, and then the backs have started to chip off, so I don't consider this a real alternative to backing my important data. The best thing I have ever come across for backups that is way better then an external hard drive or cds is something called zettabyte storage http://www.zettabytestorage.com/. Basically its a network attached storage, with web 2.0 storage built in. All you have to do is put your files on the NAS, and it automatically uploads them to offsite backup servers. The advantage is that you can get your files super fast off the network, but if the hard drive in it ever dies, the company sends you a new "zbox" and it automatically starts to download everything you put on it. Its pretty slick. The only downside it that it is a monthly service plan, but its not expensive at all for the service, and for web 2.0 storage. Add on excellent tech support I have received and I really cant think of a better solution.