I consider external hard drives a must-have accessory for any computer user. Beyond their most obvious use--providing extra storage when you run out of space on your primary drive--these drives are ideal for making backups, moving large files between PCs, and archiving space-hogging data like photos and videos.
MacMall has a drive deal that's hard to pass up: The Fantom GreenDrive 1TB External eSATA/USB 2.0 Hard Drive for $59.99 (plus $10 for shipping). That's your price after redeeming a pair of $25 mail-in rebates, meaning you'll have to part with $109.99 up front.

If you can live with that (I know many people who dislike rebates), you'll be hard-pressed to find a better price on a 1TB external drive.

By the way, "1TB" means "one terabyte," which is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes (GB). That may sound like overkill, especially if you're looking to back up a drive that's only, say, 250GB. But before you go shopping for a drive with a smaller capacity, keep in mind that you might actually end up spending the same amount of money--possibly even more. Right now, 1TB drives represent the price/storage "sweet spot."

The GreenDrive (so named for its lower-than-average power consumption) works with Mac and Windows systems alike, and it can connect to either a USB or eSATA port. The latter are pretty rare, though they do afford much faster file-transfer speeds--so use it if you've got one!

MacMall's rebate offers are both good through April 30. However, this is the kind of deal that can sell out in a hurry, so if you've been thinking about expanding your available storage and/or finally making regular backups of your PC (smart move), I'd jump on it.

Self-proclaimed cheapskate Rick Broida has been a technology writer for over 20 years. He has authored over a dozen books, including, most recently, "How to Do Everything: Palm Pre." Currently he writes the Cheapskate blog for CNET, the Hassle-Free PC blog for PC World, and technology stories for Popular Science, Wired, and other magazines.