Two kinds of devices I use to backup my data are flash drives, aka thumb drives, and external hard disk drives (HDD). Both connect to any PC via a USB connector.
Flash drives usually come in sizes like 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The lower the capacity the lower the price. I would recommend at least a 4GB thumb drive for the average home user. If you are big into digital photographs AND music downloads, you may be pushing this technology. Check the size of your MY DOCUMENTS folder (right click on it and then click on PROPERTIES). Mine is 43GB. A recent customer's was 80GB! We are both rather unusual, and you may find yours is only in the single digits of GB. If the latter, then a thumb drive, appropriately sized, is fine for short-term usage.
For higher volumes and longer-term backup storage I would recommend an external HDD. These typically come in sizes like 250GB, 500GB. 750GB, and 1TB (terabyte = 1000GB). I have a Western Digital MYBOOK with a 1TB capacity, and I bought this for $199, but prices are coming down pretty fast, so look for the maximum capacity you can afford. I wouldn't worry too much about the brand, but if you have a question, give me a shout.
Whichever type you choose, you can use it (or them) on any machine with a USB port, so if you have multiple computers in your home, you can move the device from PC to PC and do your backups. In between, you can disconnect the device and even power it off (if external HDD). Thumb drives are always off and get their power from the USB connection when you plug it in.
Questions? Please write.
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