Advice on hard drive

Hi, Bought a 1TB HD just about an year ago and was told they (external hds in general)
Don’t have the greatest track records. Mine conked out when I realized I could no longer access all my files on it. Most, but not all. No idea what happened. Maybe got bumped around once too often.
so can someone recommend me a good brand?

I have a Western Digital as a Time Machine 3 TB. It has been running for years now. I also have a Seagate 2 TB external that has also been running for about six years on my Laptop. Never had any problems with them. Mind you they don't get 'Bumped around'.

Does the external drive need to be portable?

+1 for Western Digital

I've got a selection of their "My Passport" hard drives which I've had for a few years now with no problems.

Although if I needed to get a new one now, I'd probably go down the SSD route.

The choice of an external hard drive is subjective usually based on the user's experience. For example... above - Nick stated he prefers WD My Passport drives; whereas my personal experience with WD My Passport drives is opposite to his.

I believe it was member Randy Singer sometime ago who stated that there are few hard drive manufacturers still in business. It's very likely when you buy an external hard drive regardless of the brand, that it likely came from the same manufacturer.