Topic: external HD

[Raisa]

Please help..  i need an external HD.. about 100 GB or more.. some say go for Maxtor, some say go for Seagate.. which one is better?

Oh, and you know how some say "secure".. just how secure would the files be?
thanks

[Cobra951]

I think Maxtor is no more.  Seagate is a decent brand.  You want USB 2.0, which is pretty much the standard now.  Make sure your PC can do USB 2.0, because the speed increase is huge from 1.0 (40X).  I have 2 USB 2.0 enclosures and one firewire.  I've never had any trouble with any of them.  Once set up, they behave just like internal drives.

[Raisa]

Maxtor is no more?  Woah, okay, i've seen a lot of thier products out but not in the big stores.

Maybe they're old stock or something.

USB 2.. yes that's what I get, i have a USB external.. not the ones with a power cord and it's USB 2..
thanks

[sirean_syan]

I've had an external 250gig Western Digital for at least a year now and it's been great... not that this helps you decide between the brands you'd like to buy... just wanted to add to the thread.

[Quemaqua]

Seagate has a good reputation, though I did have a bad experience with my last drive from them, but since the warranty is like 10 years, I can send it back and get a reconditioned one in its place.  I bought a temporary drive from them as well while waiting for the new one to come (which is going to be never because I keep not sending the damned thing in!), and that one has worked like a charm.

[iPPi]

Seagate.

[TheOtherBelmont]

I've been using a 160 gig Western Digital one for a few months now and it works great.

[Pugnate]

I've had a bad experience with a seagate as well.

[Cobra951]

I like Western Digital too.  I have at least one drive of theirs.  No problems.

[Cools]

I'm currently using Hitachi, Western Digital and Seagate drives (1 tb in total). All have been performing well.

[Quemaqua]

It should be noted I've had a couple bad experiences with Western Digital drives in the past.  I'm pretty sure Seagate and WD are both perfectly fine.  It's just that HDD technology is spotty and likes to die at inopportune times.

[scottws]

I've consciously had Maxtor and Seagate drives.  No problems with either, though I found the Maxtors to be slightly quieter (almost completely silent).  Too bad they are gone.

[Raisa]

Hmm..so if I buy the Maxtor here, it's going to be pretty useless having it since if it dies on me.. then i can't send it to maxtor to get it fixed :/

[beo]

what's all this about maxtor? maxtor still exists as a brand, they're just owned by seagate now. seeing as the maxtor product line is going to continue, and they're still offering 3 year warranties (since the acquisition), i'm pretty sure that any warranties advertised will be honoured.

from maxtor.com:
Adding to Seagate's own line of branded products, Seagate will retain a full range of Maxtor branded retail solutions. Maxtor is the leading brand name in the retail space and it will significantly strengthen Seagate's overall position in this burgeoning market. The combination of the two brands and the associated product lines represents the widest, most differentiated storage offering available to consumers today.

[Cobra951]

Ah!  Glad I'm wrong then.  (Thought they got digested away by Seagate.)  Hopefully, whatever they were doing as their own company, they'll continue to do under Seagate.

[Raisa]

okay.. after shopping around some more.. i only have two choices..

http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/02/17/backup_master/ (not 250 gb.. only 160 gb)

and Maxtor 3200 (only 100 gb)

the price difference is $46..  the western digital costing less.
both are brand new, but maxtor 3200 ws manufactured in 2005.. the wd came out in 2004

[WindAndConfusion]

the price difference is $46..  the western digital costing less.

How much are you looking to spend? On Newegg $46 will easily by you an external enclosure, and then you can drop in any random compatible HDD at the rate of about $0.30/GB.

Or, if you already have an enclosure with a dead HDD, you could probably just cannibalize that...

[Raisa]

$100 at the most.. though my brother found one that was about $125

[Cobra951]

How much are you looking to spend? On Newegg $46 will easily by you an external enclosure, and then you can drop in any random compatible HDD at the rate of about $0.30/GB.

That's exactly what I did, 3 times.  All from Bytecc.  My first enclosure was 5.25" with its own power supply & fan, which was overkill.  (Works fine, but takes up too much space & adds yet another fan noise to the room.)  I could use it for a DVD burner or something, though.  The other two enclosures are 3.5" nice-gauge aluminum with power bricks.  One of them can take either firewire or USB 2.0.  I have that attached to the SB Audigy 2 card's firewire port in my older PC (which has USB 1 ports).

Putting in the hard drives was very easy, and everything has been just fine now for a couple of years.  I know prefab external drives have dropped in price.  (They were outrageous back then.)  But here is a workable low-cost alternative.  Plus you can pick exactly what HD you want.