external hard drives -- how does one choose?

Darren Dirt · March 02, 2009, 09:37:33 AM

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/Computers(ME)/ComputerComponents(ME)/HardDrives(ME)/ExternalHardDrives(ME)/Default.aspx

So I'm visiting the URL above, thinking of getting a USB drive around 400GB or more, cuz my 4 year old system is starting to show signs of age and thus will need to re-install XP one of these days, and OMG i really really am not looking forward to figuring out all the places I put my data (thus, external drive, moving all them files, problem solved -- or at least delayed

)

The question is, what is the difference in all the options out there? I'm hoping for stability, speed, quiet -- in the old days of EIDE internal drives, you knew that Maxtor was noisy but fast, and Western Digital was slowish but quiet, and Seagate or Quantum or whatever was a good balance between the two, etc. but what about today? with the USB drives?

I'm leaning towards this series: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX20340(ME).aspx

...scary to think how 1000GB is like $150 though. To think <150 *MB* cost like 1000 *dollars* for the IOmega Zip drive...

Lazybones · March 02, 2009, 09:46:07 AM

1. Purchase an empty enclosure. $50
2. Purchase what ever HD you want. $99 +

Darren Dirt · March 02, 2009, 09:48:53 AM

Quote from: Lazybones on March 02, 2009, 09:46:07 AM
1. Purchase an empty enclosure. $50
2. Purchase what ever HD you want. $99 +

True a year or so ago. But today, for $160 you can get a 1TB all-in-one solution. So that's why I'm asking. Plus, with USB 2.0 you get a thereoteical max. of 4GB/minute* transfer which is just fine for what I plan on using the drive for... (plus it appears that some ATA internal drives can do up to 10GB/minute away, but I doubt I'd ever notice/need that faster speed)

So, yeah, I'm just wondering if you hardware experts know of any brands to avoid (due to noise, data loss, heat, etc.).

*Apparently all the drives say 480Mbps which is where I got my ~4GB/minute transfer rate. Although this Seagate page has a major typo: Transfer Rate USB 2.0: 480 MB/sec

Thorin · March 02, 2009, 10:37:12 AM

Quote from: Darren Dirt on March 02, 2009, 09:48:53 AM
Quote from: Lazybones on March 02, 2009, 09:46:07 AM
1. Purchase an empty enclosure. $50
2. Purchase what ever HD you want. $99 +

True a year or so ago. But today, for $160 you can get a 1TB all-in-one solution. So that's why I'm asking. Plus, with USB 2.0 you get a thereoteical max. of 4GB/minute* transfer which is just fine for what I plan on using the drive for... (plus it appears that some ATA internal drives can do up to 10GB/minute away, but I doubt I'd ever notice/need that faster speed)

So, yeah, I'm just wondering if you hardware experts know of any brands to avoid (due to noise, data loss, heat, etc.).

*Apparently all the drives say 480Mbps which is where I got my ~4GB/minute transfer rate. Although this Seagate page has a major typo: Transfer Rate USB 2.0: 480 MB/sec

LOL! I guess someone learned something about bytes and bits from a certain other thread

I would guess that the all-in-one solutions nowadays are simply an enclosure with a drive in it bought as a package. Meaning you'll probably be able to take the drive out if you want to.

Sorry, I don't know enough about external drives to know what to suggest. The best I can say, though, is that you'll probably turn it off most of the time, as you'll move all the important files back onto your drive for faster access.

Bixby · March 02, 2009, 02:12:47 PM

I am in the process of replacing some drives so I am curious too. I bought three of the 500GB Western Digital drives from Costco a couple of years ago. Two of them have failed alrady so I will NOT be buying their product again.

Tonnica · March 02, 2009, 02:32:06 PM

The big difference with some external hard drive packages is the doo-dads they put on the drives to make them plug-and-play backup solutions.

Do you want a ActiveSynch on connection?
Do you want a photo slideshow viewer that plugs in to a TV with a USB port?
Do you want a built-in data backup and restore utility?

Other than those features (and they DO vary by product) there's no real difference between l'package and slapping a hard drive in to an enclosure yourself. In some cases it's even the same hardware so you have the same hookups to take advantage of the hard drive speed. It's just your pick of hard drive instead of theirs and no software.

Bixby · March 02, 2009, 04:00:43 PM

I prefer NO doo-dads. I control my own backup sccripts so I know what gets backed up and when. I hjust want a really good, reliable, high capacity drive.

Tom · March 02, 2009, 04:10:09 PM

Usually a good way to go is just get the enclosure and drive separately. That way you can upgrade or replace either part on a whim. No worries if the enclosure fails, just get a new one, you know the drive is normal.

Bixby · March 02, 2009, 04:40:45 PM

This is all well and good, but what drive are people having good luck with? Western Digital sucks the big one as far as I am concerned. I can use my drive enclosures, but I would like at the very least to hear what drives people are getting good reliability with use and which ones to avoid.

Melbosa · March 02, 2009, 05:05:14 PM

Well Bixby, and I share you disdain for them, but WD at the TB level are one of the best at the moment. Seagates at the TB level are still riddled with flawed manufactured stock. Maxtors are just a division of Seagate now. Hitachis are the old IBM drive division (actually I think they always made them and IBM re-branded them), and I don't know if they are trustworthy. Samsung, well I have no experience with.

I've had experience with WD, Seagate and Hitachi in TB SATA drives. Had one Hitachi DOA, 4 Seagate crater in less than 2 weeks. On WDs have been solid so far and no click-of-death.

Total drives experienced with 28: 8 Hitachis, 12 Seagates, and 8 WDs in TB sizes. All drives have been running over 1 month (well those that are still running).

Darren Dirt · March 02, 2009, 05:07:26 PM

Decided to go where the masses go...

Western Digital 500GB MyBook overall happy people, but one guy had it die after 4 months.

Maxtor seems dependable.

And I thought this was funny: Iomega ... OVER-PRICED (just like old times

)

Lacie sounds "terrible". One review said "Buy a comstar or seagate product instead." However Comstar reviews seems to say "a lot of these drive enclosures fail within a few months".

Bixby · March 02, 2009, 05:10:48 PM

Thanks Melbosa. That is good info. Perhaps I am in for Wave 2 of my Costco drive purchases. *sigh*

Darren Dirt · March 02, 2009, 05:13:58 PM

:sigh: so hard to choose... Maxtor(Seagate) ftw? (more reviews at NCIX but my brain is tired.)

Quote from: Melbosa on March 02, 2009, 05:05:14 PM
Had one Hitachi DOA, 4 Seagate crater in less than 2 weeks. On WDs have been solid so far and no click-of-death.

or not?

Tom · March 02, 2009, 05:37:54 PM

I still like Seagate. Yes they have had issues with their recent 1 and 1.5TB drives (and some 640s), but they took quick action each time. All problems are fixed with a firmware update thats fairly painless (unless you got stuck with the updater that updated ALL of your drives at the same time, brining a RAID array down in the process, oops.).

I bought 4 640G drives last summer, and they are still going strong. No issues what so ever, and they are doing great. I'll probably stick with this array in its current incarnation for quite some time. I don't think I'll even need to add more drives for a good year or two. 2TB seems to be enough for me at the moment (its a bit overkill to be honest, but I got it cause the price was right, and I wanted my new home server to be quite future proof. And it is, AMD Phenom X4 9550, 4G ram, with room for 4G more, 780G mobo, 4x640G SATAII Seagete's in RAID5, all on a gigabit ethernet network).

I'll probably continue to use Seagates for the forseeable future. Especially now that their new Baracuda 7200.12 500Gb platter designs are out. 1TB drive with two platters. The throughput is amazing 125MiB/s per drive. Since the data density is much higher, a drive running at the same speed as others will transfer data much faster, and since theres only two platters, the drive runs with less power, generates less noise and makes less heat. An all around win-win.

The only other manufacturer (WD) with 500Gb platter drives went right to 2TB drives, but they are running at something like 5400rpm and don't even match performance with older 320Gb platter based drives. They probably use less power than the seagates though, but I can't be certain.

Melbosa · March 03, 2009, 02:52:30 AM

I am partial to Seagates as well, and I know they have fixed their issues that they have had lately, but even that fix does revive all. MemEx told me in the last 3 months, the 1TB Seagates are being returned 1/4 sold. I'd wait till May or June when it should be safe to get a drive not off the bad assemblies. For now WDs seem to be solid, but who really knows.