Topic: current external HDs

[jagraham]

So I'm needing a new external HD.  There's a great deal on Newegg for 2TB WD My Book HDs(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136748).  $100 USD each after promo code.  I was excited and about to place an order, then I looked at the reviews.  Seems as if some are under the impression that quality on the WDs has gone down since the Thailand floods.  Someone in the reviews even suggested that Seagate is now the better bet.  I am now a little concerned to make this purchase, does anyone know of better strategies to obtain some new HDs?

[Gordon]

I trust WD way more than Seagate these days. That said I don't buy externals anymore.  Internals in a dock or enclosure is the way to go.

[Brian Skalinder]

There's some good advice in the a recent thread on the topic -- namely, buy the enclosure and HDD separately.  There also are some comments about RAID and NAS, too.  Thread here:  http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=159802.0

[Gordon]

oh and it should be noted that WD and Seagate are they ONLY hard drive manufacturer's left!  Seagate bought Samsung (LOVED their drives before the buy out, still have about 6 or 8 of them) and WD bought Hitachi.  so even if you buy a Samsung you're getting a Seagate, and if you buy a Hitachi you are getting a WD.

I used to swear by Seagate but those days are long gone.  their quality control has gone down the toilet.

[jagraham]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136471&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS050413&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS050413-_-EMC-050413-Index-_-ExternalHardDrives-_-22136471-L01B

^ anyone using this WD 2TB?

[achalsey]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136471&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS050413&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS050413-_-EMC-050413-Index-_-ExternalHardDrives-_-22136471-L01B

^ anyone using this WD 2TB?

I've got that one.  Had it for about a year without any problems.

[jagraham]

Cool thanks for the feedback, this got slightly better reviews than the My Book 2 TB that I mentioned originally.

[F.O.Bean]

I have a portable 500GB Seagate and I LOVE IT so far. It's going on 2.5 years old and has been rock solid so far. I'm sure it will DIE soon since I just praised it online

[morst]

I've got about 9 of the 3tb WD Essentials (not the Elements drive) and they work great (knock wood) - I have taken most of them apart to use in other cases, they've got the WD30EZRX inside, which is their top-performing greendrive, with 64 mb cache. They were cheaper in the external cases than to buy the raw drive. Problem might be warranty since I have taken them apart, but at $45/TB I can't complain too much.

[adrianf74]

I think all of the newer WD drives are a little more stable.  I had about 5 or 6 WD Greens (from when they first came out) and every single one of those ended up going in for an RMA at some point within its two year warranty.    I've since switched to Hitachi as their CoolSpin drives work well for me in an HTPC build/server I run (funny enough, HGST was bought by WD). 

I've heard bad things about the WD Red drives failing but the 2TB external mentioned seems stable from most people I know who run that one.

Drives are a hit and miss business.  I can't stress enough that people have AT LEAST two copies of the data they can't replace.

[H₂O]

Drives are complete crap shoot and have very little to do with the manufacturer

The are starting to get cheap again finally w/ 3tb going for under $100 on occasion, 2tb 3.5" or 1tb 2.5" going for under $75 and 1tb 3.5" going consistently under $60

A few weeks back 4tb drives where on sale for $129 w/o mail in rebate

SSD prices will hopefully keep pushing these costs even further down

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

SSD prices will hopefully keep pushing these costs even further down

Where is my 10tb SSD drive?!? 

Almost there...  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227797

Terry

[fleish]

SSD prices will hopefully keep pushing these costs even further down

Where is my 10tb SSD drive?!? 

Almost there...  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227797

Terry

Why stop there? http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/solidata-k8-1920e-2tb-ssd-review/

[cybergaloot]

There are two types of hard drives (& people), the dieing and the dead. That said, I work in IT and we take care of about 750 computers plus a dozen or so servers and I have to say hard drives are pretty reliable these days no matter if they are Seagate or WD. What kills them is heat or shock (G force). I have several externals to store my recordings but I do not let them just run 24/7 in an external enclosure. Those things tend to retain heat though you can buy some with fans and ventilation. Your best bet is to buy two at a time and duplicate the files. If you look around you can find 3TB drives for about $100 now. All that said, I would read the reviews just make sure there isn't a bad design that dies too quickly.