The best External HDD to get?

[johnscott]

I've been through 2 external HDDs in the last year. My second hasn't failed, but it's making funny noises. I have tried cleaning the fan, but it is still not perfect. I'm getting wary that it will fail any minute... I'm getting sick and tired of the crap quality of these things. You spend that amount of money on something, you expect it to work perfectly for AT LEAST three years.

Just for notes:

1. I NEVER move it whilst it is switched on.
2. It is always standing up in its cradle.
3. I can feel and start to hear more loudly the disk spinning inside.
4. I have never taken the HDD out from underneath my desk. It has hardly been touched.
5. I switch it off approximately 3 or 4 times a week during the night, and it is mostly running in the day (it holds ALL of my 65GB of music on it)
6. I do nothing to it physically or otherwise - i.e. bump it or do things that would harm it in any way.

My question is why is it so shit? It shouldn't be that different from an internal one, and even if it is, it should not be bailing out after 9 months of use (3 of which it was switched off permanantly when I was travelling!)

It's really starting to piss me off.

Anyway, my question is, what is the best brand/engineered external HDD to buy? I am looking to get a 5ooGB one.

Thanks.

 

[Persian89]

Just make sure it has FireWire and _NOT_ USB
eSata is fine too
Seagate, Western Digital, Lacie.....

 

[thermodynamics]

Seagate or WD (personally more toward Seagate). I think LaCie is just overpriced. If you're hearing things, that's usually not a good sign. As for Firewire vs USB...if you've got Firewire, you'll want to use that. If not, well then don't.

 

[WYSIWYG]

Iomega makes some great external HDs. They are not the cheapest, but well worth the few extra $$s! I have an e-go, fits in my pocket when I need to take it with me. Their bigger HDs are just as good and very reliable.

Firewire is better than USB2, but it is usually available for macs only.

 

[andysayshi]

I like LaCie drives - have several, seldom a problem, good service if you need it.

 

[Paws]

1. Don't leave external drives running all day. Use them only for backup purposes and copy the files you need daily onto your internal one.

2. Get a case with a fan (which you did), I learned it the hard way.

3. Buy an empty case and a HD separately, those with HD included are often hard or impossible to open without losing the warranty in case the HD crashed and has to be rescued or replaced. LaCie or Iomega for example don't produce any HDs themselves, they take them from other companies (Seagate, Hitachi, Samsung, WD...) and just rebrand them by packing them into their cases. They often don't tell you the specs either, you might get a slow IDE drive inside.

4. If you don't really need 500MB, get a smaller external 2.5" HD without power supply and tell me if they're worth it

 

[johnscott]

I don't have a Mac, but a PC. I've seen this Seagate:

http://freeagent.seagate.com/en-us/hard-drive/desktop-hard-drive/Free-Agent.html#

Would you advise for that? The only capacity they offer is 640GB at $150.

Is this a reliable, good quality machine?

 

[Persian89]

I don't have a Mac, but a PC. I've seen this Seagate:

http://freeagent.seagate.com/en-us/hard-drive/desktop-hard-drive/Free-Agent.html#

Would you advise for that? The only capacity they offer is 640GB at $150.

Is this a reliable, good quality machine?

No.

No FireWire!
Well, I mean if your laptop doesn't have firewire I guess you could buy that.
But if you are on a regular computer, buy FireWire and a harddrive with FireWire.
USB Is crap when it comes to performance.
You'll be sodomizing yourself over how slow the transfers will be.

USB is ok for smaller more compact flash memory sticks, but not harddrive.
Atleast buy one with both usb and firewire =)
If you ever change computer or take it to a friends

 

[Persian89]

I TOTALLY agree with firewire.
If you don't HAVE a firewire port.....GET one.

Firewire = plug it in and it WORKS

USB = plug it in and you have to screw around with drivers and shit.....

and you MAC guys just keep quiet now.......

Mac Guy*...all alone

And really, Windows XP/Vista these days works okay with USB-drives without additional drivers, it's pretty much plug'n'play.

However...USB is SLOW and requires alot of system resources.... since (I think) It works master/slave.

Where FireWire is faster and doesn't eat much the computer's resources.

 

[hothunk222]

I need an external hdd myself for all that porn I've collected.

 

[johnscott]

OK, so the general consensus is that a FireWire will be best. However, I have a PC, so HOW do I get FireWire on my PC?

Also, could someone link me to a top harddrive at least 250GB and either Seagate or IOmega (which are the two that sound best). I also want a reasonable price...

Cheers.

 

[Persian89]

OK, so the general consensus is that a FireWire will be best. However, I have a PC, so HOW do I get FireWire on my PC?

Also, could someone link me to a top harddrive at least 250GB and either Seagate or IOmega (which are the two that sound best). I also want a reasonable price...

Cheers.

You sure you don't already got firewire?
If it's a stationary computer you can but firewire addons to plugin to your mainboar/motherboard/mobo...

 

[johnscott]

Yeah, unfortunately... The PC is not very new - I've been using it for about 4 to 5 years now.

In which case, a link to a top quality external HDD with USB would be much appreciated.

 

[Persian89]

Yeah, unfortunately... The PC is not very new - I've been using it for about 4 to 5 years now.

In which case, a link to a top quality external HDD with USB would be much appreciated.

Install a firewire port then, most mobo's support it.