What Hard Drive should I get?

[IggyAZ]

I presenly have a 500 gig HD that I have partitioned C: and D: drives (approx 250gig & 250gig ).
I want to buy a new C: drive and use this 500 gig as a back and storage of old stuff.

At present time I'm only using about 20 gig out of 250gig available and probably won't use much more.

I'm looking for a good reliable 250-360 gig HD for my new C: Drive
SATA II and 3gig transfer rate.

Western Digital?
Seagate?
Hitachi?
or ?

What would you suggest?

Thanks

 

[Hopalong X]

I'm using two Western Digitals since early August with no troubles.

This is the main with OS. Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

With WD's go with the Caviar Black. Bigger cache twin mount for shaft instead of single.

No matter what brand go with a 7200RPM.

 

[whs]

You are an excellent candidate for a SSD. That would make your system a lot faster. Figure around $100 on a good sale (which happen frequently).

 

[pparks1]

Western Digital Caviar Black as they have a 5 year warranty. All things being equal, I'd rather have the longest warranty possible.

 

[smarteyeball]

or ?

Samsung F3/F4 Spinpoint

Or as Wolfgang suggested, a SSD for your OS drive and your current drive as your storage drive.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Don't sell yourself short on space either. The cost between a 250 GB and one much larger is only a few bucks. You'll get a much faster drive, and a good warranty.

For mechanical drives, I'm partial to the WD Black drives as well. I am running a 500 GB and a 750 GB in my main system right now.

 

[IggyAZ]

I presenly have a 500 gig HD that I have partitioned C: and D: drives (approx 250gig & 250gig ).
I want to buy a new C: drive and use this 500 gig as a back and storage of old stuff.

At present time I'm only using about 20 gig out of 250gig available and probably won't use much more.

I'm looking for a good reliable 250-360 gig HD for my new C: Drive
SATA II and 3gig transfer rate.

Western Digital?
Seagate?
Hitachi?
or ?

What would you suggest?

Thanks

SSD may be a good choice on my new system build but now I must still think rotating types

I have been looking around and found a nice Western Digital
320 Gig
7200 RPM
16 meg memory
3 Gb tranfer rate
WD3200AAKS

I also saw a similiar one
WD3200AAJS which has 8 meg memory but all the rest are the same

$45-$50

 

[pparks1]

$39.99 for a Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB at NewEgg right now with free shipping to boot.
Newegg.com - Daily Deals on Computer Parts, Laptop Computers, Electronics, Digital Cameras, Unlocked Cell Phones and more!

 

[Sardonicus]

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ

 

[sreedhav]

I'm using two Western Digitals since early August with no troubles.

This is the main with OS. Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

With WD's go with the Caviar Black. Bigger cache twin mount for shaft instead of single.

No matter what brand go with a 7200RPM.

Dear Hopalong X,
I have two queries for you.

1) Why is Seagate not mentioned at all in this thread?

2) Will there be an advantage if for an Internal WD,we elect to buy the WD (B.Caviar) Extn.HD(as regards compatibility or is it not an issue at all?)?

You dig AC/DC?---->BIB
Warm regards,
Sreedhav.

 

[Phone Man]

The smallest WD Caviar Black drive is 500GB. The blacks have 32MB memory cache and 5 yr warranty. Here are two from Newegg with $5 difference in price for the 650GB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007603%2050001306%20600003459%20600003340%20600003338&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=14|22-136-319^22-136-319-TS%2C22-136-320^22-136-320-TS

Jim

 

[IggyAZ]

Thanks for your inputs and ideas.
It is very interesting that no matter what drive you look at on Newegg or other places many receive a failed drive. (DOD)
I have never in my 30 years in computers had any HD fail on me.
I just wonder if these folks that write their opinions are just no doing something right on install.

It is very interesting no one has mentioned a Seagate drive.
Not sure which way I want to go yet so I will keepwatching what you all suggest and use as well as good deals around.
Thanks

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Seagate was typically among the top 2 recommendations 3 or 4 years ago, but got a bit of bad publicity with a particular drive series (7200.10? 7200.11?, I can't recall). Samsung has generally moved up in the last 3 years or so. In my experience, Samsungs run 3 or 4 degrees cooler than the competition. I haven't checked speed reports recently--2 years ago or so, Samsungs weren't the fastest but still had adherents because they were usually cheaper, usually cooler, and often as quiet as the competition. I think the latest Samsungs do better on speed tests than earlier models.

Reliability has always been the most important factor for me, but reliable data on that is very difficult to come by. All you have is anecdotes and the web is full of horror stories about all brands.

Google conducted an extensive report on the thousands of hard drives they use several years ago.

Get it here: Google publishes hard drive failure study - The Tech Report

I haven't read it lately. As I recall it did not name brand names, but did cast doubt on several long-held notions regarding when and why drives fail. I think the "bathtub curve" is still intact, though.

 

[1Bowtie]

I have 3 WD Caviar Black in my comp now, 32mb cache and 5 year warranty (which i don't think anyone else is willing to give) are the biggest plus's. Reliability is the next factor, and personally i don't buy barebones drives, they may be just as good but i'll pay a few dollars more and stay with the retail box.

 

[Phone Man]

Thanks for your inputs and ideas.
It is very interesting that no matter what drive you look at on Newegg or other places many receive a failed drive. (DOD)
I have never in my 30 years in computers had any HD fail on me.
I just wonder if these folks that write their opinions are just no doing something right on install.

It is very interesting no one has mentioned a Seagate drive.
Not sure which way I want to go yet so I will keepwatching what you all suggest and use as well as good deals around.
Thanks

The problem with Newegg is the packaging. They sell bulk drives and are stuck in a box with a little bubble wrap. A retail boxed drive has a lot better packaging. That's why they have good pricing. I remember years ago the bulk drives were only warrantied by the vendor and the manufacture only honored returns from the vendor and not the customer. The bulk drives were not meant for resale but were for the vendor to use them to build systems.That has changed and we benefit from it in the pricing although the packaging is worst.

Jim

 

[Hopalong X]

Retail box might include cables.

I ordered mine OEM from Newegg and they add a lot of bubble wrap when shipping them so they arrive safe.

Cables are like $5-6 for both power and data if you don't have what you already need. You don't need fancy expensive cables.