RELIABLE 400+ gig external drive

[fncll]

I tried to search on this topic but kept getting told I was using words that aren't allowed, so here goes:

I am looking for a good 400+ (500 preferred) external USB (dual with Firewire is a +, but not necessary) hard drive for use with WinXP and Vista. By "good" I don't mean it has to be the fastest drive, but it needs to be reasonably sturdy and reliable. Generally the drive will just be going between home and office(s), but occasionally it will go on the plane, etc.

No matter what brand and drive I look at, there always seems to be a vocal contingent sharing their stories of how they've owned a dozen of them and they all started failing within the first few months.

I've been using Lacie D2s for a bit over a year and am inclined to go that way, but there is a loud group telling me that I am just entering the time when Lacies start dying in large numbers...

 

[Harvey]

Get whatever internal PATA or SATA drive you believe is most reliable and a separate box to hold it and output your choice of Firewire or USB.

 

[0roo0roo]

all externals are still based on internal drives. they are no more reliable.
google the google harddrive study. drive failure is crazy. trust no single drive with your data ever
http://www.dansdata.com/gz075.htm

 

[JackMDS]

Welcome to AT's Hardware Forums.

You kind of mixing terminology.

I do not think that LaCie makes OEM Hard Drives.

They probably design the enclsure and put OEM drive into it.

So if you pleased with a LaCie combo keep buying it.

Otherwise, (at the moment) the "Crowd" seems to go with WD.

Why I say at the moment?

Because it takes time to establish HD failures. In a year or two, we would know the real reliability and the difference between currently released new drives.

 

[Soundmanred]

I use two external drives, both Seagates. One is the 320GB and the other is the 750GB. I've had the 320 for two years and the 750 for 7 months and both perform flawlessly.
(FYI, I use them both on a daily basis between home and work.)

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Get whatever internal PATA or SATA drive you believe is most reliable and a separate box to hold it and output your choice of Firewire or USB.

There's your answer, and buy a decent external case. If you're going to be using it for extended periods of time, get something with active cooling.

Do you consider it a good sign when LaCie d2s have a 1 year warranty? :roll: Many of those "quality" units come with refurbished drives.

 

[fncll]

So is there any data regarding drives that have been out for 1-2 years already? Going with an enclosure and putting whatever I think is good in it sounds great except for the "what I think is good" part of the equation. I'm trying to avoid going with my gut, which has been sickened in past years by traumatic, spontaneous failures of WD and Seagate drives alike. That's why I seek more rational or at least statistical info

Apparently my good experience with Lacie drives (or whatever drive units mine happen to have, I honestly don't know) is atypical.

(and no, I don't rely on a single drive, but that only slightly lessens the incredible frustration of having a drive die, particularly if it happens while I am out on the road and my backups are not easily accessible)

 

[Roguestar]

Most of it is anecdotal evidence anyway. Everyone will have bad HD batches. The most commonly praised brands are Western Digital and Seagate but like Harvey said in the first reply, just get one of their drives and slap it in an enclosure.

 

[sheltem]

Buy a Seagate Free Agent Pro. They come in 500 gig and 750 gig configurations. The aluminum chassis acts as a heatsink so there is no cooling fan. In addition the Free Agent Pro goes into low power mode when not in use and it shuts itself off when your computer is off. As long as your room isn't scorching hot, then your harddrive will remain cool. Power management is iffy when you are mixing different external enclosures and internal harddrives. You take power management for granted since your internal harddrives are normally managed by motherboard/Windows power policies.

 

[Shadow Conception]

I have a 500GB Western Digital external USB drive, bought at around $100 two weeks ago. It's served me well so far, but that's not saying much anyway since it's only 2 weeks.

 

[jkresh]

I have a 250gig maxtor (for about 2 years) and a 500gig wd (just over a year), both have performed well for the most part (though I have had a few occasions when they disappear from the system and I need to unplug their power supplies for a few minutes, but they are on 24/7 and probably need better cooling for that kind of use). Regardless of what drive you get you should keep backups or a second drive (maybe get one of the two drive raid 1 externals) as externals always have a higher failure rate then internals (cooling is not as good, they are exposed to more movement...)

 

[elcamino74ss]

we use the wd my books here and ship them around for use in forensic data acquisitions and so far have had good luck with them.