External Hard Drive Reviews

[joreth]

I'm in the market for a 1T external hard drive.  I currently have a 500GB WD My Book, which was working just fine for a while, but has recently begun overheating.  I have to unplug it, let it cool off, then reboot the computer while simultaneously plugging it back in to get the computer to see the drive once it overheats.

And, because I'm poor, I never bought a backup system.

So I'm doing google searches to find reviews, but I'm having trouble finding any for the 1T size.  I have a coupon for another WD product, and the 1T My Book Pro Edition is currently on sale for $200.  But I'm cautious about purchasing another My Book.

I found one review (http://www.gcn.com/print/27_14/46462-1.html) that covered several different brands, and based on that one article, the Seagate FreeAgent Pro and SimpleTech Pro Drive sound pretty good.  They both have decent transfer speeds, good backup software, and go for just over $300.

I've also heard that Maxtor has a good reputation for decent hardware.

So, anyone want to chime in with their opinions and experiences, or links to reliable comparison reviews?  I'm concerned with cost, overheating issues, and backup capabilities.  Transfer speed is important, but less so than the 3 I just mentioned.  It might be inconvenient for something to take a long time to transfer, but if I have to sacrifice speed for not losing my data totally, I'll make that sacrifice.

Comments

[nimbus9.livejournal.com]

I bought an external case (this one to be exact http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817716051R ) and just bought the best-priced SATA hard drive. The drives slide right in and you can add and change drives very easily later. I prefer this solution to the hermetically sealed backup units.

Note while the hard drive is SATA, you transfer data at USB 2.0 speeds due to the connection.

[joreth]

I actually do have an external case for an internal drive. I used it to try and recover data from my old desktop when the motherboard died. How do they stand up to long-term regular use and overheating issues?

[nimbus9.livejournal.com]

I haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary. The case I use has very good ventililation and a strong fan. I have used cases with no fans and did not experience any issues. I since gave the hard drive and case away and to my knowledge, it still works. Bottom line is I try to get an enclosure with a fan just to be safe.

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

Best Buy (the first store that popped into mind) has on its webpage a "Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1 TB External USB 2.0 hard drive" for $227.99; the "USB 2.0/FireWire" version is $299.99.
Same manufacturer, "FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB External USB 2.0" is $229.99.

....dunno exactly what the differences are, other than how you attach them to the computer, but you may be pleasantly surprised at prices. (I priced terabyte drives about two or three weeks ago, and am astonished at the speed of the price drop - my first external drive was 10 megabytes for an IBM PC-XT, 25 or so years ago, and cost a lot more.)

I've found Consumer Reports' reviews to be reliable, but it requires a subscription.

Here (http://www.macworld.com/article/135770/2008/09/freeagentdesk.html?t=223) is a MacWorld review for Seagate FreeAgent hard disks. It's been a while since I used anything but Macs, though, and cannot say if it holds true for non-Mac FreeAgent drives. (The review's favorable, for what it's worth.)

[technomensch.livejournal.com]

One Word: Drobo

http://www.drobo.com/

[revmagus.livejournal.com]

Maxxtor used to be the most unreliable national brand available. They had a failure rate more than double any other brand. This was 4-5 years ago though, and these days they seem to have really turned things around, and now I see positive reviews of them everywhere.

[deeptape.livejournal.com]

How about two drives in one or more firewire case(s) set up in a RAID mirroring configuration?

[joreth]

I know nothing about RAID and I need something highly mobile (although I will deal with a drive that requires its own power source, simply because I want that much space and speed). This will be the primary storage for my laptop, which travels with me daily.

[jaigh-taylor.livejournal.com]

Tech For Less currently has a 1tb internal hitachi drive for $147.20. You might have to sign up for their mailing list to get the deal, but if you're still in the market, they're good people.

[joreth]

I am still in the market, but my external case for an internal drive has no fans on it and internal drives do not typically come with backup software or backup options, like externals do. This external drive would be my primary drive, so fans and backup options are at the top of my priority list, especially since one of the problems with my current external drive is overheating.

[jaigh-taylor.livejournal.com]

in that case I would suggest getting a little NAS box that supports raid.

[joreth]

Portability is also at the top of the list, as this drive will be for my laptop, which travels with me to work and back (all around the country).

I don't know anything about raid. What is it, how easy is it to learn, and how portable is it?

[jaigh-taylor.livejournal.com]

Raid is typically the practice of taking >two drives and configuring them to either mirror each other for performance and redundancy reasons.

If you're looking for a portable drive though, that would not be an appropriate solution.

[joreth]

So I'm still back to my original question, which is, which portable, external harddrive is the best?

[jaigh-taylor.livejournal.com]

I'd say cruise around on pricewatch and read reviews.

And just be aware that it's not if, but WHEN the disk will fail (because they all fail eventually!)