Author Topic: Hard Drive Brand Debate (Read 5216 times)

theprophet · « **on:** February 24, 2010, 11:47:15 PM »

Ok I am just curious what everyone thinks about the hard drive brands that are out there? I am looking into some hard drives and I know a little about some of the hard drive brands as I have played with a few of their drives but not so much with others. I have it down to 2 different Brands that I am looking at.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136344 - Western Digital Caviar Drive

OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152202 - Samsung Spinpoint Drive

I have experience with WD and Seagates mostly. but never really messed with the Samsung drives much. The samsung seems to have a better review record but we know most people don't leave reviews if they are happy and everyone will leave if they are pissed off about them. So... What does everyone think of these two brands? Either one known for less drive failures? or for more reliability? I know each brand has their pros and their cons but the main thing I am interested in knowing is if they will last long or not.

I expect drives to fail but I would like to get something to last me at least 5 years?

Spanks · « **Reply #1 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:05:11 AM »

I thought buying a hard drive was simple. WD hard drives are the best in almost every way but are the most expensive. And if your not willing to pay the extra price then you get a Seagate or maybe a Samsung.

mgz · « **Reply #2 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:24:19 AM »

WD and Seagate(not their cheapest models though those are garbage apparently 10 or 20$ more makes a difference in their drives)

DaggerLite · « **Reply #3 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:37:41 AM »

Western Digital all tha way!

iindigo · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:47:16 AM »

I've used both Western Digital and Seagate drives. Both have performed about equally, but from personal experience, the WD drives are almost always quieter. The Seagate that I have sitting next to my computer in an external case is named "Tonkatsu" (pork cutlet in Japanese) for how noisy it is... On the other side sits my WD drive, which despite being in a thinner case than the Seagate's, is rarely if ever audible.

Spanks · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2010, 12:59:40 AM »

Only thing i care about is speed and all you have to do is look on toms hardware hdd charts and choose the most appropriate one from the top. WD black editions are always the fastest(and that raptor one) then Seagate 0.7-1.5gb comes in after that.

vuzedome · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2010, 01:03:58 AM »

WD, and I think its pretty obvious which brand the community favors.

theprophet · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2010, 01:32:33 AM »

I am seeing a trend towards the WD here lol. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with the WD drive that I have in there. I am just wondering. I have heard that WD is the fastest but how is their dependability and longevity?

I'm just leary when it comes to buyinng drives as I have heard alot about them dying alot faster now adays than the old days of yore.

Anyone know another place other than Newegg that has good deals on Hard Drives? I am trying to buy 4TB total, so either 2 2TBs, or 4 1TBs. I don't care but I think it might be better to buy 4 1TBs than 2 2TBs.. thoughts?

Thought possibly Getting 3 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136513 WD's

Xiong Chiamiov · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2010, 01:51:45 AM »

I have loyally purchased Seagates since I've first started buying hdds, and I've never had one fail on me. I've started getting WD Greens for storage, though, because they're cheap and run cool.

In my (admittedly, rather limited) experience, any of the big-name brands is fine; the particular drive matters much more. In particular, when any of them announces a new drive with larger storage capacity, it tends to die on people much more than I'm comfortable with. My general rule is to buy a capacity or two lower than the high point (better pricing there, anyways), and not get anything with less than 30 reviews and a 5-egg average on newegg.

Now, if you want to be extra-sure, you should buy drives from several different lots (or manufacturers, to be safe), so that if there is a defect common to all the drives from a certain factory, for instance, you'll only lose one drive, and be able to rebuild your RAID array with a fresh drive.

vuzedome · « **Reply #9 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:01:03 AM »

The only time one of my WD went kaput was when it was struck by a force that is stronger than a 8.0 magnitude earth quack.
All other connected WDs kept running fine, only this one particular one.

Lupin · « **Reply #10 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:11:23 AM »

Quote from: Xiong Chiamiov on February 25, 2010, 01:51:45 AM

I have loyally purchased Seagates since I've first started buying hdds, and I've never had one fail on me. I've started getting WD Greens for storage, though, because they're cheap and run cool.

WD Green is good for storage, consumes less power and runs cooler.

I too used to purchase Seagate (never had a failed drive from them) but ever since they released those faulty firmwares for their 1 - 1.5 TB drives, I've become wart of buying their drives.

namaiki · « **Reply #11 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:20:06 AM »

I've got a 2.5" 500GB WD that has a couple of bad sectors and a 2.5" 160GB Samsung that has similar. I haven't had very good experiences there, however a couple of my laptops came with Fujitsu drives which don't perform the best but appear to have been quite reliable.

Proin Drakenzol · « **Reply #12 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:34:41 AM »

WD and Seagate, duh.

Intel for SSDs.

nstgc · « **Reply #13 on:** February 25, 2010, 02:37:44 AM »

I've had terrible luck with WD. I switched to SG, but they had disappointed me several times. I now have a Spinpoint (Samsung) and love it. Its cool and quite. My old SG drives were cool and quite, but the newer ones seem loud and hot.

Next HDD I buy will be a Samsung.

fohfoh · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2010, 03:00:17 AM »

WD green are great. I don't have the 1.5TB one you were looking at, I have the 1TB one. VERY good.

I like WD better than Seagate. Main reason being Seagate are louder, that and brand I absolutely hate was bought by them. (Maxtor)

Samsung are pretty good. I'd probably put Fujitsu in 4th. For some odd reason, I don't really like hitachi.

But yes, hands down intel for SSD.

Jeuno · « **Reply #15 on:** February 25, 2010, 03:22:16 AM »

Honestly i'd rate them around the same for reliability (WD AND Samsung)

Its really hit or miss honestly its either DOA, or die early (if they die quickly they usually do within 3 weeks) but for the vast majority will last you as long as you keep them vented and not just stacked back to back and no airflow.

vlakner · « **Reply #16 on:** February 25, 2010, 03:59:45 AM »

WD all the way, though I have heard some good things about Samsung. Never buying another seagate, last 3 I bought died in under a year.

theprophet · « **Reply #17 on:** February 25, 2010, 04:31:23 AM »

I used to buy all seagate back in the day and they were always good and reliable, but the things I have heard about their new gen drives has made me leary of them to be honest. I am hearing alot about WD but I know there are people in every walk with a different opinion. Kinda why I started this thread to get the juices flowing trying to figure out what to do and what way to follow.

When I put them in a case they have their own fan on the hard drives usually with at least and inch between each drive so that usually run cool. I guess I am just being paranoid. What ways can I test to see if I have a failing drive? What can I run to keep an eye to make sure I don't have dying sectors when I get the HDDs in?

fohfoh · « **Reply #18 on:** February 25, 2010, 04:52:48 AM »

There's software that can be applied when coupled with the SMART functions.

You can get it to monitor and find out when a certain drive is in a "dangerous" state where it may require replacement even though it's no longer dead. Then you can spend 10 bucks or whatever to get an external house and use it as a portable aspect up until the drive itself dies.

Mag-X · « **Reply #19 on:** February 25, 2010, 05:51:12 AM »

I've always just bought whatever is cheapest at the time, and I've never had a problem.