Author Topic: Western Digital or Seagate (Read 13090 times)

Dhruv · « **on:** July 16, 2012, 03:58:02 AM »

I plan on buying another External Hard Disk Drive in 2-3 months or so when my current Hard Disk space Runs out(estimated)
i wanna buy 2 TB or 3 TB or 4 TB depending upon what is the least cost per TB
So from which company should i buy? WD or Seagate? Please Give reasons to support your answers
I may also seed from it for 10-12 hrs a day
I currently have a 2 TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk and it's USB 2.0 but up-gradable to USB 3.0

Copperstone · « **Reply #1 on:** July 16, 2012, 04:32:43 AM »

I have a WD 250GB external, which is almost 7 years old. I used to seed from it regularly for about 2 years. The HDD had no issues or speed problems whatsoever. It was an amazing experience!

Then about 5 years ago, I bought a Maxtor 1TB. This is a beast of a HDD, consistent blazing fast transfer speeds even now, after 5 years! I seed from it without any problems. I usually keep it connected to my lappy for days. I just replaced my power adapter this year.
If am not mistaken, WD gives a 5 year warranty. But Seagate and Maxtor (both are same, Seagate owns Maxtor) gives 2 year warranty. Choosing HDDs is upto you, both are pretty decent. IMO, go for the WD.

Note: My HDDs are USB 2.0

Here's a link to help you out:

(click to show/hide)

Pentium100 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 16, 2012, 04:54:13 AM »

WD RE4 are probably the best SATA drives, with Seagate Constellation ES very close. I do not know about the consumer-grade drives, but if I had to buy one now, I'd buy WD Black.

Also, I have a lot of old drives, mainly Seagate, but that does not say anything about the reliability of drives made in 2012, just that some years ago Seagate made great drives.

halfelite · « **Reply #3 on:** July 16, 2012, 04:56:59 AM »

I have always had great luck with seagate and so so luck with WD. I currently run 25+ seagate drives at home. I dont think there is ever a clear winner this is a topic that will go back and fourth for days. both companies have had there ups and downs. Some swear by WD others swear by seagate there is no way for someone to tell you how the drive will perform in your system/setup/environment. So its kinda trial and error to each user.

Has your seagate you run now given you any trouble to doubt buying another? If it has try a wd if not why not get another seagate

Dhruv · « **Reply #4 on:** July 16, 2012, 05:14:49 AM »

Quote from: Pentium100 on July 16, 2012, 04:54:13 AM

WD RE4 are probably the best SATA drives, with Seagate Constellation ES very close. I do not know about the consumer-grade drives, but if I had to buy one now, I'd buy WD Black.

Also, I have a lot of old drives, mainly Seagate, but that does not say anything about the reliability of drives made in 2012, just that some years ago Seagate made great drives.

Can you compare the 3 drives you mentioned?
i looked up the cost and Black seems to be the costliest out of 3
And how does mine compare to these 3....i dunno if mine SATA or not
and are the drives useful for the purposes i want them for?
I also looked up another Hard Disk 'WD My Book' How good is that?

Copperstone · « **Reply #5 on:** July 16, 2012, 05:48:26 AM »

Most of the drives now, since the last 4-5 years are SATA. The IDE HDDs are no longer available. The 7200rpm SATA HDDs are the cheaper ones. The WD Black must be the 10000rpm SATA. Those have faster read/write speeds and much more stable than the 7200rpm counterpart.

Dhruv · « **Reply #6 on:** July 16, 2012, 06:03:46 AM »

Quote from: Copperstone on July 16, 2012, 05:48:26 AM

Most of the drives now, since the last 4-5 years are SATA. The IDE HDDs are no longer available. The 7200rpm SATA HDDs are the cheaper ones. The WD Black must be the 10000rpm SATA. Those have faster read/write speeds and much more stable than the 7200rpm counterpart.

Yup googled all this
I read in another thread that WD Black are the best drives
But my Seagate which i have right now is 5400rpm
Looked up Black it's 7200rpm only
http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=760
i want a 2TB or 3 TB so i might consider black as it has max. 2 TB capacity
There isn't a whole lot of variety to choose from over here as they have fairly limited commonly demanded hard disks in stock
so what they have is WD My book and Seagate FreeAgent Goflex and Seagate Expansion
so somebody give me definite answer on what to do

Freedom Kira · « **Reply #7 on:** July 16, 2012, 06:23:39 AM »

Get a WD. Seagate's >1TB drives don't have the greatest reputation.

Copperstone · « **Reply #8 on:** July 16, 2012, 06:33:15 AM »

Your obviously going for the USB 3.0 right?! I hope you have the new motherboards which support that.

Dhruv · « **Reply #9 on:** July 16, 2012, 06:45:06 AM »

Quote from: Freedom Kira on July 16, 2012, 06:23:39 AM

Get a WD. Seagate's >1TB drives don't have the greatest reputation.

I listed some of the available WD drives in my previous posts
Please tell me which one and why is it better than other WD drives

Quote from: Copperstone on July 16, 2012, 06:33:15 AM

Your obviously going for the USB 3.0 right?! I hope you have the new motherboards which support that.

My laptop is HP Elitebook 8530p.... i dunno if it supports USB 3.0

Copperstone · « **Reply #10 on:** July 16, 2012, 07:23:25 AM »

Quote from: Dhruv on July 16, 2012, 06:45:06 AM

My laptop is HP Elitebook 8530p.... i dunno if it supports USB 3.0

No, am afraid it doesn't have a USB 3.0. But it does have an eSATA port!

Try checking out the eSATA HDDs. Read more:
http://suite101.com/article/esata-hard-drive-pros-and-cons-a94955

Dhruv · « **Reply #11 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:25:24 AM »

Quote from: Copperstone on July 16, 2012, 07:23:25 AM

No, am afraid it doesn't have a USB 3.0. But it does have an eSATA port!
Try checking out the eSATA HDDs. Read more:
http://suite101.com/article/esata-hard-drive-pros-and-cons-a94955

Do you have USB 3.0?
and i only found 1 Hard Disk of WD which has eSATA
http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=210
But it's not at all cost effective...
Now i am in a Fix...i called up a store and they told me that i can get 3 TB WD My Book Essentials for Rs. 10400(i.e USD 200) in 2-3 days... i don't want it right now

and maybe the cost will increase later on... What to do?!

rostheferret · « **Reply #12 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:40:38 AM »

I use a WD 2TB (elements) which is a little bulky, requires an external power supply, and is built like a god-damn brick. It's been thrown down stairs without a dent on the casing. My dad has a smaller 1TB HDD (Passport) and, well he doesn't exactly carry it around hospitable conditions. It's been covered in oil, caught in machinery, been vibrated for extended periods of time, survived 40C heat and freezing cold; it's survived where a laptop and two eReaders have gone kaput. For ~2 years. Western Digital's Black drives are expensive but if durability is the intention, I don't think there's a better choice. If we were talking about a RAID setup then I'd say just go for the cheaper option but, as was mentioned, Seagates don't exactly have the best reputation.

If it helps, when my HDD runs out of space I'm just gonna build a server

Copperstone · « **Reply #13 on:** July 16, 2012, 09:04:28 AM »

Quote from: Dhruv on July 16, 2012, 08:25:24 AM

Quote from: Copperstone on July 16, 2012, 07:23:25 AM
No, am afraid it doesn't have a USB 3.0. But it does have an eSATA port!
Try checking out the eSATA HDDs. Read more:
http://suite101.com/article/esata-hard-drive-pros-and-cons-a94955
Do you have USB 3.0?
and i only found 1 Hard Disk of WD which has eSATA
http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=210
But it's not at all cost effective...
Now i am in a Fix...i called up a store and they told me that i can get 3 TB WD My Book Essentials for Rs. 10400(i.e USD 200) in 2-3 days... i don't want it right now
and maybe the cost will increase later on... What to do?!

No, the price WILL reduce afterwards. It can not increase. So waiting is a good option.

vuzedome · « **Reply #14 on:** July 16, 2012, 12:55:24 PM »

I don't want to be rude but....

Freedom Kira · « **Reply #15 on:** July 16, 2012, 03:40:14 PM »

Quote from: Dhruv on July 16, 2012, 06:45:06 AM

I listed some of the available WD drives in my previous posts
Please tell me which one and why is it better than other WD drives

Can't really help there, unfortunately. I rarely buy externals so I can't provide any reliable feedback about them. In fact, I've only ever purchased one external drive (excluding the internal drive I put into an external enclosure).

Dhruv · « **Reply #16 on:** July 16, 2012, 03:46:40 PM »

Quote from: vuzedome on July 16, 2012, 12:55:24 PM

I don't want to be rude but....

Atleast give your opinion then if you know about it

It seems almost everyone prefers WD over Seagate

Pentium100 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2012, 07:55:00 PM »

Quote from: Copperstone on July 16, 2012, 05:48:26 AM

Most of the drives now, since the last 4-5 years are SATA. The IDE HDDs are no longer available. The 7200rpm SATA HDDs are the cheaper ones. The WD Black must be the 10000rpm SATA. Those have faster read/write speeds and much more stable than the 7200rpm counterpart.

Do not forget SAS. While a SAS controller can work with a SATA drive, a SATA controller cannot work with a SAS drive. New 15kRPM drives are all SAS.

AFAIK, WD Black is 7200RPM, SATA 10kRPM WD drives are called Raptor or Velociraptor.

Dhruv · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:07:27 PM »

Quote from: Pentium100 on July 16, 2012, 07:55:00 PM

Quote from: Copperstone on July 16, 2012, 05:48:26 AM
Most of the drives now, since the last 4-5 years are SATA. The IDE HDDs are no longer available. The 7200rpm SATA HDDs are the cheaper ones. The WD Black must be the 10000rpm SATA. Those have faster read/write speeds and much more stable than the 7200rpm counterpart.
Do not forget SAS. While a SAS controller can work with a SATA drive, a SATA controller cannot work with a SAS drive. New 15kRPM drives are all SAS.

AFAIK, WD Black is 7200RPM, SATA 10kRPM WD drives are called Raptor or Velociraptor.

Yup i looked up Velociraptor too
It has a limited capacity less than what i need so i am not thinking about it
most likely i'll buy WD my book essentials

Triltaison · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:56:12 PM »

I got a brand-new Seagate 1.5 TB about three years ago for my birthday. It failed less than four months after I got it (well within warranty), but their customer service required you to pay to contact them and wanted me to pay something stupid-expensive like $100 to ship it to them and for the shipping of a new drive to me. They were also rather rude and I pretty much got the feeling he just wanted to say "tough titties" and hang up on me. The issue was never resolved by them because they strung out contact by not responding to emails or calls until the warranty period expired, in which case they told me there was nothing they could do because the warranty expired. A coworker of my dad's is the one who replaced the faulty drive in the old shell for me, or else I'd still have a bum drive. I was really, really unhappy with their lack of customer courtesy and don't plan to ever buy from them again.

I don't know if their policies have changed since then, but their official customer support forums were full of similar problems at the time that also were ignored. Maybe it's an isolated event, but it was a REALLY unpleasant experience for me. So, ANYTHING is better than Seagate to me.