Which external HDD 500GB?

[sgmane]

Hi Folks,

Which external HDD to buy?
Can you please suggest? Iam looking into Seagate, Maxtor or WD. Do specify the model which i can buy. (I do see Seagate Free Agent/ "Maxtor OneTouch 4" offers 3-5 yrs of warranty.) (WD - can you give me any information?)
Or is there any other brand/quality that's good?

Any information on use of software and other features if any?

I will also plug it to media player (in later stage).

Thanks

 

[venkatcr]

Accell Frontline are the service agents for Seagate. The other day I went to their office to get my Belkin router exchanged for a new one. When I was there (for about 30 minutes) I saw something like 25 people walking in bringing their Seagate HDDs and asking for repair / replacement. Most of these guys were from computer shops and I guess they were there on behalf of their clients. There were already another 35 odd guys waiting to pick their units up. I am not sure what to make of this, but that number sounded alarming to me. I saw a few hundred HDDs placed on racks behind the counter all waiting to be delivered to the owners as replacement or after reformatting. Are we looking at high failure rates here?

I am also starting to get a little skeptical of external HDDs that do not have their own power supply. I am constantly getting 'Power surge on USB' warning from my machines.

I would expect someone who is familiar with the technology to chip in with some meanigful ideas.

Cheers

 

[Dushie]

Well WD is good, u can go for the same, segate and maxtor are one company now so does not make a difference. Performance and quality wise i will prefer WD today, as segate has has lot of issues with earlier firmware and its no surprise Venkat saw so many hdd coming in for replacement .

For the time being will be better to go for WD,

 

[sud98]

I have used Buffalo and bought a maxtor recently for my sis both are good devices.

Have got some very bad feedback about Seagate USB hard disks, but not sure of their external hdd?

I think buying USB hard disks make it slightly more convenient than external hard drives and make it worthwhile for the extra bucks.

 

[sgmane]

Hi,
@venkatcr - Thanks so much. That's a useful info.
@dushie - Thanks. Ok. I shall check and go for WD.
@sud98 - Thanks. BTW, the external HDD does not have usb port with it? Just want to confirm!!
When you say Seagate USB hard disk, you mean portable hard disks?

BTW, i saw this info from ebay
WD Home Edition (This includes Firewire - which is not required for me)
WD My Book Personal Edition
WD My Book Essential Edition

What about the other two above editions (not sure what they are)? Which should i go for? Can external HDD not be connected with usb port on the laptop? Even if i need an extrenal adaptor to plug in, thats fine. I will be using only for as a backup. So mostly will not have 24*7 for this. Will that not be ok to use this external HDD?
If you folks recommend portable better than external HDD, then i shall look into portable! Please specify the model number of the brand which i can buy.
(I specify ebay here because, i have a coupon which i can use the same).

 

[Sumit]

Hi!!

I have been using WD Passport for over 6 months now. No problems whatsoever. I can vouch for WD.

Portable USB HDD> Uses power from your computer.
External USB HDD> Needs an A/C 220 V supply and connects to your computer vide the USB port. These are cheaper and bulkier than Portable HDD's.

I am unbale to comment on the quality/stablity/life> differences b/w the above two as I have no experience with the latter.

Sumit.

 

[Dushie]

Hi,
@venkatcr - Thanks so much. That's a useful info.
@dushie - Thanks. Ok. I shall check and go for WD.
@sud98 - Thanks. BTW, the external HDD does not have usb port with it? Just want to confirm!!
When you say Seagate USB hard disk, you mean portable hard disks?

BTW, i saw this info from ebay
WD Home Edition (This includes Firewire - which is not required for me)
WD My Book Personal Edition
WD My Book Essential Edition

What about the other two above editions (not sure what they are)? Which should i go for? Can external HDD not be connected with usb port on the laptop? Even if i need an extrenal adaptor to plug in, thats fine. I will be using only for as a backup. So mostly will not have 24*7 for this. Will that not be ok to use this external HDD?
If you folks recommend portable better than external HDD, then i shall look into portable! Please specify the model number of the brand which i can buy.
(I specify ebay here because, i have a coupon which i can use the same).

1. . Please visit below link for details on modem number and brand for WD-

Portable Overview

2. Yes the external HDD can be connected to the usb port as Sumit has explained u can go for a self powered hdd or an external powered one.

Self powered will take power from USB port is 2.5" in size and is expensive.
external powered will take power from a separate adapter connected to it is 3.5" in size. Both these hdd connect to the Usb port and work.

 

[teky]

Problems with Seagate seems to be pick of bunch.

I know about 15 of my friends using various Seagate and they have never failed. I own 2 of them and one of them is been with me for past 3 years.

 

[prakasse]

Hi,

I am using maxtor one touch 500 GB external powered harddisk. So far i haven't face any problems. I got it for 3.6K with 5 yrs warranty.

I would recommend you to go for external powered HDD for its reliability and lower cost.

Thanks,
Prakash.

 

[rydhun]

+1 for Western Digital

Have been using 2 external WD HDDs, 1 for ~3 years & the other for 1+ year & haven't faced any problems. The older one came with an external power adapter, and another is the newer MyBook model (powered via USB).

You might find that 1TB HDDs are available at a slightly higher price than 500GB ones. But I would suggest that you still choose a model that doesn't require an external power adapter; most (if not all) 1TB ones do require an external power source.

IMO & experience: it's extremely inconvenient working with an externally-powered HDD due to space/wires etc. Plus, as you acquire more external HDDs in the future (unavoidable ), storage space will also become an issue.

Cheers!