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General discussion

Reliable External HD Recomendations???

Feb 15, 2005 10:55AM PST

I've been doing some research here at CNET looking for a good, reliable external hard drive for my laptop (probably something 100GB or larger depending on how good of a $/GB price I can get). I have been shocked at how many user reviews of the various hard drives have described complete and frequent drive failures and data loss.

Can anyone make any recommendations for a reliable drive? WHat manufacturers have reputations for quality products and good (decent??) customer service?

Discussion is locked

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Maxtor is reliable - if nothing conflicts with it
Feb 17, 2005 7:22PM PST

Like most folks, I too have experienced meltdowns with my external drive. I have a 160GB Maxtor which is super fast and was a good $. Everything was great for about 3 months and then BLAM! After 3 failures (approx. once per month) and much screaming i exchanged the unit. Turns out that the new one was doing the same thing (2 failures in 2 months). I decided that Maxtor would be out of business if the quality was really this bad, so i started playing with my system/programs looking for other potential causes. I had been using Diskeeper to partition and defrag the drive, so on a whim I switched to Norton's PartitionMagic and Systemworks (using Speed Disk to defrag) and have never had a problem again. 3 years and counting.

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No to IOGEAR; Seagate and put in enclosure?
Feb 17, 2005 8:20PM PST

My IOGEAR failed while it was turned off (unplugged) and we were on vacation. Worked before we left, could see but not access it when we returned. They did replace it.

I think I would purchase a Seagate hard drive and put it in an enclosure.

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Hard Drive
May 27, 2006 8:39PM PDT

It may be that it's not just getting enough power from your computer, especially when youre using a laptop. 'Coz as you can see laptop's are just powered using a high quality of batteries.

You can either try using a diff. usb cable, power adapter or you can try using a desktop to be able to check if its able to detect the hard-drive properly.

Seagate's are compatible to work w/ the IOGEAR hard-drive enclosure w/ no problems.

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Maxtor
Feb 17, 2005 8:34PM PST

I put a Maxtor 250GB HD inside of a fanless aluminum external enclosure. I already had Retrospect PRO software for backups and recovery. For a little over 0.50 cents per GB, I made my own functional External HD. Works great!

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Lacie the best
Feb 17, 2005 8:59PM PST

In 2003, I bought 2 Lacie 120GB external firewire HD. I use them on 3 computers. In a word, they are flawless and rugged too.

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HD + enclosure
Feb 17, 2005 9:17PM PST

If you're looking for convenience, you can pick up a 2.5" (laptop) hard drive and USB 2.0 enclosure for a reasonable price. I think they're limited to 80 Gig but my 30 gig Fujitsu and Smart Drive enclosure has worked great, and the transfer speeds are excellent.

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I agree
Feb 18, 2005 1:38AM PST

I too agree you can build your own. You can get larger hard drive enclosures and put full size IDE drives into them up to 300gig mabey more buy now.

I have made my own with a USB 2.0 inclosure with a western digital 120 gig hard drive and it works quite fine and fast.

Thanks to newegg.com cost me less then $120. Myself I have had extremely good luck with western digital internal drives as I currently own 10 of them ranging from 2gb, 2-4gb, 1-10gb, 2-40gb, 3-80gb, 1 120gb.

Best thing about custom one is you can choose your own favorite hd brand.

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I agree with I agree
Feb 18, 2005 3:51AM PST

Western D's for 13 years, then bought a Maxtor which crashed out in 9 mos. Back to WD's. Best buy right now is at Sam's Club...160GB for 79.95. Go to newegg.com for an ALUMINUM enclosure...NOT PLASTIC.
About $35-40.00

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...but
Feb 19, 2005 10:54PM PST

WD internal harddrives.... they used to have a 3 year warranty but now just 1 year; if you pay 14.95 then you get the extra 2 years

I have WD, Maxtor Seagate internal drives. WD and Maxtor external drives. Been using puters for over 20 years. Beta tester for software for over 5 years. NOT a typical user; homebound disabled veteran that used to beat up my boxes 18 hours a day everyday. My MS has gotten worse so my habits changed.

NEVER had a harddrive fail until my external 300 GB Maxtor died then in a few months (on a different box) a internal Maxtor died.

There are a few articles on Cnet on harddrives.

Drives are dirt cheap on and off-line. Office Max, Costco, Best Buy, Newegg ect... DVD burners are dirt cheap. DVD-Rs they are almost giving them away. CD-Rs they keep on giving them way; I have around 1000 that I got free after rebate.

Randy randy@lockergnome.com

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Reliable external hard drive.
Feb 18, 2005 12:17AM PST

I have recently installed a Western Digital hard drive with 160 Mg from Retrospect. It seem to work just fine on the schedule I have set up for back up.

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Say no to Western Digital, yes to Seagate so far
Feb 18, 2005 12:58AM PST

After two failed drives in less than one year, I'm not recommending Western Digital external drives for reliability. After much research I went with Seagate for better heat dissipation and customer support. Always backup those important files on CD!

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External HD
Feb 19, 2005 10:22AM PST

I use a Maxtor 120 external HD. It sits a long side of my comp. on the same shelf. No heat problems.

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Reliable External HD Recomendations
Feb 18, 2005 1:16AM PST

A mentor/friend of mine directed me towards a Western Digital external drive and I picked up a 180GB on ebay for $135. Mine came with a firewire cable, so I had to pick up a board for it as well. The board I got with a trade through a private party but they run I think around $50 or so depending.

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DIY
Feb 18, 2005 7:01AM PST

I'd recommend getting an external hard drive case (something I picked up for $25 on Ebay for example) and then having your pick of the hard drive capacity and brand. They're easy to assemble and very flexible.

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Please help
Feb 28, 2005 10:16PM PST

Could you tell me how to DIY a external hard drive? Is it if I purchase a enclosure it will have instruction on it? Please help. Thanks a lot

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It's not as simple as a clothes washer.
Feb 28, 2005 11:54PM PST

That is, the instructions are sparse and may not tell you how to partition and format it. The reason is simple. All those instructions cost money and time to add to the product. The feeling is that if you were to buy a case, your skills are such to make it work.

Bob

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Remember 12-month warranty
Feb 18, 2005 11:45PM PST

...if the drive dies at month 13 you are SOL. I have a nice Maxtor drive that I paid over $ 300. Drive died at month 15. Tech support laughed at me. Now I have a nice $ 300 doorstop. Your best would be burn to CD or DVD. I have around 1000 CD-Rs that I got free after rebates. DVD-Rs they are almost giving away. DVD+Rs cost a little bit. The DVD DLs are still expensive. I have external harddrives, CD burners, DVD burners, and one DVD DL burner. After loosing 100s of GB using external harddrives I now use CD-R or DVDs to backup my data.

REMEMBER 12 month warranty. WD switched to 12 month warranty on their internal harddrives. Do lots of research before you make a choice. LOTS, unless you have a few hundred dollars to throw away.

Randy randy@lockergnome.com

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Removable
Feb 19, 2005 12:04AM PST

I just recently started using an External hard drive case(Aluminum from Masscool,USB 2.0 and firewire) with My laptop. I have four 120 GB HDD (2 western,2 maxtor)and Three 80GB (1 Maxtor and 2 Seagates) from older desktop systems which used a Genica GN210 Removable bay. Now the bay didn't fit perfectly but with some adhesive pads to make up a space difference the External drive bay now swaps out Seven Different HDD. I would like to hot swap but with the rig-up I'm sure it would work yet so for now I shut the External off to Switch.

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Reliable External HD Recomendations???
Feb 19, 2005 3:27AM PST

My first recommendation is to do your homework on the vendor's reputation. An advertised warranty is one thing, but the actual service you receive in the event of trouble, is another.
In my personal experience, most hard drives, regardless of the manufacturer, are fairly reliable for an average of five years. I have found it is the enclosures that generally tend to fail sooner, generally because of heat build-up.
On my home network, I have been using a 3+ TB combination of Maxtor, Seagate & Western Digital, most of them 250GB, and have placed them in various makes of enclosures. I have found the 3.25/5.25" combo enclosures (plastic covers/aluminum liners) with fans have given me no problems, running them 24/7 for almost two years. When I'm using my laptop, I have been using two 3.25" all-aluminum cases with 250GB and they have held up well for over a year, using them part-time. IMHO, heat dissipation is the key to longer life.
From a pricing standpoint in general, pre-made externals are more expensive than buying the components separately. Also, the larger the HD, the better chance of a lower price per GB. The 2.5" enclosures are certainly cheaper, but the cost of the hard drives is generally much higher than the 3.25" hard drives, per GB. Of course, buying in bulk can help reduce your per-unit cost, too.
I can neither endorse nor slam any specific make, because there is always the possibilty of a lemon from any source. Again, do some research by reading reviews on the vendors and products you are seeking. Good luck!

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Fairly inexpensive laptop external HD...
Feb 19, 2005 2:37PM PST

CompUSA has two (2) external 2.5" HD enclosures ranging from $20 - $25. Each is USB 2.0 and is powered by the USB port. Very portable. If you don't have an existing drive to install, then you might want to check the Seagate 100gig 2.5 laptop drive. I know that it's about $200 at Best Buy. That would give you a truly portable external drive for around $225.

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Reliable External HD Recomendations
Feb 21, 2005 9:09AM PST

In your research look at Ximeta Netdisk.. USB or "Network" attachable drive. Reasonable price tag, very good performance and reliable. Best feature is access from "ALL" PC's on your home Lan.

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Toshiba 40 gig notebook hd
Feb 22, 2005 5:14AM PST

I bought a 40 gig toshiba notebook hd with 16mb of cashe memory and a usb 2.0 external aluminum enclosure and it works flawlessly.
-andrew