3 TB Seagate or 3TB Toshiba?

[Pinecallado]

Seagatenewegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844

Toshibanewegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149408

These are the cheapest 3tb hard drives available right now and I really need a new hard drive. I will be using this hard drive as my main hard drive.

The Toshiba seems to have a lot of lackluster reviews and only 3/5 eggs but the Seagate has a higher failure rate reported by this site.

http://blog.backblaze.com/2014/01/21/what-hard-drive-should-i-buy/

Which one should i buy?

 

[Tsavo]

Get the one with the highest failure rates. Also, bang it on your desktop a few times when you get it to align the heads.

 

[Elixer]

Which one should i buy?

Well, their sample size isn't the same, so...the best you can do is go with whatever, then you make backups.
That way, no matter which one you buy, you will always have a backup when (not if) the drive fails.

This chart is a bit better... but again, they don't have a big enough sample size for hitachi...

 

[Soulkeeper]

I own two of the seagate 3TB drives and havn't had a problem yet.
That being said, they are both 1TB/platter drives and according to http://rml527.blogspot.ca/2010/12/hdd-platter-database-toshiba-35.html "Hitachi was probably preparing to launch them as the Deskstar 7K3000.B series, but Toshiba received Hitachi's manufacturing and knowledge assets seemingly at the last second from WD."

I'd say both performance and reliability will be similar between the two.
Features are pretty much the same and even the warranty is the same.
They are both consumer oriented drives, so don't expect near zero failures from either.
Maybe flip a coin

 

[PliotronX]

This Toshy is the rebadged Hitachi HDS723030BLE640 and Hitachis have stellar reliability compared to Seagates.

 

[Charlie98]

Pick one. Flip a coin. Throw a dart. I have Seagates (they have been stellar,) and I have some older Hitachis (not really an apples to apples to the Toshiba, but they have been reliable if not a little noisy...) but I wouldn't hesitate to buy either one.

 

[Morbus]

I have seagates, internals and externals, and have never had a problem. Western Digital, on the other hand, I've seen the fail more than once or twice.

Mileage varies, that's how it is. I personally prefer seagate, but it's basically a moot point, unless you're working with more than a couple dozen hard drives, where these statistics start to matter. For end users it's basically irrelevant what you choose.

 

[ronbo613]

I have both of those drives, if I bought another, I'd go with Hitachi.

My new favorite storage drive is the Hitachi 4TB Coolspin. A 5400rpm drive that is faster than my WD RE4 7200rpm drives.

 

[lehtv]

I'm inclined to believe the Backblaze charts are publicity stunt garbage, based on Tweaktown's dissection.

I bought a couple 3TB drives a while ago, decided to go with the new WD Blacks. Amazon has them for $188. Perhaps that's too much (I didn't pay quite such a premium for them). But the 5 year warranty is definitely worth something.

Between Toshiba and Seagate, I really don't see any real reason to pick one over the other. Maybe support the underdog?

 

[NewYorksFinest]

My favorite is the Western Digital. They never fail on me and are quiet. I am going to incorporate them in my new builds.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I got 4 3TB Toshibas for a raid 10 array, 1 was DOA, got a RMA which is always a pain, but eventually got a replacement and all 4 are running fine now.

I think the Toshiba drives are basically Hitachis. They do have decent performance and are a great bang for the buck.

I'd buy the Toshiba over seagate any day. The WD blacks are good too.

Only way I'd use a Seagate is if I got them for really cheap and I'd just add them into my backup rotation. If one fails, not really a huge deal if there are plenty of other backup copies and live data available.

 

[master_shake_]

i run seagates and toshibas

i would go for toshibas.

 

[nk215]

I have bad experience with WD, I have 2 went bad on me (1 500Gig and 1 2TB). I like Samsung (too bad can't get them anymore).

My next will be Toshiba/Hitachi. I have a few Seagate HDs, while they work fine, they often be on the hot side.

I don't doubt Backblaze study has flaws however you can't dismiss the entire conclusion based on a few "issues".

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, their sample size isn't the same, so...the best you can do is go with whatever, then you make backups.
That way, no matter which one you buy, you will always have a backup when (not if) the drive fails.

This chart is a bit better... but again, they don't have a big enough sample size for hitachi...

Small sample sizes are covered under Student's T methods -- it doesn't make them useless, just less certain. For a binomial "P versus Q" statistic, we're talking about the accuracy of the statistic -- not its resulting value. But you can still do statistical testing with small samples -- a comparison of distributions.

I find this all very interesting though. I have decisions to make now and later about hard disk purchases. I've always been methodical and careful about choosing disks. I'd used Seagate, WD, "IBM-Hitachi," and Samsung. I'd been reasonably impressed with the SATA-II Samsung Spinpoint F3's. But every time the size spec changes, and every time the SATA spec changes, it's a different ball-game.

Am I correct in assuming now that Toshiba bought Hitachi?