Maxtor vs. Western Digital vs. Seagate

[big4x4]

If all the drives were the same amount of money, what drive manufacturer would you choose? I asked a guy at best buy and he said he would pick the maxtor if that means anything. He said something about how seagate's "slow down after they have a lot of data on them". Is that true? I thought I heard Seagate was the best though?!?!

Also, what is the difference between ata 100 and ata 133?

 

[w00t]

seagate longer warranty. i like them better too. i think ata 133 is just faster. you wouldnt listen to the guys at best buy they are bad.

 

[Super6]

ATA133 is just the current high standard for ATA drives. Maxtor started using it first with their drives but it's a marketing gimmick as no current ATA drives exceed ATA100 speeds.

I've had Maxtor and IBM (before Hitachi and current generation drives) drives fail on me. No problems with Western Digital or Seagate. These days I prefer Seagate as they perform on par with the others, they're very quiet, and have a five year warranty which speaks volumes.

Super6

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Super6
ATA133 is just the current high standard for ATA drives. Maxtor started using it first with their drives but it's a marketing gimmick as no current ATA drives exceed ATA100 speeds.

I've had Maxtor and IBM (before Hitachi and current generation drives) drives fail on me. No problems with Western Digital or Seagate. These days I prefer Seagate as they perform on par with the others, they're very quiet, and have a five year warranty which speaks volumes.

Super6

couldnt of said it better.

 

[Steven the Leech]

seagate longer warranty

 

[V00D00]

Originally posted by: Steven the Leech
seagate longer warranty

Yep, I know for sure it's going to be the next brand for my drives.


All hard drives slow down after there's a lot of crap on them. It's called fragmentation, and it's when the files get all split up all over the drive, so it takes a while for it to move the read head to all the different parts. There's a defragmenting program that comes with windows though, you can right click on a hard drive in my computer, go to properties, click on the Tools tab, and there you go; Defragmentation.

 

[Algere]

If all the drives were the same amount of money, what drive manufacturer would you choose?

Seagate due to 5 year warranty. Personally I've never had problems with Maxtor or WD.

I asked a guy at best buy and he said he would pick the maxtor if that means anything. He said something about how seagate's "slow down after they have a lot of data on them". Is that true?

No

EDIT: Well technically true but all of today's hard drives will slow down when there's lots of data on them or at the very least become fragmented more frequently when more data is present & moved around.

I thought I heard Seagate was the best though?!?!

That's the general consensus

Also, what is the difference between ata 100 and ata 133?

ATA133 is faster although irrelevant when considering hard drive purchase. Today's and most likely every PATA drive made thereafter won't utilize all of the speed (transfer rate) ATA133 can provide. Not even ATA100 is utilized to it's fullest.

 

[big4x4]

Thank you for all the replies! I knew about the defragging my HD"s, but the guy at BB insisted that maxtors do not slow down and that WD drives suck! I kept on asking him why the seagate drives are the only ones that slow down and he would not give me a valid answer:laugh: . So, ata 133 is basically useless now , but what about in a year or so?

The seagate I got was 79.99 ( 200 gig) and the maxtor and WD were just a couple dollars more. I was just wondering if it would be worth it to take it back for the other brand. But, from what I have gathered, I better stick with the Seagate!

 

[Algere]

So, ata 133 is basically useless now , but what about in a year or so?

SATA will replace PATA before that becomes a factor.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I've never been bit with WD. I use mainly Maxtor drives, no problems yet. My next drives will be Seagate though.

 

[konakona]

I started liking samsungs for their quietness, most quietness minded builders use spinpoint160 i noticed. currently using a baraccuda V, generally acceptable altho a tad slower and louder than my spipoint in another machine.

 

[mkygod]

Seagate for the warranty AND for the low-noise. And if you think about it, doesn't low noise usually mean less wear?

If youre building a quiet PC or HTPC, your only options would Seagate or Samsung. Im planning on buying 2 Samsungs and have them raided. A quiet raid system, can you imagine?

 

[stevty2889]

I am using wd's now, but I also like seagate. I have had bad luck with maxtors, so I stay away from them now. The Seagates seem to be a bit quieter than the WD's.

 

[thegimp03]

I've had good luck with all western digitals and all seagates I've had. It seems as though the seagate runs cooler than the wd though.

 

[mauiblue]

I've used Western Digital internal drives for years now just because it was the only drives I could get locally. I could have ordered but I needed a drive pronto when I just got started with computers, so I got them locally at Office Max. I've gotten very good service with them that's why I just stuck with them. When I built my first PC this past summer, I opted to get WD drives again. Again, no problems and they are quiet enough for me.

I've recently needed more drive space for my digital photos, videos, and mp3 files that I decided to go with Seagate's external drives. Again, no problems with them up to this point and they are quiet. If Maxtor drives gave me more features than I am getting from my present drive, I may consider them when I need replacements. For now WD and Seagate's are alright by me.

 

[BFG10K]

Seagate has worked well for me - quiet, reliable and fast. I'll be picking up a nice 400 GB version when they're available.

 

[Elcs]

Im happy with my WD drives. According to WD's serial checker, both of my drives came with 4 years warranty which makes me happy.

 

[theinsen1]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Seagate has worked well for me - quiet, reliable and fast. I'll be picking up a nice 400 GB version when they're available.

also with the 5 years warranty .there will be no issues

 

[Tube]

I am with seagate drives for about 6 years now after Maxtor had a bad production series so their disks would just be unable to boot every second day... I'd prefer Seagate over any other brand out there.

 

[chocoruacal]

Rule #1: there is no such thing as 'the best.' Foolish. There are many things to consider: speed (measurable, not morons who claim Doom3 loads twice as fast), size, reliability (see rule #3), and price.

Rule #2: buy the drive that a) is the size you want b) has the warranty you want and c) most importantly is the price you want. For instance, I don't care what the warranty period is cause I know I won't keep the drive more than a year anyway. As for price, never pay more than fifty (.50) centers per gig. A good deal would be thirty (.30) centers per gig.

Rule #3: nobody can tell you which brand of drive will be most reliable. Period. Anyone who says otherwise is talking out of their a$$ and should be ignored. A lot of worthless anecdotal evidence is thrown around forums like this: "yeah well I had eight Maxtor drives all fail in a row <because I didn't know how to diagnose a faulty power supply, bad RAM, bad motherboard, bad WHATEVER>" and so on. The only assurance you have, from a financial point of view, is to buy a drive that has a nice, fat warranty. You have absolutely no way of guaranteeing reliability beforehand. Which brings us to....

Rule #4: always backup your data. Any drive can fail at any time for any or no reason. No, copying to another hard drive is not backing it up. On a consumer budget, the least expensive thing smart thing you can do is purchase a CDRW/DVDRW and backup to disk. Not perfect, but manageable for most folks.

 

[dnuggett]

I have used WD's extensively for video and audio production and gaming. I have been very happy with them. The drives are up spinning around 18 hours a day every day. Haven't had one fail yet. Bet then again rule # 3 above me says that doesn't matter. FWIW WD has been great for me.


Also... never, ever, ever listen to advice from the sales guys or techs at BB.

 

[big4x4]

Originally posted by: chocoruacal
Rule #1: there is no such thing as 'the best.' Foolish. There are many things to consider: speed (measurable, not morons who claim Doom3 loads twice as fast), size, reliability (see rule #3), and price.

Rule #2: buy the drive that a) is the size you want b) has the warranty you want and c) most importantly is the price you want. For instance, I don't care what the warranty period is cause I know I won't keep the drive more than a year anyway. As for price, never pay more than fifty (.50) centers per gig. A good deal would be thirty (.30) centers per gig.

Rule #3: nobody can tell you which brand of drive will be most reliable. Period. Anyone who says otherwise is talking out of their a$$ and should be ignored. A lot of worthless anecdotal evidence is thrown around forums like this: "yeah well I had eight Maxtor drives all fail in a row <because I didn't know how to diagnose a faulty power supply, bad RAM, bad motherboard, bad WHATEVER>" and so on. The only assurance you have, from a financial point of view, is to buy a drive that has a nice, fat warranty. You have absolutely no way of guaranteeing reliability beforehand. Which brings us to....

Rule #4: always backup your data. Any drive can fail at any time for any or no reason. No, copying to another hard drive is not backing it up. On a consumer budget, the least expensive thing smart thing you can do is purchase a CDRW/DVDRW and backup to disk. Not perfect, but manageable for most folks.

1) Which hard drive is *Faster* then?
2) Can you show me where I can find a drive for 30 cents a gig or even 50 cents?
3) It seems that maxtor *HAD* a higher drive fail rating, I don't know about now
4) I back up my data on a dvd r so I think i am fine there

 

[Mik3y]

Seagate is fastest, quietest, and most reliable. if you want to find a listing of harddrives towards certain specifications, go to newegg.com and search em up.

 

[calyco]

Seagate.. more quiet and better warranty than Maxtor. Western Digitals are pretty loud from my experience, guess it would matter if you were building a htpc.

 

[racolvin]

Originally posted by: big4x4


2) Can you show me where I can find a drive for 30 cents a gig or even 50 cents?

www.pricegrabber.com

WD 200G drive for $0.48 per gig

R