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poll: what HDD to buy (please read my situation first)

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Ok, I'm running out of space on my 40 gig and want to add another HDD. I'm trying to keep costs down, but don't want to skimp on space. I'm just going to be keeping movies on this new drive, so 7200 rpm probably isn't going to really matter although I probably will go 7200 just to be safe, ok, keeping this in mind, please vote for what I should get. (I'm getting it on Newegg btw)
 
Note: I intentionally left out the IBMs because of all the talk about recent failures and my own personal bad experience with Deskstars in the past
 
Hmm? What about the 60GB Seagate Barracuda IV? It's $100 or so at Newegg, and at Fry's, it's $90 after a $25 MIR. If the MIR is a Seagate MIR, you may be able to get the rebate somewhere, buy the drive, and cash the rebate.

Barracuda IV drives are quiet 😀
 
Yeah, I've been leaning towards the barracudas because I have never read anything about someone having problems with one, and the quietness is a plus too, although it probably could be loud and I still wouldn't hear it over my fans 😉
 
first off let me say i don't have personal experience here as i don't own any 5400 rpm drives

but a friend was making movies on a 7200 and backing them up on 5400 i asked him to show me the file and he deleted it by accident when he played the file off the 5400 b/u drive it was slow like video streaming off the internet using 56k modem

he put it back on the 7200 off a cd and the thing took off since then i wouldn't recommend video on a 5400 music sure but not video.

and seagate IV drives are supposed to be the quietest drives but i like maxtor and western digital too so i'd say go with what you like and what fits your pocketbook

hope this helps
 
Another vote for the Barracuda. Decent performance, good acoustics, good reliability (though it's too early to say so) and average on price.
 
Any comments you guys have on the reliability of these drives would be great too. Performance not so much, as long as it can play my video files thats fine, I think I'll stick with my WD 40 gig for that and use the new one for storage purposes only. Thanks again for your help guys 😀
 
Maxtor 60 gig 5400 : Had one, click click click sound, dead. RMA'd and got replacement. No probs since
IBM 20 gig 5400: No probs
WD 60 gig 7200 rpm : Click click, freeze, reboot, works for a few hours, click click freeze. RMA'd and just got a replacement. So far, IBM is looking good in my book

I'd go with Seagate because of other people's experience
 


<< Note: I intentionally left out the IBMs because of all the talk about recent failures and my own personal bad experience with Deskstars in the past >>

Poor decision. I can recommend nothing other than the Deskstar 120GXP unless you're on a quest for silence.
 


<< Can't go wrong with any barracudas >>

The reliability is good and the low noise is desirable, but the performance is lacking compared some other drives.
 
Ok, 3am, time for bed and I still am not sure what to get. Hopefully you guys will have made up your minds by the time I wake up 😉
 
If he is only using this drive for storage, performance won't matter all that much, or??

My vote I spent on the Maxtor 80 gig 7200, because it seems to be the best deal, and I haven't had any problems with Maxtor or Quantum...
 
My vote is for the Western Digital 80GB...I just picked myself up a WD 100GB drive to replace my *TINY* Maxtor 20GB D740X drive. I have to say I'm incredibly impressed with the Western Digital, tremendously more quiet than my Maxtor during seek and also not quite as loud idle either.

The Baracuda's are superbly quiet, but you have to sacrifice a bit of speed for that.
 


<<

<< Note: I intentionally left out the IBMs because of all the talk about recent failures and my own personal bad experience with Deskstars in the past >>

Poor decision. I can recommend nothing other than the Deskstar 120GXP unless you're on a quest for silence.
>>



Read the news lately? Only 333 hours per month for guaranteed reliability on IBM's "revised" 120GXP warranty.

//Edit, here's the link:
http://www.anandtech.com/news/webnews.html?newdate=3/10/2002&frontid=#15737
 
The reliability is good and the low noise is desirable, but the performance is lacking compared some other drives.

The performance difference is minimal...most likely not noticeable to any human.
 


<< << but a friend was making movies on a 7200 and backing them up on 5400 i asked him to show me the file and he deleted it by accident when he played the file off the 5400 b/u drive it was slow like video streaming off the internet using 56k modem >>



I can't agree with that. Any modern 5400 rpm HD is fast enough for any streaming video, including multiple DVD streams. You simply can't beat that. Keep in mind that a modern 1-platter 5400 rpm-er is faster than, say, a 1 year old 7200 rpm-er with like 4 platters and 8 heads. Not that I vote for the 5400 rpm, there're no clear advantages in buying them since they're only a few bucks cheaper than 7200 ones.
>>



disagree w/ the 5400 = 56k modem. that's just plain ludicrous.

5400 is not "only a few bucks cheaper than 7200" it's more like 16 bucks.

hey that 16 bucks may or may not make a budget.

if if were me i'd get the 5400.
 


<< I can't agree with that. Any modern 5400 rpm HD is fast enough for any streaming video, including multiple DVD streams. >>



He makes a good point. 5400 rpm hdd's are fast enough to do almost anything as well as a 7200 would. The difference is in milliseconds, which really isn't noticable.
 
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