Recommend me a external HD

[essential]

I?m looking to get a 1TB external HD within the next week. I?ve looked on newegg several times, and read a lot of reviews. I?ve also considered getting an external enclosure and putting my own HD in. I haven?t been able to come to a surefire conclusion, nothing jumped out to me as the right device to buy, or combo HD/enclosure if you think that is the way to go.

I want at least 1TB, eSATA and USB 2.0, and active cooling would be nice, but not necessary as long as there are openings in the device that will allow air to pass through it (cause I can put a small desk fan to blow air threw it). I?m going to be streaming video off the drive, so 7200rpm would be nice as well.

Can anyone throw out some recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[Binky]

I don't think 7200rpm is necessary. It also creates more heat. I've got a media center computer recording up to 4 HD shows at once to a 1TB external eSata WD Green drive. No problems.

My favorite enclosure is the Antec MX-1 but the damned thing costs too much. If I were looking at 1TB, I'd look for the cheaper pre-built models just because they are all pretty close in quality. eSata is mandatory.

$74AR - hard to beat the price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822204069

 

[essential]

Thanks for the reply Binky.

I'll go for a WD Green drive then, if you can record 4 HD shows at once, I'm sure it'll be just fine for storage and HD streaming.

When reading about external enclosures, the Antec MX-1 was one of the top three I was considering. My only concern was many of the reviews said the fan started to make noise after about 6 months (which is fine), but one reviewer said he opened it and the fan was not user replaceable, which concerned me.

I was looking at this:
http://www.amazon.com/Macally-...closure/dp/B0013LRLUM/

It would allow me to blow air into the front, helping cool the HD.

Also Binky, do the Green HD's require active cooling as much? How hot do yours get under heavy load for a couple hours?

 

[Binky]

My MX-1 with an older generation WG green 1TB is running about 42C right now. It's stuffed under a TV stand sitting on carpet, so the ventilation isn't very good. The fan does make a tiny bit of noise now after about 18 months of use. It is also not user replacable that I can see. Its a very thin flat blower-style fan.

You could also consider an external raid box. My other drive on that system is a cavalry 2tb raid drive with dual WD green 1tb drives. Fantom makes something similar and both sell for around $200. The cavalry unit uses a very small and low quality fan (i.e. noisy and poor cooling), so I just took the drives out of the case and I have a 120mm fan sitting next to them. This is also inside a cabinet so looks dont matter at all. Since the MX-1 and a single 1tb drive are going to cost you about $120 or more, these 2tb raid drives for ~$200 are pretty interesting. All of these enclosures including the MX-1 are mass produced in China for cheap, so you may get what you pay for...