Thoughts on Maxtor MaxLine Pro 500GB 7H500F0 ?

[imported_xpat]

cross posted from ArsTech, just want to get a couple more responses

From what I hear, reliability of consumer line Maxtor drives isn't that great. How about the MaxLine enterprise series? They have a 5 year warranty, just like the Seagate consumer drives.

I need to buy a new hard drive by Tuesday and I can get them at the same price of ~$140 CAD. Is this 'enterprise' drive any better?

The technical differences I know of are: Seagate is perpendicular recording, 3 platters vs 4 on Maxtor, and Seagate drives don't have noise management features.

I read through this review but there's not a whole lot of detailed info on the drives other than benchmarks. My concern is not for speed but for reliability. FWIW, it will be used as USB/eSATA storage (in an actively cooled case), likely formatted in HFS+.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/seagat...-720010_9.html#sect0

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[n7]

Hello there fellow Edmontonian

I have a couple of of those Maxtor MaxLine Pro 500 GBs myself, & they seem fine.
One has developed 2 pending sectors according to Speedfan, but unless more appear, i'm not too worried.

Here are some other deals you should look into:
WD SE16 - $129.99 + shipping
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?s...5000AAKS&manufacture=WESTERN%20DIGITAL

Seagate 7200.10 - $123.99 + shipping
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?s...10&vpn=ST3500630AS&manufacture=SEAGATE

I assume you are looking at the Maxtor @ Memory Express?

You could try to price match the Seagate or WD one there too, but ME usually pitches hissy fits when asking for a PM, so i wouldn't expect much good to come of it.

I'd personally get the Seagate or the WD, but i believe that reliability & HDDs is largely luck.

 

[imported_xpat]

Hey n7, nice to see a fellow local

The reason I was considering the Seagate and MaxLine was their 5 year warranty. Other than that, I don't see a reason not to go with WD (if anything, the black looks cool).

I was going to get the Seagate from NCIX, they have it for ~$138 shipped (plus GST). Yes, I was considering to get the MaxLine from MemEx. I was going to go for the Seagate, but I just noticed their price the other day and thought I'd get some other user's opinions.

FWIW, I've noticed Memory Express's customer service has gone down and prices have gone up. I've also heard they're not so price match friendly. I'd be willing to pay them the lower price plus the cost of shipping in a PM. Do they actually have a formal price match policy? Not sure why some places have them and won't live up to them (a la old Staples 150%).

Everywhere else I've read, most are also saying HDD reliability is luck. It's too bad... I'd rather spend more for an enterprise drive knowing it's a bit better quality and have peace of mind than to roll the dice.

Thanks for the reply and the links. I'll get the Seagate from DirectCanada rather than NCIX, good price (their profit margins must be really low)... but I'll try a price match MemEx tomorrow after work, assuming the sale is still on. 500GB is really the sweet spot now (per dollar).

 

[n7]

Memory Express has gone a bit downhill yeah.
And they've never had a price match policy, so yeah, good luck with that

Direct Canada is just NCIX under another name, in case you didn't know.

Your best bet for saving money & getting a 5 yr. warranty:

Get the the Seagate from NCIX + PM to Direct Canada, because shipping is two bux less @ NCIX :laugh:
They don't usually catch that, so you end up saving $2

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...13&vpn=ST3500630AS&manufacture=Seagate
PM to this: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?s...10&vpn=ST3500630AS&manufacture=SEAGATE

Total = $123.99 + 7.99 Shipping + GST

 

[imported_xpat]

that's price matching madness
thanks for the advice, I'll try it out tmrw and post back!
i've never yet had trouble with NCIX, and I like their purolator shipping.

 

[imported_xpat]

I went with DirectCanada.

NCIX didn't want to price match it since they currently have their 500gb seagate on sale. They don't price match items which are currently on sale at their store.

MemEx gave me a PM of ~$142 +tax. Manager said that's the best he can do since DC is offering an instant rebate. What a big deal. They lost another sale. Oh well.

Thanks for the input.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: n7
Direct Canada is just NCIX under another name, in case you didn't know.

From what I hear, that's not entirely true. My industry source says that NCIX is owned by a bunch of people and DC was spun off by one of those owners.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble

Originally posted by: n7
Direct Canada is just NCIX under another name, in case you didn't know.

From what I hear, that's not entirely true. My industry source says that NCIX is owned by a bunch of people and DC was spun off by one of those owners.

Ah okay...i've never really heard what really is the deal.

Either way, between the two of them, they're the best e-tailers for PC parts in Canada overall IMO.

 

[Antikristuseke]

From past experiences iv learned to trust Seagate drives over maxtors but i dont really know much about eithers current product line since both my seagates are about 3 years old and maxtors iv had were made before these seagates.