External HDD Recommendation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Harvey Gratt
  • Start date Start date
H

Harvey Gratt

I am looking to get a large(around 160GB) USB 2.0, 7200rpm external HDD
so I can store drive images for several computers. I'm currently looking
at offerings from Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate.

I would appreciate any information regarding these products with respect
to reliabilty and vendor support. I noticed that they all offer only a 1
year warranty - not a good sign in my opinion. Any help in making a
decision would be appreciated.

Also, are there any heat related issues with 7200rpm drives? Do they
typically come with fans for cooling? Is a 5400rpm drive more reliable?

Thanks,
Harvey
 
Harvey Gratt said:
I am looking to get a large(around 160GB) USB 2.0, 7200rpm external HDD
so I can store drive images for several computers. I'm currently looking
at offerings from Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate.
Click to expand...

I just bought a new WD and put my old WD in a UBS2 case that has no fan.
It's not going to hurt it unless you plug it in and leave it on indefinately
and even then, it would probably be OK.
A Seagate gets very hot, so I wouldn't do that.
I would never buy a 5400 rpm dirive, either.

My WD offered a 3 year warranty for $15 and I might do it, not sure.
I've had problems with other drives, but never WD.
 
I am looking to get a large(around 160GB) USB 2.0, 7200rpm
external HDD so I can store drive images for several computers. I'm
currently looking at offerings from Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate.
Click to expand...
I would appreciate any information regarding these products
with respect to reliabilty and vendor support. I noticed that they
all offer only a 1 year warranty - not a good sign in my opinion.
Any help in making a decision would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Also, are there any heat related issues with 7200rpm drives?
Click to expand...

Yep, they all get pretty hot if something isnt
done to get the heat away from the drive.

Some get stinking hot very quickly if just sitting loose
on the desktop spinning, let alone encased in some
crummy little plastic box that makes things even worse.
Do they typically come with fans for cooling?
Click to expand...

Quite a few dont.
Is a 5400rpm drive more reliable?
Click to expand...

Usually they do produce rather less heat. Most
get barely warm when run loose on the desktop.
 
Eric Gisin said:
There is little point to 7k2 with USB2, since you are limited to its
Click to expand...
30MB/s.

Also a slightly lower rotational latency => faster access time.
 
I am looking to get a large(around 160GB) USB 2.0, 7200rpm external HDD
so I can store drive images for several computers. I'm currently looking
at offerings from Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate.

I would appreciate any information regarding these products with respect
to reliabilty and vendor support. I noticed that they all offer only a 1
year warranty - not a good sign in my opinion. Any help in making a
decision would be appreciated.

Also, are there any heat related issues with 7200rpm drives? Do they
typically come with fans for cooling? Is a 5400rpm drive more reliable?
Click to expand...


Hi,
I made a post with similar question!

*External USB Hard-Drive - USB v1.0 or v2.0? - 5,400rpm or 7,200rpm? - 2MB
cache or 8MB cache?*
 
Tom said:
That's not the spec, nor what I have seen.
Click to expand...

What the spec says and what the hardware you can buy in the real world can
deliver are not always the same.
 
J. Clarke said:
What the spec says and what the hardware you can buy in the real world can
deliver are not always the same.
Click to expand...

Usually specs don't tell what the user'available'data rate will be.
 
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