Hard Disk Recommendations

[Guest]

Hi,

I am looking at 3 hard disks.

Does anyone have any recommendations or reasons not to buy one of these
units. Thanks


1.) Maxtor 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9
ATA 133 Buffer Size 2MB


2.) Samsung 120GB Samsung SP1203N
E-IDE Buffer Size 2MB

3.) Western Digital 120GB Western Digital Caviar SE
ATA 100 Buffer Size 8MB


Technical specs.

Maxtor 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9
Interface ATA 133 (IDE)
Capacity 120GB
Buffer Size 2MB
Spin Speed 7200rpm
Max. Data Transfer Rate 133MB/s
Average Seek Time 9.3ms or less
Average Latency 4.2ms
Cylinders 16,383
Heads 16 Physical
Error Rate <1 per 10E 15 bits read
Start / Stop Cycle 50,000 cycles
Temperature Range 5°C - 60 °C
Shock Tolerance 60G @ 2ms half-sine pulse (operating) / 300G @ 2ms half-
sine pulse (non-operating)
Features Quiet Drive Technology & Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motor
Cables Included None (OEM product)
Software Included None (OEM product)
Warranty 1 Years Return To Base


Samsung 120GB Samsung SP1203N
Capacity 120 GB
Buffer Size 2 MB
Spin Speed 7200 rpm
Max. Data Transfer Rate 133 MB/s
Average Seek Time 8.9 ms
Average Latency 4.17 ms
Cylinders unspecified
Heads unspecified
Error Rate unspecified
Start / Stop Cycle unspecified
Temperature Range 5-55°C
Warranty 3 Years with Manufacturer



Western Digital 120GB Western Digital Caviar SE
Interface ATA 100 (IDE)
Capacity 120GB
Buffer Size 8MB
Spin Speed 7200rpm
Max. Data Transfer Rate 100MB/s
Average Seek Time 8.9ms
Average Latency 4.2ms
Cylinders 16,383
Heads 4 Physical
Error Rate <1 per 10E 14 bits read
Start / Stop Cycle 50,000 cycles
Temperature Range 5°C - 55 °C
Shock Tolerance 20G @ 2ms half-sine pulse (operating) / 250G @ 2ms half-
sine pulse (non-operating)
Features Fluid Dynamic Bearing Technology
Cables Included None (OEM product)
Warranty 3Years With Manufacturer


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[Rod Speed]

I am looking at 3 hard disks.

Does anyone have any recommendations
or reasons not to buy one of these units.

1.) Maxtor 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9
ATA 133 Buffer Size 2MB

No advantage over the Samsung and usually this drive
doesnt have the 3 year warranty the samsung does.

2.) Samsung 120GB Samsung SP1203N
E-IDE Buffer Size 2MB

I prefer this one myself. Mainly because its noticeably
quieter than the other two, almost completely inaudible,
even with no covers on the case, and excellent reliability.

You can often get the 8MB cache version for about the same
price, tho I wouldnt personally pay anything much for that.

3.) Western Digital 120GB Western Digital Caviar SE
ATA 100 Buffer Size 8MB

I dont care for this one myself, the failure rate of WD
drives is currently a bit on the high side, the warranty
may or may not be 3 years, depending on the source,
and its got a silly jumper config where the jumpers are
set differently for single drive on the ribbon cable and
master or slave in a pair if you arent using cable select.

Technical specs.

These arent very relevant for this particular choice.
The short story is that they are all close enough.

Maxtor 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9
Interface ATA 133 (IDE)
Capacity 120GB
Buffer Size 2MB
Spin Speed 7200rpm
Max. Data Transfer Rate 133MB/s
Average Seek Time 9.3ms or less
Average Latency 4.2ms
Cylinders 16,383
Heads 16 Physical
Error Rate <1 per 10E 15 bits read
Start / Stop Cycle 50,000 cycles
Temperature Range 5°C - 60 °C
Shock Tolerance 60G @ 2ms half-sine pulse (operating) / 300G @ 2ms half-
sine pulse (non-operating)
Features Quiet Drive Technology & Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motor
Cables Included None (OEM product)
Software Included None (OEM product)
Warranty 1 Years Return To Base

Samsung 120GB Samsung SP1203N
Capacity 120 GB
Buffer Size 2 MB
Spin Speed 7200 rpm
Max. Data Transfer Rate 133 MB/s
Average Seek Time 8.9 ms
Average Latency 4.17 ms
Cylinders unspecified
Heads unspecified
Error Rate unspecified
Start / Stop Cycle unspecified
Temperature Range 5-55°C
Warranty 3 Years with Manufacturer

These are fluid bearing drives too.

 

[Odie Ferrous]

Hi,

I am looking at 3 hard disks.

Does anyone have any recommendations or reasons not to buy one of these
units. Thanks

You left out Seagate?

Best of the lot - especially 120GB.


Odie

 

[Arno Wagner]

You left out Seagate?

Best of the lot - especially 120GB.

I agree.

The Maxtor has only one year warranty. The Samsung migh be an option
if you are looking for a _very_ quiet drive. I don't trust WD.
Other than that the Seagete one is likely the best.

Arno

 

[Kevin Buffardi]

You left out Seagate?

Best of the lot - especially 120GB.

Yeah, Seagate seems to be a popular choice now-a-days, especially with
their 5-year warrantees.

Others have complained about WD drives, but I've had nothing but good
experiences. In my experience, they've seemed to perform a little
better... and no failures so far.

Then again, I've only had one bad HD which was a Maxtor that fried the
first time I used it. But to their credit, Maxtor was prompt in
replacing it... and although it isn't necessary, they come with
partitioning (and other HD utilities) program which can come in handy in
some situations.

//Kevin

 

[Rod Speed]

Yeah, Seagate seems to be a popular choice now-a-days, especially with their
5-year warrantees.

Get too warm for my taste, and too noisy too.

You do have more choice tho if you need a drive over 250G

 

[Joeshmo]

Don't buy a maxtor. They have a good failure rate!
Buy a seagate. It holds my data for this computer and it has a 5 year
warrantee.
Joe