Urgent~Need a branded external HDD

Panchu · 18-10-2009, 11:29 PM

Hey guys, I have a huge movie collection and they r scattered across my many small HDDs.
I'm running outta space and I'm plannin to buy my first large external HDD.
I'm lookin for somethin RELIABLE.
Should I opt for a 1Tb one? Are they crash-prone? If so wat brands should I avoid?
Or should I opt for 500GB ones?
Plz suggest me some good brands with casing [like the WD My Book].
Or should I go for portable ones?
I'm not at all aware of the price tags so please include them.
My price range is around 4k-5k.
Plz point out the pros n cons.
I need to make the buy real soon, so please gimme good advises at the earliest.

**Krow** · 19-10-2009, 01:00 AM

WD My Book Essential edition is great for 5k. It needs an external power connector, is a bit bulky, but otherwise is a solid drive. You may buy if you don't plan to travel around too much with it. I have not used Seagate so I can't help you with it. Scan any HDD you buy for bad sectors and use some free HDD health monitoring softwares like once a month on it to see whether the drive is failing.

The safest option would be to go for 2x500GB and use one drive for backup of the other.

static_x · 19-10-2009, 02:18 PM

Go for Seagate..it comes with 5 yr warranty as compare to WD with 3yr

Panchu · 19-10-2009, 10:45 PM

Hey thankx guys,

I'm lookin forward to reliability. Warranty is an important factor, still I giv preference to safeguarding the data. I survived two 80GB crashes. Cant risk another one.

I'm thinking of Seagate. Chkd the price, comes arnd Rs. 5500.
Seagate Free Agent Desk 1TB

Any reviews on the particular piece?

desiibond · 19-10-2009, 11:39 PM

@Panchu, Pick whichever is cheaper but instead of going for 1TB, better go for dual 500GB HDD (in case you are buying internal).

For external, go for Western Digital My Passport 500GB HDD.

Seagate has got into trouble with lot of crashes these days and it's difficult to trust their HDDs.

**Krow** · 19-10-2009, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desiibond

Seagate has got into trouble with lot of crashes these days and it's difficult to trust their HDDs.

I know why you are saying that.

But, I agree with you.

rhitwick · 20-10-2009, 12:38 AM

@Panchu, if are too protective about ur data, go for WD Mirrored edition 1TB.
It has, two 500GB HDD in RAID1 so, u get good data security but will get only 500GB for the cost of 1TB.

Brand, don't believe anyone. If u loose ur precious data who cares if the warranty is 5 yrs or 5 months.

**Krow** · 20-10-2009, 12:41 AM

How much does the mirrored one cost? Only thing you can do is PRAY with HDD's these days.

**Anorion** · 20-10-2009, 01:35 AM

They are all going to go kaput anyway, depends on how well you handle them, and frequently maintain them. For your budget you will get a 1 TB external with power supply, or a 500 GB external without a power supply. If you are not going to move around with the data too much, I suggest you go for the 1TB one. Seagate and WD are both equally good in my expirience, but I like the way the 1TB WD looks more than the the 1TB seagate, which is a very common buy. It's also slightly larger, the seagate one I mean.

desiibond · 20-10-2009, 08:21 AM

Mirrored ones are damn costly and I don't think they are avialble inside 5k.

**Krow** · 20-10-2009, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desiibond

Mirrored ones are damn costly and I don't think they are avialble inside 5k.

rhitwick got it after RMA of his 1TB WD My Book Essential. If it's expensive, then he's lucky. Some guy from the forum had a 640GB WD blue fail on him and he got a 750GB WD Black. WD RMA seems kind.

Panchu · 21-10-2009, 10:26 PM

Well guys, I finally settled for the Seagate Free Agent Desk 1TB Edition {Rs.5500].
Its a bit bulky, but seems sturdy with a gorgeous slow blinking lighting on the front.

Im not plannin on moving it arnd, juz gonna copy the contents of my other HDDs to this one and make some extra space.
Thankx for the comments guys.

Plz suggest some tips to ensure safety of the HDD such as some maintenance software or some must-do procedures.

**Krow** · 22-10-2009, 12:37 AM

Download SeaTools for Windows from the Seagate website. Perform all the tests on the drive before you copy anything to it. Look for some HDD health monitoring softwares on Google. Use one which as good reviews about once a month. Keep scanning with SeaTools also once a month.

That being said, Dont drop it, put it in water, burn it, put pr0n in it without encrypting it with a password lock.