new Hard Drive recommendation

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by iceni60, Dec 22, 2005.

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  1. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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  2. burnt_toast

    burnt_toast Guest

    I've tried a few different types of drives and I have to say I like Maxtor drives the best (Western Digital the worst IMO). I just picked up a Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 200GB/7200rpm drive for $30. US. Not sure exactly what that comes out to in pounds. It's a nice drive with plenty of space and runs good. I'd say go for the Maxtor drive they always run great for me. ;)
     
  3. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    where did you get it from? i think $30 is about £18 :eek:
     
  4. burnt_toast

    burnt_toast Guest

    A local store here in the states called Staples http://www.staples.com had a one day sale right after Thanksgiving and the drive was onsale then. It's much more expensive now. I was at the store early when they had the super sale and grabbed one real quick. I guess we all get lucky from time to time. There are quite a few decent sales going on though, I'll bet if you look around you can find a good deal too.
     
  5. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    lol, did you camp outside the shop? well, no matter, it's still really cheap. thanks for the help, i'm sure i'll end up getting the Maxtor drive.
     
  6. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    I recently bought TWO Maxtor DiamondMax 10s, identical. They were $98 apiece from "Digitally Unique" (not really an outstanding merchant). They were the 6B250S0 -- these are SATA drives - 250 GB. I did a lot of comparing specs and prices and felt that the Maxtor DiamondMax 10s were the best value going at the moment.

    Question: Do folks have to buy the "L" models in the EU/UK ? It took me awhile to figure out that just about every Maxtor "B" model has a corresponding "L" model -- the "L" model apparently complies with some toxic metals content regulations or standard in Europe - no ?
     
  7. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    i wouldn't be surprised one bit if the EU has some Directive, or whatever they call them, about toxic metals, infact i'd bet on it :rolleyes:
     
  8. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    It looks like you can get the same drive with twice the cache, 16MB vs. 8MB, for a little over one more quid but I reckon you don't want to wait another week or two for them to restock, eh ?
     
  9. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    i only saw that afterward. i don't understand how a HDD can have a cache, i would have thought it's either written to the HDD or not o_O do you know what it does?
     
  10. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    Emmm.... I understand the general concept of cache, i.e., a "buffer" where information can be held up on the way to being written so as to debottleneck traffic between the hard drive and the controller/interface or be held in the cache for "a time" in case it needs to be read again and is thus more quickly available -- reading from a solid state chip is MUCH faster than the mechanically limited speed of reading from a hard drive.

    I probably couldn't put it in all of the exactly correct technical terms when we talk about cache on a hard drive but basically you have some solid state memory onboard the harddrive's circuit board which provides this cache buffer.

    I won't lie and tell you that I know 16MB is twice as good as 8MB, because it isn't usually that simple and there may be some diminishing returns effect that sets in the more cache you add -- something akin to with a huge amount of cache you start storing more chaff than you do wheat.

    That's the best I can do without risking making a fool of myself.;)
     
  11. securityx

    securityx Registered Member

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    It's going to get interesting - Seagate (great drives) bought the Maxtor Corporation a few days ago. They will retain the Seagate name. Goodbye, Maxtor!
    http://www.shareholder.com/maxtor/R...182396&reltype=Corporate&maxtor_section=press
    Also a good story here:
    http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/13463861.htm

    ``It's a good deal,'' said Standard & Poor's analyst Richard Stice. ``There's certainly a lot of opportunity in this industry right now.''

    Hard drives have long been unsung workhorses of the digital world -- best when they're quiet, fast and flawless. Competition among their suppliers, meanwhile, has been fierce. Seagate's pending acquisition of rival Maxtor would very likely make the industry even more cutthroat.

    Scotts Valley-based Seagate, the world's largest disk-drive maker, hopes the move will strengthen its position in an arena where the players are fighting not only each other but also with a competing storage medium -- flash memory, the hidden but powerful element in portable gadgets like Apple Computer's iPod nano digital music player.

    Maxtor has ranked fourth in market share, after No. 2 Western Digital and No. 3 Hitachi, according to research firm iSuppli. Those top vendors also compete against deep-pocketed tech conglomerates Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and Fujitsu.
     
  12. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    i wonder where the data goes when the buffer is full o_O maybe it's written to the HDD :D that's why i don't understand it. but, i suppose it's similar to L2 cache on a chip. EDIT i just thought about it for a few seconds, i suppose it does get written to the HDD, not so funny now http://ubuntuforums.org/images/smilies/eusa_whistle.gif

    i don't think Maxtor being sold will help bring the prices down by later today, i hope it does though :rolleyes:

    does anyone know if 16MB is better then 8MB?
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2005
  13. ohmy

    ohmy Guest

    Seagates in general, have the best warranty in the business. They are my 1st choice. The Maxtor products are a little less reliable, but still okay. The cache size isn't that important above 2MB because a modern drive can read/write at a minimum speed of about 30MB/sec. Under ideal condition, you may gain 1/2 sec with small file access. When reading/writing large amount of data, the HDD's cache size is irrelevant.

    Some clown stole my NOD32.9 Username.
     
  14. Sputnik

    Sputnik Registered Member

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    I would recommend Hitachi. We never have problems with them, they're fast, and cheaper then the other brands.
     
  15. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    thanks for the help, i think i'll get the drive i linked to in the first post.

    thanks too, StyleWarz. i'll have alook for Hitachi but, unless it's much cheaper i'll get the Maxtor only because i have seen reviews saying their cheaper drives are good, i know Hitachi are good but i don't know about that price range
    i know it's not really funny, but the way you said it is. thanks for letting me know though nod :)
     
  16. Sputnik

    Sputnik Registered Member

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    Here we run over a hundred Hitiachi harddisks, and they work fine. A big plus is also that they give at least 36 months (3 years) warrenty. And down here the Hitachi disks are around 10% cheaper then the other brands. I would recommend any Hitachi drive above Maxtor's Value Line.
     
  17. ohmy

    ohmy Guest

    I have a bad experience with the Hitachi DEATHSTAR. Will need several years of proven field service before I will touch another Hitachi.

    My Maxtor is "rattling" after about 3 years of service. Missed the warranty by about one month. The Seagates (purchased at the same time) are still humming.

    NOD32.9
     
  18. Sputnik

    Sputnik Registered Member

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    Only the IBM Deskstar 60GXP had problems, the later versions like the 120GXP and 160GXP had no problems at all. Besides, Hitachi took over IBM's production line during the 120GXP line, so there should no no problematic Hitachi series.

    Besides, IBM had a return program for the 60GXP as well. You could return it and get a brand new harddisk in return (from the new series).
     
  19. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

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    Does anyone have experience with Samsung Hard Disk Drives? I have a Maxtor and its running really well, though I feel its slightly noisy at times (not a problem since the online reviews said the same about my particular model). :)
     
  20. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    StyleWarz, do you know a good Hitachi 200GB for about the same price as this? that's about 100US$
     
  21. Howard Kaikow

    Howard Kaikow Registered Member

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    Thed bigger the cache is always better, other things being equal.
     
  22. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    thanks, Howard. i think i'm going to order something sometime tonight so i'll have a look.

    i might as well put this video link here about how to install a HDD while i'm at their site. i hope i don't need it :D maybe they'll have a good recommendation for a HDD.
    http://labrats.tv/episodes/ep5.html

    can you get an IDE cable, or that new cable, for three HDDs?
     
  23. Sputnik

    Sputnik Registered Member

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  24. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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  25. crofttk

    crofttk Registered Member

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    Well, iceni60, you can see that it also got interesting once the discussion of cache began. Yes, MORE cache is ALWAYS better -- the REAL question, the answer to which can be debated until the cows come home, is HOW much better and is that much better cost effective.:p Good Luck and Happy Holidays !
     
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