Buying a Hard Disk

enguy · 11-30-2005, 05:17 AM

What should I take into account while I buy a hard disk.

I don't have any idea about hardware, especially hard disks.

Which company is the preferred one when it comes to hard disks?

kareja · 11-30-2005, 06:41 AM

Seagate is the best out there in the market when it comes to hard disks. I don't know if there are any others.

enguy · 11-30-2005, 07:21 AM

My present hard disk is Samsung and it works fine but I wanted to know if there are any better ones out there.

Will.Spencer · 11-30-2005, 08:21 AM

All of the hard drive manufacturers have experienced quality problems.

Many technicians have experienced more problems with one brand of hard drive, so they avoid them.

In my view, they all suck relatively equally.

In a hard drive, make sure it's the type you want. The popular types these days are IDE, Serial-ATA, and SCSI.

Make sure it's the capacity you want.

Make sure it's the rotational speed you want. A slow hard drive can make your entire system appear slow.

Then, finally, make sure it's the price you want.

enguy · 11-30-2005, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

In my view, they all suck relatively equally.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Nice way

really funny way to criticize.

Will.Spencer · 11-30-2005, 09:24 AM

My last IBM laptop survived 6 hard drive replacements.

It's still alive, although it's just a test machine now.

enguy · 11-30-2005, 09:42 AM

Do laptop's have a different kind of hard disks than what we use in normal desktop PCs?

Will.Spencer · 11-30-2005, 12:19 PM

Laptop hard drives are 2.5" wide instead of 3.5" wide. They are also very thin, on the orders of 9.5 and 11.5mm.

deuce · 12-06-2005, 08:06 PM

Don't buy Maxtor even though it is cheap ... they sell crap, so many complaints and my HD burned out after a year (right after the stupid warranty expired).

jess · 12-06-2005, 09:03 PM

Tell me about it!

I got a 200GB maxtor drive last year. it constantly corrupts the files.
I would have to go through an ordeal to send it back to them for them to "check" it that I cant be bothered.

Maxtor are crap though, pure and simple.

Stick with Seagate.

kelp · 12-06-2005, 10:23 PM

Seagate and Western Digital in my opinion are the best hard drives for systems out there because of their reliability. They aren't all that expensive, either. They can usually be found at Outpost for $40 for a 120GB hard drive. The current technology for hard drive capacity makes most hard drives very large.

I always check Fatwallet Forums everyday to see if there are any good deals for computer hardware.
http://www.fatwallet.com/c/18/

imported_Steve · 12-08-2005, 06:32 PM

Maxtor are shocking drives.

I thought Western Digital and Maxtor were the same? I heard they use the same drives anyway, just badge them under their own name.

I'm also a Seagate fan. I also have an older drive thats a Quantum brand, I don't think they exist anymore though.

cmpolis · 12-08-2005, 06:34 PM

Make sure your HD uses the best interface that your motherboard supports.

For example, if your motherboard has a SATAII get it! SATA is way faster than IDE and the cables are thinner.

Also, make sure the cache size is 8 or 16MB and the drive is 7200rpm or higher.

I personally have had good experiences with Hitachi.

-C

Fry · 12-15-2005, 02:55 AM

Is the SATA difference really noticable to the human eye, or is it all marketing talk?

compnut · 12-15-2005, 03:54 PM

In my experience, Seagate has been the best HD to go with. The Maxtor, as it has been my experience, is unstable and causes many problems. As others have said, just buy the best one you can that fits most with your motherboard. I do have several computers, and I have the Western Digital on two of them, and they seem to work just fine; great, in fact.

Will.Spencer · 12-15-2005, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fry

Is the SATA difference really noticable to the human eye, or is it all marketing talk?

Parallel ATA tops out at 133 MBps.

SATA starts at 150 MBps, a fairly marginal improvement.

The next generations of SATA will be at 300 and 600 MBps.

deuce · 12-16-2005, 06:48 AM

I'm not sure if the rpm's of a hard drive make a difference either? They always advertise it.

Will.Spencer · 12-17-2005, 06:43 AM

Ah yes, a hard drives that spins faster will find your data faster and read or write your data faster.

That's one reason that notebooks tend to be slower than desktops -- slower hard disks!

jess · 12-18-2005, 01:16 AM

Very true. I accidentally bought a 5200rpm hard drive once.
Not noticing, I installed it and was wondering why things were running so slow.
On closer inspection I noticed they gave me the 5200 by mistake.
Needless to say I took it back for a 7200rpm replacement.

From this experience I can safely say that hard drive RPM speed is VERY noticeable, unlike some other components in the computer where you may not notice speed differences.

bear · 12-18-2005, 04:54 PM

I think notebooks use 5200 rpm hard drives?
I believe this is because they generate heat, and a 7200 would be too hot.

Maybe the new laptops have faster hard drives though, not sure on that..

kamesh · 12-19-2005, 12:57 PM

1 more vote from my side to samsumg Hard disk. its good.. i use same sung hdd from 2 yrs.. and till now it did not create any problem..

deuce · 12-19-2005, 08:39 PM

My Seagate hasn't had any problems for 4 years lol.

compnut · 12-21-2005, 08:31 AM

We did recently purchase a Maxtor HD for son's computer with 7200rpm, and it works great. It's not noisy, and I was worried about it, but as it turns out, it's great. Yes, there are specs on a HD that you need to be concerned about. Performance is of utmost importance.

l4zy · 12-22-2005, 08:50 AM

HDD speeds matter a lot.. hehe.. ask me, my laptop has a 5400 and its really annoying with intense gaming! wish i had bought a 7200 with my new laptop!

zemus · 03-23-2006, 04:06 AM

I never really considered HDD speeds when buying a hard drive, never knew it made much of a difference.