Need help with a external HD purchase - The Drunken stepFORUM - A place to discuss your worthless opinions

The Godfather · #1 05-25-2008, 06:05 PM

Just returned a Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500gb because after one day of use, it crapped out on me. I was downloading a movie to view and not discuss when I started getting "delayed write ... data lost" messages that would not stop. I dismounted the drive properly and now it is unrecognizable on any of my computers. I went through the troubleshooting guide and knowledgeware specifically for my unit with absolutely no success. It is officially a powered brick was shipped back for a refund, uninsured of course.

I was in the process of movingmy data from an old Maxtor Personal Storage 5000LE 80gb 5400rpm external and I am glad I copied instead of transferring. The old Maxtor has been dropped, wet up, thrown in the trunk during a sweltering hot Ga summer and forgotten, reformatted, collected so much dust that it appeared gray instead of blue .... I guess they don't make 'em like they use to.

After doing a little research, I have found several educated opinions that indicate that the offering from Maxtor, WD and Seagate with capacities of 500gb or better simply suck when it comes to reliability. I guess I need a RAID configuration with the crap that is available today.

I have a 250gb drive in the box but looking to make good bit of my "stuff" mobile. What units are you having success with? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

DAS · #2 05-25-2008, 06:06 PM

I have three Lacie Drives, No Probs in 2 years... 1TB, 750GB, and 500gb.

IndieEmoPunk · #3 05-25-2008, 06:34 PM

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that sucks, cuz i just got the same drive. . .just hope it doesn't crap out on me. . . at least I have a 1 tb drive already. . . . it's only halfway filled. so as long as the seagate doesn't crap out, i still have 1 tb of room for whatever. . . . it kicks ass

BlackCrypt · #4 05-25-2008, 06:59 PM

I have a Maxtor 750 gig one touch (from Seagate I guess) and I have had no problems with it. I don't use it they way it is directed as a backup drive though, just drag my files on to it. I am using the firewire cable connection as opposed to the USB connection.

Got it at Office Depot for $179.99 in Feb, and its been working fine. Except for the time I somehow unplugged the power source.

Striker · #5 05-25-2008, 07:09 PM

I have the same drive (the Seagate 500GB) and have been using it heavily for about a year with no problems whatsoever. Sorry you have bad luck with yours.

As far as RAID, that's my next step. I'm looking at getting 2 or 4 1TB drives and setting up either a RAID 1, if 2 drives, or a RAID 1+0, if 4. I found this pretty sweet looking eSATA enclosure on NewEgg that I'm seriously looking at getting. I'll just need to buy an eSATA ExpressCard before I can use it and until I build a new desktop to put that included PCI-E card in.

I've always used Western Digital for internal drives and have never had a problem. The external Seagate was the only the second non-WD drive I've ever bought and I have no complaints. I don't really think there is much of a difference between them. Some people have better luck with one over the other but all in all, it's just that; luck.

My HD setup:

Laptop (primary PC): Came with a Seagate 100GB drive that is split to ~80GB (80.8 usable) C: and ~12GB recovery partition. My laptop had an empty internal bay so I added in a Hitachi 160GB drive (149GB usable).

Desktop: 2 WD 320GB SATA drives. These aren't really being used because I currently have Ubuntu installed and it's a pain in the ass to set up file sharing like Windows does. I also have a couple IDE drives, I think a 40GB and an 80GB but they aren't hooked up right now. I have Suse installed on one of those.

I want RAID because it makes multiple drives act like one. I hate having all my media split across different drives. I got all my TV shows and ISO rips on my external, movies and porn on one of the 320's and my music, pictures, and any current torrents on the 160.

And yeah, I have no backup system in place right now. I can't think about that too much though or I start getting really scared. Another reason I want that RAID setup.

The Godfather · #6 05-25-2008, 07:59 PM

Thanks for the responses.

Maybe, I just got a lemon plus I really like the FreeAgent Pro eSATA option so maybe I'll pick up another one but in the 750gb - 1TB variety. ...or maybe a couple 320s or a couple 500s or the LaCie lego lookin' drives.

Hell, I don't know what direction I'm going to take at this point.

Mohaman Cheez · #7 05-26-2008, 10:35 AM

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I got the Seagate FreeAgent 500gb for only $80 from Staples with their pricematch offer(Someone didn't check BestBuy circular at corporate I guess )
and the reason I went with the Seagate vs. the Maxtor is the warranty.Seagate is 5yr and Maxtor and the WD they had were only 1-2yr.

strommsarnac · #8 05-26-2008, 05:32 PM

Just for the record, do not ever use 1 or two drives for "backup" purposes.

Only time one should consider HDD's for backups and "I don't want to lose anything" situations is when using RAID5.

RAID1 is only meant to be used when removable backups (tape, optical, etc.) are also going to be used.

HDD's FAIL, and more often then the average home user thinks. There's a reason servers uses SCSI drives which cost upwards of $180 for 70GB. They're designed to LAST, not so for drives you buy at brick and mortar stores, newegg, etc. Those are not meant for fault tolerance.

Mirroring is OK, but RAID5 is best.