Need External Hard Drive Recommendations

I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:35:54 -0500, wrote:

> I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
> reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
> reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
> from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
> some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
> out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
> reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
> the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
> concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
> Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.


Bear in mind that if you want an external drive, you don't have to buy
an external drive. You can buy an internal drive and an external USB
and mount the drive in the enclosure yourself. That gives you many
more choices of drives.

An enclosure costs around $25 US, and mounting a drive in one is very
easy; it takes under five minutes, even if you are all thumbs.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:24 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
<> wrote:

> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:35:54 -0500, wrote:
>
> > I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
> > reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
> > reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
> > from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
> > some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
> > out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
> > reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
> > the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
> > concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
> > Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
>
>
> Bear in mind that if you want an external drive, you don't have to buy
> an external drive. You can buy an internal drive and an external USB


Just in case that sentence confused you, I accidentally omitted a
word. It should be "... an external USB enclosure ..."


> and mount the drive in the enclosure yourself. That gives you many
> more choices of drives.
>
> An enclosure costs around $25 US, and mounting a drive in one is very
> easy; it takes under five minutes, even if you are all thumbs.
>
>
> --
> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Thanks. Do you have any recommendations for a specific drive and
caddy? If something goes wrong, I promise not to blame you.


On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:50:55 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
<> wrote:

>On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:24 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
><> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:35:54 -0500, wrote:
>>
>> > I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
>> > reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
>> > reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
>> > from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
>> > some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
>> > out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
>> > reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
>> > the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
>> > concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
>> > Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
>>
>>
>> Bear in mind that if you want an external drive, you don't have to buy
>> an external drive. You can buy an internal drive and an external USB
>
>
>Just in case that sentence confused you, I accidentally omitted a
>word. It should be "... an external USB enclosure ..."
>
>
>> and mount the drive in the enclosure yourself. That gives you many
>> more choices of drives.
>>
>> An enclosure costs around $25 US, and mounting a drive in one is very
>> easy; it takes under five minutes, even if you are all thumbs.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:40:27 -0500, wrote:

> Thanks. Do you have any recommendations for a specific drive and
> caddy? If something goes wrong, I promise not to blame you.


In my experience, they are essentially the same, and there's almost no
difference between them. I'd get whichever was the best value.




> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:50:55 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
> <> wrote:
>
> >On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:24 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
> ><> wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:35:54 -0500, wrote:
> >>
> >> > I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
> >> > reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
> >> > reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
> >> > from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
> >> > some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
> >> > out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
> >> > reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
> >> > the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
> >> > concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
> >> > Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
> >>
> >>
> >> Bear in mind that if you want an external drive, you don't have to buy
> >> an external drive. You can buy an internal drive and an external USB
> >
> >
> >Just in case that sentence confused you, I accidentally omitted a
> >word. It should be "... an external USB enclosure ..."
> >
> >
> >> and mount the drive in the enclosure yourself. That gives you many
> >> more choices of drives.
> >>
> >> An enclosure costs around $25 US, and mounting a drive in one is very
> >> easy; it takes under five minutes, even if you are all thumbs.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
> >> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Whether you read reviews online or ask those that frequent this NG, if you
ask 10 people you'll get 10 different opinions.

The way products are made today, whether made here or abroad, whether a
reputable company or not, everything is crap, it is just a matter of how
bad. IOW, nothing is good, it just sucks the least.

Recent e.g: Toyota

I wouldn't construe this attitude as pessimistic, I would consider it
realistic

<> wrote in message
news:...
>I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
> reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
> reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
> from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
> some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
> out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
> reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
> the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
> concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
> Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
>

Any drive is only as good as your backup

<> wrote in message
news:...
> Thanks. Do you have any recommendations for a specific drive and
> caddy? If something goes wrong, I promise not to blame you.
>
>
> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:50:55 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
> <> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:24 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
>><> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:35:54 -0500, wrote:
>>>
>>> > I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
>>> > reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
>>> > reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
>>> > from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet
>>> > and
>>> > some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
>>> > out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
>>> > reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
>>> > the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
>>> > concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
>>> > Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
>>>
>>>
>>> Bear in mind that if you want an external drive, you don't have to buy
>>> an external drive. You can buy an internal drive and an external USB
>>
>>
>>Just in case that sentence confused you, I accidentally omitted a
>>word. It should be "... an external USB enclosure ..."
>>
>>
>>> and mount the drive in the enclosure yourself. That gives you many
>>> more choices of drives.
>>>
>>> An enclosure costs around $25 US, and mounting a drive in one is very
>>> easy; it takes under five minutes, even if you are all thumbs.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
>>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 01:53:48 -0000, "DL" <>
wrote:

>Any drive is only as good as your backup

What does THAT mean? The backup is software and the drive is HARDWARE.
Two mutually exclusive things. What you SHOULD say is that the backup
is only as good as the operator makes it, i.e. how often it's used and
how it's used. I have that covered!!!

>
><> wrote in message
>news:.. .
>> Thanks. Do you have any recommendations for a specific drive and
>> caddy? If something goes wrong, I promise not to blame you.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:50:55 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
>> <> wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:24 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
>>><> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:35:54 -0500, wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
>>>> > reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
>>>> > reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
>>>> > from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet
>>>> > and
>>>> > some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
>>>> > out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
>>>> > reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
>>>> > the Internet (if possible). Looks like I'll have to go with the
>>>> > concensus. I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
>>>> > Digital, etc. Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Bear in mind that if you want an external drive, you don't have to buy
>>>> an external drive. You can buy an internal drive and an external USB
>>>
>>>
>>>Just in case that sentence confused you, I accidentally omitted a
>>>word. It should be "... an external USB enclosure ..."
>>>
>>>
>>>> and mount the drive in the enclosure yourself. That gives you many
>>>> more choices of drives.
>>>>
>>>> An enclosure costs around $25 US, and mounting a drive in one is very
>>>> easy; it takes under five minutes, even if you are all thumbs.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
>>>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup
>

On Wed, 3 Feb 2010 15:37:00 -0800 (PST), vista bill
<> wrote:

>On Feb 3, 5:35*pm, five...@NOwhere.com wrote:
>> I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. *I have been
>> reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
>> reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
>> from excellent to poor (on the same drive). *Some say thet're quiet and
>> some say they're noisy. *Most users say their drive broke down either
>> out of the box or within one to three months. *I want something
>> reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
>> the Internet (if possible). *Looks like I'll have to go with the
>> concensus. *I looked at reviews for LaCie, Seagate, Hitachi, Western
>> Digital, etc. *Can't find any drive that's consistently rated good.
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I purchased a Hitachi 1tb drive a couple weeks ago. What impresses me
>is that it is very cool and quiet. I have two Maxtor drives and a
>Western Digital also and they all get warm. As for how long the
>Hitachi drive will last, I haven't had it long enough to tell.
>
>Bill

What model did you purchase?

On Thu, 4 Feb 2010 00:58:26 +0000, "Steven L." <>
wrote:

>"" <> wrote in message
>news: :
>
>> I want an external hard drive at least 1TB in capacity. I have been
>> reading the reviews and they are all over the place. Some professional
>> reviewers rate some of them very good but individual users rate them
>> from excellent to poor (on the same drive). Some say thet're quiet and
>> some say they're noisy. Most users say their drive broke down either
>> out of the box or within one to three months. I want something
>> reliable and would like your opinions as well as reviews I can get on
>> the Internet (if possible
>
>The drive may break down prematurely due to excessive heat. A 1 TB
>puppy puts out heat.
>
>I enclosed my 1 TB drive in a VIGOR iSurf II hard drive cooler. This is
>a unit with heat sink fins and its own fans to keep the disk drive cool.
>
>
>--
Cool looking enclosure. Now, what drive would you recommend?