Which one to pick? [Archive]

hooah

07-23-2007, 01:15 AM

Sound Mind

07-23-2007, 01:34 AM

Well, I've had plenty of Seagates go out on me before.
Samsung drives have been around a while, but they were never popular because they failed so frequently. I've read that Samsung has really improved the quality of their drives (if Anandtech's impressed, so am I), but I haven't heard anything else about just how much better they are now.
But Hitachi, I'm yet to hear a bad thing about. I'm hearing more lately about how they're suddenly a better drive company than all the rest.

However, I've been using WDs for years and have yet to have a failure on a single one of them. I'm at the point where if I'm shopping for drives on Newegg, I click the little "Western Digital" link, 'cuz they're the only brand that matters to me at this point. Any reason you haven't mentioned them?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074

hooah

07-23-2007, 02:13 AM

I am not opposed to WD, its just i hadn't heard anything either way on them...

Sound Mind

07-23-2007, 02:18 AM

Comparable speeds and top-shelf quality. I suggest WD. But that's just me. :-)

blue60007

07-23-2007, 09:46 AM

The Seagate has the best warranty of them all. 5 years. The WD and Hitachi are 3. The Samsung has a whopping 1 year warranty.

Sound Mind

07-23-2007, 10:24 AM

Seagates have a better warranty just because they need them.

Cricket

07-23-2007, 10:48 AM

I've heard that hitachi and samsung are faster than the seagate (which I had picked).

"I'd change the hdd though, get yoursef a Hitachi Deskstar. Better read/seek times. Should be around the same price. If not, go for a Samsung Spinpoint (T166) 320gb, very good drive."

So....
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140

HITACHI Deskstar T7K500 HDT725032VLA360 (0A33435) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145129

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD321KJ 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152054

The Hitachi is actually cheaper as well...Before IBM sold their hard drive division to Hitachi, the Deskstar HDDs had the nickname "DeathStar" and for good reason...many of them died prematurely (I lost a few and I had to replace quite a few between 1998 and 2001...about 15 in total during that time). I think Hitachi improved the Deskstar line but the nickname still applies as I'm still hearing about Hitachi Deskstars dying prematurely.

I've never used Samsung hard drives because of their reputation for making unreliable drives (hard drives and optical drives). They may be worth using now but I think I'll pass until their reputation gets better.

I used Western Digital for about 2 years but had several 80GB WD SE HDDs die on me and had to replace quite a few that died on other people (about 10 WD SEs in a 2 year period) so I'm currently not installing any in the new builds I do.

I've been using Seagate hard drives for about 4 years now and haven't had any problems with the ones in my own computers or the ones I've installed in builds I've done for other people. I think I've installed at least 25 - 30 Seagates in that time and they're all working fine so far. This is the reason I recommend Seagate hard drives...my own experience with them has been very positive.

Between your 3 choices I'd go with the Seagate.

:) Cricket

Dswissmiss

07-23-2007, 11:29 AM

This is why I visit pcmech.com religiously before making any upgrades to my PC. Hardware site reviews such as anadtech are really helpful in terms of understanding features, but they can't really address the issue of reliability as we all people who build computers for customers all day, and see how components hold up months and years down the line.

Sound Mind

07-23-2007, 11:39 AM

Yeah, exactly. That's why I love this forum, too.

I've had good WD experiences, others have had good Seagate experiences. But the common thing appears to be everybody's had bad experiences with Hitachi/Samsung. So, I guess stick with WD or Seagate and you'll be all set.

And NEVER skimp on the PSU. lol

Dswissmiss

07-23-2007, 12:11 PM

And NEVER skimp on the PSU. lol

Yeah, that has certainly been drilled into my head for the past 5 years :)
I have had nothing but good experiences with WD, but with all the recommendations for the Seagate 7200.10 drives I think I might try the switch this time.

blue60007

07-23-2007, 01:02 PM

Seagates have a better warranty just because they need them.
Why would they put a long warranty on a product that doesn't last long?

I've had good experience with Seagate and WD. I've got a Hitachi Desktar in an older machine. It doesn't get much use anymore but when it did I would hear it "click" (sometimes called the "click of death") every now and then. It hasn't died yet but that click worries me it might be on the way out...

I think you're going to find bad drives and failures with just about any brand, but those are my 2 cents..

BeepBeep2

07-23-2007, 01:14 PM

Seagates have a better warranty just because they need them.

Well>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That is dumb...if i was a company that sold bad products...i would give a very short warranty...that way...i wouldnt have to pay for a replacement...i would just make more money!!! BECAUSE poeple would buy another one....

BY THE WAY: IM A PROUD OWNER OF A Seagate.....7200.10 Barri...they compete with WD Raptors...........and have a Better Warranty...and they are 3x cheaper!!!!

SEAGATES RULE!!

TwoRails

07-23-2007, 09:46 PM

Seagate makes good drives. Samsung makes some good products, but their drives have long had a reputation for failure, which I've seen tons of. WD are not bad, but I'd go Seagate first.

Seagate's 5 year warranty means they stand behind their products for that long... and except them to last at least that long.

Sound Mind

07-23-2007, 10:20 PM

Well, based on my rate of success with Seagates, I interpret their warranty as a marketing gimmick. Like most of you are saying, you prefer Seagates because of their longer warranty. A long warranty is a good thing, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee a better product.

But yeah, any drive company's going to make duds. I just happened to get all duds from Seagate and no duds from WD. Luck of the draw more than anything. I still know they're both good companies.

TwoRails

07-24-2007, 12:00 AM

I for one don't buy Seagate for their warranty and I didn't mean to infer I like Seagate due to the warranty.

Cricket

07-24-2007, 03:21 AM

I for one don't buy Seagate for their warranty and I didn't mean to infer I like Seagate due to the warranty.Me either...I've been using Seagate HDDs for the past 4 years because they're been performing well for me so far. But if their quality control starts to go downhill I'll start using some other brand that has a good track record at that time...who knows, that might be Hitachi or Samsung.

I'm not the type to stay loyal to any one brand, I just use what works for me. Over the years I've used Conner, Maxtor, Western Digital, Fujitsu, Quantum, IBM and Seagate hard drives. I'd stick with one brand until I start to get problems with them and then move on to another brand until I start to get problems with that brand. So far I've had a really good experience with Seagate hard drives as none of them have died yet in the 4 years I've been installing them. The only other brand I used that didn't give me problems was Fujitsu. So as long as Seagate hard drives are reliable and don't die prematurely I'll keep using and recommending them.

:) Cricket

glc

07-26-2007, 02:21 PM

Samsungs now have 5 year warranties if I'm not mistaken, but that does not mean that I'll start to use them. I do have a Samsung drive in one of my laptops and it works fine, but I bought it on a closeout just because I needed a cheap drive. I won't put a Samsung in a customer's machine but I will use Hitachi notebook drives if I have to.