.:Maxtor:. or .:Western Digital:.

[i3OSS]

I have seen both drives with the similar deals and they look pretty much the same to me. BUT which one would be better for the 8mb cache drives?

[bailey]

maxtor gets my vote

[Force Flow]

WD gets my vote. I've had 4 of them, and they have all performed quite well. They are fast and extremely quiet. ;)

[DrZaius]

Either, I've used both Maxtor and WD drives with no problems. Just stay away from IBM. ;)

[Nuclear Krusader]

I second DrZ opinion. I have an IBM DeskStar and it's running nicely, but it's from the era when they were made by IBM. Now that they are made by another company they have changed name: they are now DeathStars. ;)

[cmillion]

I vote for Maxtor cause that's what's in this PC.

[Spyda]

WD, fast, quiet, nice

nothing to do with the fact i have one, none whatsoever ;)

[Hot Rod]

Maxtor. I've had them in my builds and have been very happy with them.

[TwoRails]

Both are good, but I run only Maxtors.

TwoRails

[glc]

They are both equivalent quality drives, but whatever you choose, go for one with a 3 year warranty. The WD "SE" (JB) drives have a 3 year, the only Maxtors that have a 3 year are the retail boxes that specifically say 3 year on them - and the new Maxline drives that start at 250 gigs.

[Bushtree]

WD gets my vote

[Redo40]

Both are good drives. I prefer WD, they have been quieter than the Maxtor's that I have used.

[i3OSS]

WOAH, seems like a 50/50 to me. anyone one know the life expectancy on these bad boys are?

[Fastfly]

Spec wise the Maxtors do use ATA133 and I believe the WDs dont so that should give the Maxtors an Upper hand but that will still be unnoticable.

[LawyerRon]

I tend to use WD more lately but both have given me good results; flip a coin.

[Force Flow]

Originally posted by Fastfly
Spec wise the Maxtors do use ATA133 and I believe the WDs dont so that should give the Maxtors an Upper hand but that will still be unnoticable.

The ATA133 over the ATA100 is mainly just a sales gimmick. Not much of a difference at all.

[plumerjr]

I've got maxtors in both of my computers and haven't run into problems with either one.

[Tuf]

I think I have used everything but Maxtor over the years. I have really good luck with the JB series Western Digitals. I may be wrong but I think Maxtor's better drives are by reputation a little quieter. Either one should be a good choice.

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by Redo40
Both are good drives. I prefer WD, they have been quieter than the Maxtor's that I have used.

I think it might be the proverbial luck of the draw, as in my experiences, Maxtors have been the more quite drives! Maybe it's the old, 'if it was made on a Monday" thing... Don't know.

TwoRails

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by Fastfly
Spec wise the Maxtors do use ATA133 and I believe the WDs dont so that should give the Maxtors an Upper hand but that will still be unnoticable.

I've not benched the WD / Maxtors side by side, but I have benched the Maxtor ATA 100 and ATA 133s in the same machine, and yes, the ATA 133s are faster. And, of course, the ATA 133 8MB cache's are still faster yet!

TwoRails

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by i3OSS
WOAH, seems like a 50/50 to me. anyone one know the life expectancy on these bad boys are? Both makers state their MTBF, but can't remember them off hand. I've used Maxtor exclusively for at least 15 years and can say I've never "worn one out"!

When I upgrade, I put the smallest one I have around into a spare parts build or the like. My sister's machine has my old 20 giger in it (it was one of the first ones out) and it's still running like a charm.

TwoRails

[Redo40]

Originally posted by TwoRails
I think it might be the proverbial luck of the draw, as in my experiences, Maxtors have been the more quite drives! Maybe it's the old, 'if it was made on a Monday" thing... Don't know.

TwoRails


Yeah, I agree with you on that one TwoRails!

[ammo]

are seagates any good?

[whargoul]

Maybe the fluid bearing Maxtors are quiet, but I've got a non-fluid-bearing and its a loud bugger when seeking.

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by whargoul
Maybe the fluid bearing Maxtors are quiet, but I've got a non-fluid-bearing and its a loud bugger when seeking. JUst curious, whargoul, but how old is it?? Is the noise present only when it's working hard? What type of noise is it??

[haggisinlondon]

Must agree with ibm complaint. My brother had one and it gave endless hassles. he now has a WD and no problems since.

[Confused]

Between those two, price and availability would be deciding factor.
Chas

[glc]

I hear that the new Seagates are good drives, but with their recent history, it's gonna be a while before I trust them again. Also, supposedly the new IBM 120GXP drives are good, our builder is using the 40 gig 2mb cache version of that one and we haven't had a bad one yet.

I personally will stick with WD at the present time, but if I need to I would trust a Maxtor.

[whargoul]

I bought the drive about 3 months ago, though who knows exactly how old it is since it was one with a 3 year warrenty. And yes I mean it's somewhat noisy when say loading up a game or a few programs at once. Right now sitting idle it's fine.

[TwoRails]

Hi whargoul,

Some / most Maxtors can be put into two modes: faster, but noisier, and quite but slower. You can find the utility that switches between the two at Maxor's site. If that doesn't change the noise, and you feel the noise is excessive or abnormal, Maxtor's tech support / return routine is very good, so drop them an email.

TwoRails

[i3OSS]

Between:
MAXTOR 80.0GB DX6Y080L0 EIDE ULTRA-ATA 133 8.5MS 7200RPM 2MB BUFFER (Bare drive) $96.00

WD 80GB 800JB EIDE ULTRA-ATA/66-100 8.9MS 7200RPM 8MB BUFFER (Bare drive w/3-yr warranty) Detail Specs(*Limit 1pc/customer) $99.00

Which one is more quiet? which one would you choose?

[Force Flow]

I would go for the WD because it has a larger cache.

The price difference at access speed are almost neglagable.

Quiet? They should both be quiet, that is, WD's are quiet when build on a Monday and Mators on a Wednesday. :p :D

[TwoRails]

Hi i3OSS,

Where did you get those specs and prices? Maybe I'm tired, but the specs don't seem to match up somehow.... The Maxtor Ultra should also have a 3 yr war., but you don't indicate it. Also, the price spread between a 2MB Maxtor and 8MB WD is normally much greater than that. Heck, even with both being 8MB models, the Maxtor is normally a lot less. With the prices being that close, they may both be 8MB models, or the Maxtor may not be an Ultra, just a regular '9' series...

TwoRails

[glc]

TR: The ONLY Maxtor IDE drives that still have a 3 year warranty are the retail boxes that are specifically marked - ALL of the bare OEM drives are 1 year except the Maxline - which is a 250 gig drive.

Warranty At-A-Glance
Service & Warranty Information
Effective October 1, 2002, Maxtor will implement the following Standard Worldwide Warranty Policy:

Maxtor Fireball™, DiamondMax® and DiamondMax Plus ATA drives will carry a Standard Warranty Period of 1 year.
Maxtor MaXLine™ ATA premium drives will carry a Standard Warranty Period of 3 years.
Maxtor Atlas™ SCSI drives will carry with a Standard Warranty Period of 5 years.

Effective October 1, 2002, Maxtor branded retail ATA drives will carry a Standard Warranty Period of 1 year, unless otherwise indicated by Maxtor on the retail packaging.
Limited warranties apply to the geographies in which originally sold by a Maxtor authorized channel reseller.
The Standard Warranty Period may be subject to variations imposed by local law or regulations.
Standard Warranty Period effective as of October 1, 2002.

[TwoRails]

Hi glc and Everybody,

(Note: been up almost 24 hours and had a few beers, so sorry if I have any typos and the like...)

I don't know about OEM Maxtor warranties, because I buy retail for the simple fact I get them cheaper locally on sale than I can buying OEM online (even at Newegg). I haven't bought an OEM Maxtor in years. I am not disputing what Maxtor's Web site sez, which you have quoted. What I am saying is that I can still walk into the local Best Buy and look at any Maxtor on the shelf: and they all say, as you mention on the retail box, 3 year warrantee. This was true as of two weekends ago.

I can't remember off hand the release dates (I am quite tired) but I'm certain that most of the drives I've purchased since October of last year are new models and not old stock. Each has a 3 year warrantee. My latest purchase is a 120 giger with an 8MB cache, which, I'm certain, was released well after Oct. It has a 3 year warrantee.

I also don't feel that the warrantee is even an issue to a large extent. How many people buy OEM CPUs with only a 30 day warrantee? Or other items with only a 30 day or 1 year warrantee? They don't complain. I would still buy Maxtor even if the box said only 1 year warrantee. Maxtor is an excellent drive, which most will admit even if they are WD fans. I admit that WD is a good drive even though I would not own one. I would not and do not base my purchase decision on 1 year versus 3 year warrantee. I base my decision on what has reliably worked for me for the last 15 or more years.

Even though I don't buy WD, I would not, not recommend the drive on the sole basis that it had "only" a 1 year warrantee (which it doesn't) nor would I do the same for Maxtor. If the decision to buy were based only on warrantee, as mentioned above, then nobody would buy an OEM CPU when the retail warrantee is much more. My decision to buy Maxtor is based on personal track record, reviews, track records of those that recommend the drive, and so on. I encourage people to buy WD if that is what they want. A good friend of mine is building his first box and asked me what HD to get. I told him Maxtor or WD. He bought a WD due to the price of the drive on sale after rebate. I told him good choice. I would have said the same if he bought a Maxtor.

Either drive is a good drive.

Just my $0.02

TwoRails

PS: i2OSS's post still doesn't add up for me, as the 120 giger w/ 8MB cache and 3 year warrantee cost me only $129 in the retail box at Best Buy.

[glc]

All I was doing is making sure that correct info was being posted, not "recommending" on the basis of warranty alone.

Of the 2 that were mentioned, I'd recommend the WD because it has more cache - the extra warranty is just frosting on the cake.

[ghost_of_war]

I vote for WD all the way...

[whargoul]

Yes, thanks for the tips. The noise doesn't bother me that much, and it doesn't sound abnormal. Just thought I would point it out.

[i3OSS]

i got the prices at MWAVE.com i think...