LaCie external drive?

So my LaCie 1TB drive finally arrived and I have been using it for the past 2-3 days.

I set up 2 partitions on the drive. One in Mac OS Extended Journaled for Time Machine backups and another in FAT for Media so I can use it between Mac and Windows.

I noticed that when backing up files it makes a kind of grinding sound every time. A bit loud..also when I wake it from "sleep" it is a loud wake up. Is the drive failing already or is this normal?

Anyone have this drive and can tell me their thoughts?

no ideas? what 1TB external drive do most people use?

I am thinking of returning this and getting the Toshiba since my last drive was one and is still working.