250-400 GB external HD help, please!

[kwajaln]

I have been looking into external hard drives in the 250-400 GB range and I have really been having trouble finding what seems to be a good choice. Don't get me wrong - I've found glowing reviews of almost every brand and model, but it's the negative reviews that are the problem. I have never seen so many bad reviews of a "leading" product before. I've looked at the Lacie d2 250GB, the Maxtor One Touch 300 GB, and a few others. The number of failed drives and lost data is alarming! Can someone suggest a good/excellent external hard drive for me, please? Thank you very much!

 

[debroglie]

I've had good experiences with Lacie products

However, I would suggest that you build your own external

 

[Alone2Gether]

Maxtor and Seagate are good. It usually cheaper if you buy an internal HD and a HD enclosure and put it together yourself.

If you just want an external HD, I would recommend a Seagate. I received one as a gift two years ago and it's still strong.

 

[CanadaRAM]

I have been looking into external hard drives in the 250-400 GB range and I have really been having trouble finding what seems to be a good choice. Don't get me wrong - I've found glowing reviews of almost every brand and model, but it's the negative reviews that are the problem. I have never seen so many bad reviews of a "leading" product before. I've looked at the Lacie d2 250GB, the Maxtor One Touch 300 GB, and a few others. The number of failed drives and lost data is alarming! Can someone suggest a good/excellent external hard drive for me, please? Thank you very much!

Every hard drive in the world will fail. Guaranteed.

The people whose drives fail on the leading edge if the Bell Curve get right #^$$=& about it because they probably never made backups and thought they were golden for 5 or more years. So based on a sample size of one, they rant and rave about this or that brand.

Now based on my personal experience and viewing forums, it seems that the Maxtor drives are somewhat more prone to breakdown, LaCie has had some problems with their power supplies. Am I going to pull the Maxtors out of my personal machines? Nope. Am I going to engage in regular backups (no matter what brand of drive)? Yup.

Seagate is my manufacturer of choice. They have 5 year warranties on their Barracuda series. BUT I would not buy a Seagate external finished goods drive, because you then get 1 year warranty. I would buy a good quality external firewire case, and a bare Barracuda 7200.8 drive, and assemble it myself.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[plasticparadox]

Seagate is my manufacturer of choice. They have 5 year warranties on their Barracuda series. BUT I would not buy a Seagate external finished goods drive, because you then get 1 year warranty. I would buy a good quality external firewire case, and a bare Barracuda 7200.8 drive, and assemble it myself.

That's great advice! Thank you.