What Hard Drive To Buy?

[fiercetiger224]

Well, I actually have a few questions. I've searched around online looking for a large hard drive to put into an external case. My range for the size is 200-250 GB.

My first big question is: What's the difference between the Maxtor DiamondMax 9 Plus and the DiamondMax 10 Plus? I assume there is a difference between the cache, 8 MB for the 9 plus and 16 MB for the 10 plus. So does anyone know anything about this?

 

[shadowmoses]

DOn't know the difference but i wouldnt go for a maxtor, not that they are terribly bad its just that brands like seagate and samsung make far better hardrives at simular prices....

Try "newegg" but before you buy make sure you buy the HD with the correct connection that suits your PC either IDE or SATA, sata will be in the newer macs like iMac G5 or Powermac G5's but as you want to use it in an external enclosure i assume it would be a IDE or PATA drive you are after, check the choice out on newegg....

Personally i would opt for a Seagate BArracuda on account they are quiet, reliable and come with a 5yr warranty.

SHadOW

 

[punkbass25]

dont forget about hitachi! they make nice drives aswell

 

[redeye be]

It is my understanding the cache is something like RAM for your disk. If you write something to the disk, it will first write it to the cache, which is much faster then writing on the disk itself, which it obviously will do in the end.

This probably has no effect when writing larger files (8-16+ Mb).

I don't know if it helps with reading the disk.

Someone here will definitely hold the answer , and correct me

 

[wiseguy27]

It is my understanding the cache is something like RAM for your disk. If you write something to the disk, it will first write it to the cache, which is much faster then writing on the disk itself, which it obviously will do in the end.

This probably has no effect when writing larger files (8-16+ Mb).

I don't know if it helps with reading the disk.

Someone here will definitely hold the answer , and correct me

The cache is used for improving read performance too. That's where it counts - for most uses, reads are done more often than writes. During reads, the data read is cached so that subsequent reads may be faster (and probably not need to access the disk again) - note that reads (and caching) on hard drives are always done in multiples of sectors, and since data is most often read sequentially, there would be a good chance that the data already in the cache would likely be the data that's requested in the future.

 

[wiseguy27]

Seagate/Hitachi

Like shadowmoses and punkbass25 said, I would recommend Seagate and Hitachi over Maxtor or WD. Seagate and Hitachi provide 3 year or 5 year warranties on their drives (depending on the model), and a longer warranty generally means more peace of mind. Maxtor and WD give a 1 year warranty on their hard drives (except for a few that have 3 years on WD).

A 8MB cache is pretty much standard in P-ATA drives nowadays. A 16MB cache is even better, although I would personally get a Seagate or Hitachi even if they only had an 8MB cache.

With the best deals now, hard drives in the US cost between 30 cents to 50 cents per GB (anything more is expensive). The capacity you're looking for is also the sweet spot for getting a great deal. Compare prices from the following sites:
http://www.bizrate.com
http://www.pricegrabber.com
http://www.resellerratings.com
http://www.pricescan.com
http://www.pricehead.com
http://www.nextag.com

 

[CanadaRAM]

Make sure you get the full manufacturer's warranty in writing. The retail Seagates have 5 years, the retail Maxtors 3 years, but OEM drives may have only 1 year and "pulls" (drives removed from new PCs and Macs) will have no warranty from the drive manufacturer (because the warranty was to be covered by the PC maker in exchange for a lower wholesale price).

The lowest of the low prices will be pulls and reconditioned ("recertified") drives. Key words to look out for are "Warranty from importer" or "ABC Sales Co. Warranty" -- this is your clue that it doesn't have manufacturer's warranty. Make sure you know what you are buying before you commit.

 

[fiercetiger224]

Thanks guys I've chosen a Hitachi 250 GB HD! Newegg of course always has the best price, and best delivery rate. :-D