Which Brand --- Hard Drive ??

[Dr Mordrid]

And be careful of getting HDD's from the CompUSA in Dearborn, MI. I think they shoot baskets with the damned things in that store, or at least that's what it looked like :-P

Dr. Mordrid

[Technoid]

Originally posted by Jkun
All IMHO but...

Reading through this and the linked thread, I think it's safer not to use HDs but go back to paper and pencil instead

I have had many IBMs, before the 120GXP series. All worked like a charm. Many I sold to friends that did not fare well. I used Fujitsu for years in one PC and a laptop. No problems at all, yet many complain about them. WD gets the worst critisism here, I have 6 running nearly 24/24 without as much as a hickup. Recently I got a Maxtor 120Gb because it was the only one in stock. No problems. My next purchase will be 4 Samsung 120GBs, and I am certain they will fare well too.

The reason? Of all the PCs I got in for repairs and which had bad HDs, the reason of the HD failure was obvious: either overheat through no or poor cooling, or poor handling (I can build a wall with HDs failing because these guys drag their PCs to lan-parties & throw their PCs around, or they have loud speakers on their desk which cause the entire desk to powerfully vibrate in low frequencies, or beginners who build their own PC and think it's OK to slam their HDs on the desk when they unpack them.)

Almost all HD failures are _user_ errors.

- actively cool your HDs, even those 5400rpm models. The maximum operating temperatures of HDs is only a few degrees above most (uncooled/cooled via ATX PSU fan only) PC cases insides out there, especially with those hot P4s and Athlons.

- don't rattle your desk or PC when your HD is running or not, keep loudspeakers and other vibrating things away from your PC. And check if your CPU cooler isn't turning your case into a woofer.

- remember, HDs are static sensitive too, not just mainboards and memory.

- handle with care. Putting the HD on its long edge and toppling it to fall on its flat surface will cause over a 100Gs of acceleration when it hits the desk! It's easy to damage a HD through rough handling.

J-kun

Coulden't agree more

Remembered once when the CPU HS was against the HDD cage

Guess if the HDD was dead

[K6-III]

That's why I like Seagate's 350G shock on thier IDE series and the 1000G shock on the SCSI series....

[wkulecz]

Doc, the rebadged Quantum's are no surprise, as theat was a well publicized deal.

What they sent me as an RMA replacement had a Maxtor label overtop the IBM label except where the jumper settings were!

Maxtor/Quantum jumper layout is much simpler than what IBM was using -- this drive jumpers as an IBM! I was surprised by this which is why I mentioned it as I'd heard nothing of any Maxtor-IBM hard drive deals. I know that IBM sold its drive operation, but not to Maxtor.

--wally.

[dZeus]

did Maxtor send you this drive? or did the retailer you got the drive from?

Maxtor sending IBM drives, that's a first!

[Dr Mordrid]

No s**t, unless they got 'em in a closeout deal and used them for replacements.

Dr. Mordrid

[Prospero]

I'm all IBM in my current systems. I did have a 75GXP die, but my 60 and 120GXPs have been working like champs. I guess I got Lucky.

[Dr Mordrid]

Luck isn't the word. If I were you I'd re-think keeping them before The (IBM) Tempest lands on Prospero's head

Dr. Mordrid

[DentyCracker]

I can vouch for Maxtor as well. Never had a problem except with a SCSI LXT213SY in 1992, which I think fell anyway. In fact my 20 GB HD that is now in my sister's machine fell out of my bag at heathrow airport. I was horrified as it made quite a loud thwack. No problems at all with it. Working like a champ. Have a 540DX in my machine and it is great.

[wkulecz]

Direct RMA to Maxtor of a 60GB 5400 RPM Maxtor. I recieved an IBM drive with a Maxtor label overtop the IBM label -- it didn't cover the bottom part where the jumper settings are which made it easy to see it was a second label.

If you've ever seen an IBM drive and a Maxtor drive there is no mistaking their different jumper arragnements!

My main point is I don't think we can count on any maker right now to really be paying as much attension to quality as they should be -- the emphesis on price is way too much. IMHO the drop to 1 yr warrenty bodes ill.

--wally.

[goldstein]

Actually I was thinking about Western Digital 80gig with the 8mb cache - fastest ATA drives frome what I have seen reviewed. I wonder if they are fast enough to use for full screen capture, I'd like to get away without going with a raid array.

[Marshmallowman]

some of the WD SE's still carry a 3 year warranty,

[wkulecz]

As do some of the Maxtors.

My point being you might want to check before buying!

--wally.

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by wkulecz
But Maxtor seems to be selling a bunch of rebadged IBM drives.

--wally.

are you sure about this?

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
Nope. Maxtor is selling rebadged Quantum drives because they bought Quantums HDD unit last year.

Dr. Mordrid

That's what I thought...Quantum Fireballs.