External HDD suggestion/advice needed

[Anupam]

Been thinking of getting an external drive for a friend. The present internal 320 GB SATA Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 has started to fail, and so we are thinking of other alternatives. Its only been a few months, and its a new hard disk, and we have already replaced it once. Since some years, not having good experience with Seagate. I saw on some forums that 7200.11 is not a reliable model, and there are many complaints of it failing.

I have never used an external hard drive, and know very little about it. So, I am asking for advice and suggestions.

Should we go for an external hard drive, or go for another internal one? We will be looking for 500 GB, or more. My friend has to do a lot of video and photo work, since its his profession, and so, he requires a big hard drive.

Are external hard drives reliable? If so, which brands are the most reliable? We won't need to discuss price, just the brand names.

Or, if we should go for another internal hard drive, which one to go for?

If we somehow decide to go for 1TB hard drives, will external be more reliable, or internal?

I am thinking of posting this query on a good hardware forum too. So, if anyone has a suggestion of a good hardware forum, please tell that too .

[Sope]

Unless it's going to be a USB 3.0 or e-SATA external HDD, performance will be much better/quicker with an internal HDD.

In which case my recommendation would be a Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache.
These are highly regarded for speed, reliability and value for money.

[Anupam]

Thanks for the reply Sope .

What is e-SATA?

I have another question. The OS is Win XP SP2. How much capacity can it handle? There are already 250 GB, and 320 GB internal SATA drives connected to the system.

Yea, I was also thinking that performance will be quicker with internal hard drive. That's why I am asking all this, to be sure before we make the decision.

We need a large capacity sturdy drive, which can hold large amount of data, and can handle lots of heavy work like video editing and stuff.

And if we go for lower than 1 TB(maybe because of cost), then you will still recommend the Samsung model? What other recommendations do you have?

[MidnightCowboy]

I have Samsung in both my boxes which were both custom built, plus another in an external shell. My tech swears by them and tries hard not to fit anything else. Never had problems with any of them, use Samsung monitors too.

[Anupam]

Thanks MC . What is the capacity, and the model of those drives?

In two other forums that I posted in, they are saying good things about WD Caviar Black.

Seagate is out of the scene I think . I will have to see whats available at the shop.

[Sope]

Originally Posted by Anupam

What is e-SATA?

This

Originally Posted by Anupam

I have another question. The OS is Win XP SP2. How much capacity can it handle? There are already 250 GB, and 320 GB internal SATA drives connected to the system.

I believe XP SP1 and above supports HDD's larger than 137GB.
As you've already got a 320GB installed you shouldn't have issues if you go bigger.

Originally Posted by Anupam

And if we go for lower than 1 TB(maybe because of cost), then you will still recommend the Samsung model? What other recommendations do you have?

These days (at least in the UK) there's not much price difference between 500GB and 1TB HDD's if you shop around, probably because 1TB is a more in demand and is sold in greater numbers.
I've read that some potential reliability issues with Samsung Spinpoint F2's were sorted with the F3's though the F2 is still a good choice at the right price. In any case I think the Samsung warranty is 3 years.
Whatever you choose, I would suggest going for a minimum of 7200rpm and 16MB cache.

Edit:
WD Caviar Black is a good choice but a bit more expensive.

[Anupam]

Thanks again for the helpful reply Sope.

I don't think the PC has an eSata port. So, I am now inclining more towards the internal hard drive. If there will not be much difference between 500 GB, and 1 TB, then we might go for the latter, since he has heavy use for storage.

I will have to go to the shop, and inquire what models, and what brands are present there. Indian market is quite different, and the things which sell more, are generally available. Seagate HDDs are quite popular. So, I will have to see whats available, and then decide.

From a hardware forum, I got to know that Win XP can support upto 2 TB of individual drives. So, from that respect, all is good.

Most of all, what we will be looking for is reliability, since his work is heavy, and data is precious, and so he cannot afford to lose any of that.

[Sope]

Out of interest I just had a quick look on eBay India and found the Samsung HDD I mentioned for Rs. 4055 - 4351
Equates to about 60 GBP whereas in the UK I can get one online for about 40 GBP.
I'm surprized how much more expensive they are in India, especially as overseas exporters are usually said to refer to the UK as "treasure island"!

[Anupam]

Told you India is a different market.

I searched for price of Samsung HDD in India, but I can't get any . Seems like WD, and Seagate are the ones available. And yes, as you said, WD Caviar is quite expensive. Ultimately, I have to go to the shop and see whats the position.

[Sope]

Originally Posted by Anupam

I searched for price of Samsung HDD in India, but I can't get any . Seems like WD, and Seagate are the ones available. And yes, as you said, WD Caviar is quite expensive. Ultimately, I have to go to the shop and see whats the position.

Sounds as though you'll more than likely be going for Western Digital then.
Currently my preference would be WD over Seagate, though unfortunately you can't be 100% sure of any HDD no matter how good the manufacturer is considered to be.
The way I see it, if the data is valuable and irreplaceable then it has to be backed up no matter what. Add to that a good warranty so it's not too painful if you get a HD failure. Also for your intended use I think it is sensible to go for an internal rather than external drive from a performance and cooling point of view.

Good luck with your search, and let us know which one you settle for.