Hard Drive Recommendation

Prior22 · 02-19-2008, 04:08 PM

I'm looking to buy an external hard drive for a production class and am wondering if this model I was recommended is any good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136059

I don't need a huge amount of space (anything around 100 gigs should be enough). Mainly I'm interested in reliability, since I can't afford to lose certain videos. Thanks.

**Fox** · 02-19-2008, 05:54 PM

I wouldn't use that drive, personally- judging by the reviews, it has a relatively high failure rate over a short period of use. >20% of those reviews were failed drives. Now, it's possible that those people just happened to give it a bad review because it stopped working, but honestly I would stay away from it.

Honestly, I would not trust any usb hard drive for very important data that I'm working with often. They are just too slow, too prone to overheating and corruption to get my blessing. If you have a tower PC, I think it would be a better plan to just get a second internal drive for the additional space. And whatever you do, keep two copies of it on separate drives, and don't delete any of it unless you really need the space back. That's a good rule of thumb to go by for any sort of editing.

Prior22 · 02-19-2008, 06:12 PM

Unfortunately an external hard drive is required for the class. So if that model isn't any good is there one that you would recommend instead?

**Fox** · 02-20-2008, 09:37 AM

I own a couple USB hard drives, one of them is a Maxtor 500GB One Touch 4 (this thing). It's a good drive, has been reliable for me so far, but I don't think is your best bet because after it sits idle for a while, it'll go on standby mode and next time you go to access it it'll take about 5 seconds to initialize.

If you have a decent bit of experience with computers- at least enough to know how not to handle a hard drive when it's out of a computer- you can save a good deal of money and get a much more reliable hard drive by buying a USB enclosure and (what would otherwise be) an internal hard drive. That's what I have connected to my machine now. It's ridiculously fast, is constantly ready for action, doesn't have any annoying crapware built into it, and if the enclosure ever conks out on me, I can stick it in my tower to rescue my data until I can find another good deal on an enclosure.

02-19-2008, 04:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
Prior22 Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 125 OS: XP	Hard Drive Recommendation I'm looking to buy an external hard drive for a production class and am wondering if this model I was recommended is any good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136059 I don't need a huge amount of space (anything around 100 gigs should be enough). Mainly I'm interested in reliability, since I can't afford to lose certain videos. Thanks. Last edited by Prior22; 02-19-2008 at 04:10 PM.

02-19-2008, 05:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
Fox TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,752 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	Re: Hard Drive Recommendation I wouldn't use that drive, personally- judging by the reviews, it has a relatively high failure rate over a short period of use. >20% of those reviews were failed drives. Now, it's possible that those people just happened to give it a bad review because it stopped working, but honestly I would stay away from it. Honestly, I would not trust any usb hard drive for very important data that I'm working with often. They are just too slow, too prone to overheating and corruption to get my blessing. If you have a tower PC, I think it would be a better plan to just get a second internal drive for the additional space. And whatever you do, keep two copies of it on separate drives, and don't delete any of it unless you really need the space back. That's a good rule of thumb to go by for any sort of editing. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!

02-19-2008, 06:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
Prior22 Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 125 OS: XP	Re: Hard Drive Recommendation Unfortunately an external hard drive is required for the class. So if that model isn't any good is there one that you would recommend instead?

02-20-2008, 09:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
Fox TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,752 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	Re: Hard Drive Recommendation I own a couple USB hard drives, one of them is a Maxtor 500GB One Touch 4 (this thing). It's a good drive, has been reliable for me so far, but I don't think is your best bet because after it sits idle for a while, it'll go on standby mode and next time you go to access it it'll take about 5 seconds to initialize. If you have a decent bit of experience with computers- at least enough to know how not to handle a hard drive when it's out of a computer- you can save a good deal of money and get a much more reliable hard drive by buying a USB enclosure and (what would otherwise be) an internal hard drive. That's what I have connected to my machine now. It's ridiculously fast, is constantly ready for action, doesn't have any annoying crapware built into it, and if the enclosure ever conks out on me, I can stick it in my tower to rescue my data until I can find another good deal on an enclosure. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!