External Desktop Hard Disk - Maxtor/Seagate/WD?

[Apoorv Khatreja]

I need to get a hard disk for backup and external storage purpose - not needed for portability/transportation of data.My preference order for specs is -1) Storage Capacity (should be >=500GB)2) Real-life Transfer Speeds3) Ease of Connectivity and Available Interfaces (Firewire 400 would be good)I was looking at the Maxtor One Touch 4 (and the plus edition too) and then I saw the FreeAgent models from Seagate, read a few reviews and got mixed opinions. What are your views on this? Opinions on other external HDs?Budget is around 7-8k.

 

[iChaitanya]

Get WD.

 

[manu1991]

I have a 2.5" Maxtor Basics Portable Hard Drive and the build quality is very decent , transfer speeds are also fast , ill suggest a maxtor . Maxtor has been bought by seagate so a maxtor will have a seagate drive inside only . Also if you dont get a good deal you can buy a normal 640/750Gb drive for around 5k along with a casing and build it yourself

 

[rageaddict]

check deltapage.com

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

^ deltapage.com is for Chennai. I live in Delhi.@manu1991 Building casing? Doesn't really sound like a good idea to me! Also the interface - it would be a SATA interface. I need a USB/Firewire interface.Any other opinions?

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

I am checking this drive out and it has generally positive reviews. Moreover it also has both USB and Firewire interface options. But I can't get hold of a price in India. Anybody knows where to look?

And also, where do I go if I have problems with this drive? I mean do we have after-sales service for Maxtor products in India?

 

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[viralbug]

a western digital mybook home edition. not sure about the prices, but 500gb will cost around 5.6k and 750gb for 7.5k i guess.what i suggest is get a western digital/seagate 3.5" internal hard disk and buy a separate decent casing for it. the external drives are actually just internal drives with a casing around it. its not a big deal, you just have to fit the hard disk inside and your done.internal WD 750gb hard disk 5kdecent casing 1.5-2k. coolermaster xcraft is a decent casing. if available try to search for vantec casings, they are the best. dont try to go for cheap chinese casings, although i dont think you would find cheapo casings with firewire.the advantage here would be that, if you buy an external hard disk, it will have a 3 year warranty. if you buy an internal hard disk and casing separately, you will have 5 years warranty on the hard disk. casing isnt much of a problem than preserving your hard drive.i would suggest to stay away from maxtor. its not that its bad, but seagate and WD are definitely better hard disks so stick to these. i would suggest WD for quality and excellent service if you face a problem later on.

 

[Apoorv Khatreja]

Where can I get the casing from in Delhi? What kind of warranties are offered on the casing (I would want some warranty if I'm paying 1-2k)? And any particular brand for casing?And doesn't use of an internal hard disk in external conditions affect its performance? I mean internal drives are usually not moved around a lot, but since this one would be on my table, so I would pick it up and move it here and there, maybe even drop it. I thought that external HDs were somehow more resistant to environmental factors.

 

[appus]

If you want to drop it, even the built in casing will not help you !

Even you buy the built in casing, the hard drive inside will be the same 3.5" Hard drive ! Only thing is it has some chip in casing which can function as One Touch Backup with the help of softwares.

Maxtor, i lost the hard drive in just 1 1/2 year. Better go for Seagate with 5 year warranty. Get an Aluminium SATA casing with USB n Firewire !

I think they give 1 year warranty for Casing.. Normal SATA casing without Firewire (just USB) costs around 400-500 ! Firewire one will be definitely costlier

I had used thisone from india and Maxtor Onetouch from Outside. I didnt like Maxtor Onetouch because we need to install the software in all the PCs to use Onetouch backup function (if you have more pc's to be backed up) ! :redface:

as someone suggested above, buy a good casing... you will be definitely saving 2-3K easily having better warranty !!

 

[viralbug]

head over to nehru place in delhi.casing i have already mentioned coolermaster xcraft is one that i know of. vantecs are the best, if you can get hold of one. warranty would mostly be 1 year, but could be 2 years also.im not sure what casings are available there, you might just have to ask for a decent one. most reputed shop in nehru place is smc international. computer empire is also a good one.ok i didnt know that seagate provided 5 years warranty also on their external hard drives. WD provides only 3 years.in that case i would suggest you to go for seagate free agent pro. dont know about the prices though. but it will be costlier.