Upgrading home PC, this is the list from SCAN. Any recommendations or one's to avoid?

120Gb IBM/HGST Deskstar 7K250 ATA-100 (7200rpm 2MB Cache, 8.5ms) 2 yr £61.10
120Gb IBM/HGST Deskstar 7K250 ATA-100 (7200rpm 8MB Cache, 8.5ms) 2 yr £70.44
120Gb Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 (7200rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.5ms) Quiet Drive Technology 1yr £68.09
120Gb Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 (7200rpm, 2MB Cache) Quiet Drive Technology 1yr £64.57
120Gb Western Digital (WD1200PB) Fluid ATA100 (7200rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.9ms) Quiet Drive Technology 3Yr £69.90
123.5Gb IBM/HGST Deskstar 180GXP ATA-100 (7200rpm, 2MB Cache, 8.5ms) ) 1yr £63.39

Thanks

Kevin.

 

I'd go for the Maxtor 8mb. Never had any problems with Maxtor, unlike IBM..

 

I have the WD1200JB - and am very happy with it. Very fast.

 

Not the IBM deathstars One of the others

 

I actually have the IBM model that was supposedly bad - it's still in my other PC now, and is working fine.

 

You're a lucky man then James. Both mine and my dads went in classic Deathstar fashion. I have one of the similar age but unaffected 5400rpm IBM disks thats still going strong. It will however be a long while before I consider buying an IBM disk again.

Deano

 

I'd go with the WD for the 3yr warranty. Personally I don't like Maxtor drives for the weird reason that they use "ATA-133" which isn't an official ATA standard but I am a fussy git

Drives fail, fact of life. Most of the time, failure isn't related to a specific brand or model, except in the case a couple of years ago with IBM. IBM subsequently sold their drive division to Hitachi. There have been no widespread problems with the recent models but people are understandably wary.

 

It was only the IBM Deskstar GXP75 series drives that ever had any problems. Other than that IBM (now Hitachi) drives have an excellent reputation. Personally, I have never had any problem with IBM drives, whereas I have had numerous WD drives fail on me. Also, Search the computer forums for some serious horror stories re: the latest generation Maxtor drives. Pity, 'cos they've always been good in the past.

[Edited by dr_ming - 1/9/2004 8:31:54 PM]

 

I've had 3 deathstars, wount be buying another for along time!!


Whats worse, the first two i got replaced fine, the third (after the sell out to Hitachi) they sent me a reconditioned unit back! [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

 

NEVER buy IBM, I never had so much problems than with deskstar (deathstar made me chuckle by the way).

Personally I would get:

Samsung SpinPoint P80 120gb (quietest drive on the market to date)

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.p...3dbbac8842bf12

Good write ups and just £79, I paid that last year for an 80gog western digi, which makes a racket! But otherwise, not much between maxtor and western digi, but I would go for WD.

[Edited by mynickers - 1/9/2004 9:35:59 PM]

 

Hmmm. Samsung. Didn't they have a class action launched against them recently in the USA for HD failures. Bottom line is, the HD is a mechanical device with reliability to match. Seems everyone here has different (bad) experiences. Moral of the story. Make regular backups

Edited to say: Ooops, sorry it was Fujitsu in the courts, not samsung

[Edited by dr_ming - 1/12/2004 3:43:44 PM]

 

go for the WD coz of the 3-years warranty!

 

Fujitsu got dragged through the courts but I haven't heard anything about Samsung.

I've got two Maxtors in this PC and an IBM in my 2nd. I've recently used a couple of new Samsungs and they are whisper quiet (with 3 year warranty as well).

 

I have the Maxtor 120Gb 7200 8mb cache. Unless I want to fit one in my Harrier Jump Jet I won't be buying another one for its quietness. It's damn quick, but makes a lot of noise, especially on disk seeks. I've recently bought aquiet PC, and all I ever seem to hear is the disk seeks

Just my $0.02
Joolz

 

lol... I've had, I think, three Deathstars fail on me. A couple of Ultra(death)stars, too. I've got a Fujitsu/IBM Ultra- as a replacement, but I can't face using it! It's just sat in it's packaging

By the way, if you look at OverClockers they're selling a 160Gb Maxtor's DiamondMax Plus9 for £69.95 +VAT. Personally, I quite like Seagate drives.

Anyway, FWIW of those listed, I'd go for the Western Digital. Do consider Seagate's IDE Barracuda drives, though. They're also available with an 8Mb cache and 3-year warranty.

[Edited by Fatman - 1/9/2004 11:09:24 PM]

 

Cheers, I'll head over to Overclockers for a look. Steer clear of IBM's then..

Kevin.

 

Fact: computer hardware WILL go wrong, just a case of how long. I have build loads of machines and used various different setups, the one consistant thing is faliure.

As someone mentioned, BACKUP, and also BACKUP, your BACK up, it's a given things go wrong, so if you have things you don't want ot loose, don't relay on one thing to keep it on.

If the hardware doesn't fail, a worm or trojon will get through your defences, this is a reality, sad as it is, it happens. I been caught out many time, and i consider my self a tech-saavy person. I have had primary things go wrong, then the secondary back up! Bad luck, but it is possible.

 

get the WD, best drives you can get. 2nd would be Maxtor.

 

I build loads of computers & normally use maxtor 7200, 8mb

Don't have any probs, good price/product

 

.

[Edited by AndiThompson - 1/11/2004 1:37:47 AM]

 

Very happy with Seagate as a manufacturer. Have also got a 160 WD, and a 250 Maxtor.

They only drive I've ever had problems with is an 8g IBM.

 

I run a couple of samsung 120GB hd's, these things are so quiet you dont even realise they are working except for the hd access led. They use fluid bearings I believe along with seagate. These replaced a couple of 80GB maxtor drives that were loud because of the bearings used, very reliable though.