What's a good external HDD to buy these days?

Rod Speed wrote:
>
> David Brown wrote:

<edited for brevity>

> > while Win95 OSR2 and Win98SE were solid enough to use if you were
> > reasonably careful.
>
> They were solid enough to use even if you werent.
>
> So was ME if you had even half a clue too.


Albeit, I must admit that Windows Millennium did cause a few minor
headaches, in my roughly 33 months of using it (before I replaced it
with XP, in February of 2007).

One such annoyance (which is well documented, on both Usenet and the
WWW) was its refusal to shut down, gracefully...often, it would just
"hang" there, thus forcing me to employ my computer's power or reset
buttons.

--
Cordially,
John Turco <jtur@concentric.net>

Paintings Pain and Pun <http://laughatthepain.blogspot.com>

John Turco wrote
> Rod Speed wrote
>> Ant wrote

>>> Does Samsung sell 2.5" external HDDs.

>> Yep, mate of mine has just been stupid enough to put one thru the
>> washing machine quite literally. Worked fine when it had dried out.

>>> I remmeber you or someone mentioning them doing good in the past.

>> Yeah, me, Arno and John all like them.

> Okay, Rod...if I'm the "John" that you referred to, above,

You are indeed.

> you were most definitely correct. My present PC has been humming along
> with a pair of Samsung 160GB PATA puppies (SP1614N), since May of 2004.

> Plus, I bought two Samsung 500GB SATA specimens (HD501LJ),
> for my new computer build -- although, I'd dropped one of them,
> from a height of about two feet. While examining it, it simply
> slipped out of my hands and first struck the steel railing of
> my bed, and then landed on a carpeted wood floor.

I've reported you to the RSPCFREDWWD

> This happened in September, 2008, and the online vendor's 1-year
> warranty has already expired. (All of my Samsung hard drives are
> 3.5" OEM models.) I just never got around to trying to exchange
> it; besides, would I have even been >able< to do so, successfully,
> if the HD501LJ has built-in "sensors" of a sort, which recorded
> the traumatic event?

They dont.

> My concern has helped to delay the assembly of my "dream machine."
> I wanted a second HDD for utility purposes, (i.e., video capture
> and DVD "burning") and thus, the other HD501LJ will become
> my main disk (OS/programs/data), by default (no pun intended).

> Now, regarding the subject of this thread (external hard drives). A
> couple of weeks ago, inside a local "warehouse club" store, I saw a
> Western Digital 1TB "My Book Home" (WDH1CS10000N), for approximately
> $110 USD. That thing had gaudy specifications (USB 2.0, FireWire and
> eSATA), at such an affordable price point. I was almost ready to buy
> it, and yet, I was able to resist the temptation.

> Which proved to be a rather wise decision, as my subsequent Googling
> eventually led me to Newegg <http://www.newegg.com>. The customer
> reviews of the WDH1CS10000N were fairly unflattering, there, with
> recurring compliants involving overheating, flakiness and general
> unreliability. (It received 3 out of 5 "eggs," overall.)

> Further searching (via both Google and eBay) uncovered the Samsung
> "Story Station" (HX-DU010EB). This 1TB baby is strictly USB 2.0, but,
> Newegg's reviewers gave it a very solid rating (4 eggs). Unlike its
> WD counterpart, the Samsung product seems to be much less glitzy and
> far more dependable.

> Additionally, it's currently $20 cheaper than the WDH1CS10000N, at
> Newegg ($99.99 vs $119.99).

> Therefore, I'll probably grab the HX-DU010EB, somewhere, after the
> upcoming Christmas/New Year's holidays.

I've been buying 1TB Samsung bare drives and using them in a docking
station for PVR overflow. Up to 5 now. Next will be a 1.5TB drive, better $/GB now.

Havent had a single failure and havent been cruel enough to drop one yet either.

John Turco wrote
> Rod Speed wrote
>> David Brown wrote:

> <edited for brevity>

Why do you only do that to mine ?

>>> while Win95 OSR2 and Win98SE were solid
>>> enough to use if you were reasonably careful.

>> They were solid enough to use even if you werent.

>> So was ME if you had even half a clue too.

> Albeit, I must admit that Windows Millennium did cause
> a few minor headaches, in my roughly 33 months of using
> it (before I replaced it with XP, in February of 2007).

> One such annoyance (which is well documented, on both Usenet and the
> WWW) was its refusal to shut down, gracefully...often, it would just "hang"
> there, thus forcing me to employ my computer's power or reset buttons.

You sure that wasnt SE ?