Best External Hard Drive?

Slimane wrote on 7/15/2004, 12:23 PM
I only gathered bits and pieces in this forum. Redirect me to a post if you think this as been covered. Thanks!

I am a PC user and from what I gather I need a second hard drive that will be dedicated to video capture to solve my frame drop issues.

I have been looking around for a great drive but it seems like they all have one major con. Matrox heats up, Lacie can die when the PC goes into sleep mode, etc...

What external hard drive do you use? Are you really happy with it?

Thanks a bunch.

Comments

Sab wrote on 7/15/2004, 12:29 PM
We use the Maxtor "One Touch" external drives with USB2. Heavy day to day use. Never a problem. Never a dropped frame even on very long captures.

Keep in mind all of this is subject to your system being set up properly. If not, no external drive will work properly.

Mike
Mandk wrote on 7/15/2004, 1:44 PM
I use both Maxtor (1) and Western Digital Externals (3).

One of the Western Digitals died and needed replaced. No big deal using the warranty replacement system on their web site. Other than losing about an hour of captured and partially edited video. Always keep a copy of your veg file on a different drive.

The maxtor has not given me any problems. I did have a maxtor internal give out though. Promptly replaced by the warranty replacement system on their web site.

I was amazed in both instances how easy it was to replace the drived. Enter the serieal number, get an RMA and the drive appears majically in a few days. Great service.
JL wrote on 7/15/2004, 1:57 PM
WD2500B007-RNN

Pros:
Firewire or USB2.0 connections
No dropped frames capturing many, many hours to this drive via IEEE 1394
Completely sealed low profile case only gets warm to the touch
Neon lights inside the transparent case to remind you it’s running.

Cons:
No on/off switch
Need to “safely remove hardware” if powering off while computer is running.

JL


TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/15/2004, 2:29 PM
I use a WD80gb drive in a HD external case. Nothing fancy, but I got the external enclosure seperate & it does USB 1.1, 2 & firewire. It can also hold up to 360gb. :)

I'd recomend doing it that way... then you can always upgrade your external w/o buying a whole new unit!
kentwolf wrote on 7/15/2004, 2:36 PM
>>...Enter the serieal number, get an RMA and the drive appears
>>majically in a few days...

Wow!

Sounds like they've come a long way in the last 10 years.

Thanks for the info. Good to know.
swarrine wrote on 7/15/2004, 4:17 PM
We have the best luck with Lacie. We have 80, 160 and 250. No problems.

All of our computers do not go to sleep ever. First thing we do to them. Now if getting rid of XP crap was just as easy...
Slimane wrote on 7/15/2004, 4:49 PM
Sounds like Western Digital and Lacie will do best for me. I was also able to get lots of tips from the Vegas and the VideoGuys folks to improve performance and quality.

Vegas rocks, and I'm having a blast... Keep the pros and cons flowing if need be!

Thanks all.
InterceptPoint wrote on 7/15/2004, 5:02 PM
My 250 GB Maxtor "One Touch" has been flawless running everyday for well over a year. It is my capture drive. Love it.

I have used it via the Firewire and the USB 2.0 port. I prefer the stability of USB and that is how I am now using it. I have always had Firewire problems with my machine and camera but I don't think any of them were related to the Maxtor. You should be safe with either a Firewire or USB version but getting one that has both is a good idea.

Waiting for the price to come down to $150 to buy another one. (I may have a long wait.)
Slimane wrote on 7/15/2004, 5:04 PM
InterceptPoint,

Does your Maxtor heat up? I have seen that mentioned many times, and that makes me wary despite the rave reviews everywhere.
Jessariah67 wrote on 7/15/2004, 5:51 PM
Check out the Buslink FW/USB2 drives. No power switch, but I've got two and have had zero problems with them. STAY AWAY from ADS Pyro sleeves. They are very hit and miss (with Vegas). Work fine otherwise.
Cheno wrote on 7/15/2004, 6:30 PM
Seagate here.. never a problem except with one 9 gig scsi that sat on a shelf for awhile.

I hear really good things about the WD SATA drives... no experience personally with them though.

Mike
ken c wrote on 7/15/2004, 7:56 PM
I only trust western digital, they've always been terrific, the 180gig ones etc

ken
Caruso wrote on 7/15/2004, 9:59 PM
I have a combination of Maxxtor drives and WD drives - freely interchanged/installed internally, externally, using both ADS Pyro kits and the Maxtor enclosures (although the Maxtor enclosures aren't "designed to be opened" I pop them open to swap drives all the time.

The Ads Pyro's have an internal fan, and there is more space between the top of the case and the drive (not to mention too layers of metal between the drive and your hand when you touch the case), so, it's hard to say how hot a drive gets in that enclosure.

Drives placed in the Maxtor enclosures (Maxtor or WD) do run hot to the touch, but, then again, there is very little insulation between the drive and the case.

On a couple of instances when I hurredly swapped drives into/out of the Pyro cases, the drive being removed was too hot to hold if not given a chance to cool down.

This leads me to believe that the Maxtor heat thing is a bum rap - that all drives run hot, except that, in most installations, you don't get at the drive fast enough to experience just how hot it runs.

As for reliability, I had read that the "tail piece" of most firewire enclosures, and especially those by Maxtor, were prone to failure.

Sure enough, one of my ADS cases died - any drive inserted would not be recognized by my system. I called ADS, and, although I had no proof of purchase, they sent me a new case at no charge - great service.

Then, my Maxtor enclosures started acting up as well. In one instance, the drive was corrupted so that I could not access it - Windows kept complaining that it needed formatting - and it contained valuable data that I had not backed up. I called their tech support, and was told again the tail piece was suspect.

I was able to retrieve my data using a program - "GETDATABACKNOW" that I downloaded from the net - copied the data to a new drive, reformated per Window's erroneous request, and then, lo and behold, read on this board about a known Windows issue that sometimes caused external firewire drives not to enumerate. The solution, also explained on this board, was to download and install Windows SP2.

I did that, and have had not one single problem with any of my external enclosures since - so, I'm guessing that, perhaps, again, some of the bad experiences reported against Maxtor and their enclosures is unfairly (if unwittingly) attributed to the drive maker or its enclosures.

I would heartily endorse either Maxtoor or WD, and either ADS Pyro or Maxtor's enclosures.

Caruso