[vox-tech] External vs. Bare Drive/Case

[Nick Schmalenberger]

On Wed, Sep 01, 2010 at 01:16:25PM -0700, Alex Mandel wrote:
> For those who recall my previous thread, I'm currently searching for
> some backup drives. Based on feedback here, discussions and readings
> external usb drives sound like the way to go (networked via some low
> power mini computer or routerish device).
> 
> Now the hard part, trying to find some reliable hard drives. Looking
> around, it's slim pickings to find 2 TB drives that get decent reviews.
> I'm specifically looking for slow, low-power, reliable,"green" drives.
> 
> I'm fairly settled on getting an external case and putting my own drive
> in it, mostly because I can't find an external with drive that fits the
> needs. None of them list power consumption and seem to have all sorts of
> features I have no interest in paying for. Not to mention the warranty
> is way better if I buy the drive separate.
> 
> What I've found so far is that WD drives at the 1TB range get great
> reviews and WD 2 TB drives only get 50% great reviews, 25%Terrible
> reviews. The best I could find is SAMSUNG EcoGreen F3 HD203WI 2TB 5400
> RPM with 70% great reviews.
> 
> Just looking to see if anyone else has had any experience with drives
> like these.
>
I've often heard that the highest capacity drives available
usually have the most platters and so are less reliable because
of more moving parts, and they are more expensive. I wish newegg
would list the number of platters a drive has, supposedly 4 or 5
is alot and 2 or 3 is a good amount. Sometimes you can find out
from other sites like http://www.storagereview.com/ and 
http://www.redhill.net.au/ also has a lot of cool info about hard
drives.
Nick Schmalenberger