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

[Nick Schmalenberger]

On Wed, Sep 01, 2010 at 01:56:35PM -0700, Nick Schmalenberger wrote:
> 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.
I imagine when these drives come out
http://www.waybeta.com/news/34364/single-platter-667g-samsung-released-three-disc-2tb-samsung-green-hard-drives-news-_/
they will be pretty great.