[hl0m4n]

i have a 250gb wd external hard drive which i have used for 5 years and is finally full. i have had no issues with the drive whatso ever and still runs like a champ.

with these new 1tb+ external hard drives it really seems to be hit or miss and more size = more chances of something failing. im leaning towards wd again and their element 1.5tb hard drive for $70. only thing i don't like about it is there is no activity light.

i looked at fantom but really, the company aint that big and the drive doesn't seem to be reliable.

any recomendations/thoughts?

[JayKay335i]

WD is always a solid choice. The bigger the drive, the more shit you lose when it fails. Everything fails eventually. My most important stuff (my documents folder) I save to a cloud based service. Then run time machine onto a 500G 2.5" portable drive. Then I've got another 1TB drive for my PC to backup movies, music, media server shit.

[solefald]

I bought a 1.5Tb Seagate FreeAgents couple of years ago on a crazy sale at Fry's for $100.
Still works fine.

[Feyd]

I just got a Seagate free agent 1.5TB USB 3.0 drive a week or so back... Don't have a ton of experience with it yet, but seems to be working really well for me so far. There was an instant rebate at Office Depot and I paid something like $130 OTD. I needed it in a hurry which is why I went to a brick and mortar store.. Probably can find it for less online.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...ble-hard-drive

I just have it plugged directly into my Netgear router for use as network backup. I was (and still am until I can transfer the data to the new drive) using a 500 GB Apple time-capsule. I've been wanting to phase it out for a while because it has always been buggy, has shitty transfer speeds, and runs as hot as the sun (heats up my media cabinet and crashes my fucking cable box).

Anyway... Seagate FTMFW (until I know better. LOL)

[JayKay335i]

Also remember that most 3.5" will also require a power source

2.5" if you want to go portable.

[solefald]

Originally Posted by Feyd

I was (and still am until I can transfer the data to the new drive) using a 500 GB Apple time-capsule. I've been wanting to phase it out for a while because it has always been buggy, has shitty transfer speeds, and runs as hot as the sun (heats up my media cabinet and crashes my fucking cable box).

Hot as hell... yes.
All other comments - lolwut?

[CollinsE90]

I have a 1 TB WD portable, works fine and has a light that blinks when running. Only issue I had with it is because it is so big my xbox wouldn't recognize it, so I had to dual format it with a FAT32 folder to play movies(Thanks to a certain member on here)

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by solefald

Hot as hell... yes.
All other comments - lolwut?

?

[JayKay335i]

Even PS3 only supports fat32 from what I've seen. Fat 32 only supports up to 4gig file sizes. Doesn't help with 6-15g bluray files. Gay.

[BTM]

Have 2TB WD Sharespaces at home and work, only had for a year or so but have been reliable thus far.

[solefald]

Originally Posted by Feyd

?

i've had a TC and a bunch of my friends are using them also. Being the guy they usually call with computer issues, I am yet to hear a single complaint about TC being buggy or any throughput issues. [And yes, I am aware that the early batch had power supply problems, but I did not encounter any of the faulty ones yet].

The only reason I sold my TC's is to upgrade to Synology DS410, because i wanted RAID5 and larger capacity.

[CollinsE90]

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

Even PS3 only supports fat32 from what I've seen. Fat 32 only supports up to 4gig file sizes. Doesn't help with 6-15g bluray files. Gay.

Mine supports more than 4gig files, I have up to 8 gig TV seasons, but only can get 32 total gigs worth of playable files, so I made a 32gig folder to put stuff I was about to watch, and another huge folder just for storage

[JayKay335i]

Just run ps3mediaserver.

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by solefald

i've had a TC and a bunch of my friends are using them also. Being the guy they usually call with computer issues, I am yet to hear a single complaint about TC being buggy or any throughput issues. [And yes, I am aware that the early batch had power supply problems, but I did not encounter any of the faulty ones yet].

The only reason I sold my TC's is to upgrade to Synology DS410, because i wanted RAID5 and larger capacity.

Oh man... it is fucking painful to transfer large files/directories to or from my TC. Direct wired/wireless/anything... we're talking like 1-3 MB per second MAX.

I've read up on forums.. updated firmware/cables/routers/changed computers, etc... nothing has helped speed things up.

[The_DDub]

I have such bad experiences with external HDDs, I don't ever put critical data on them UNLESS I know it is somewhere else safe.

Carbonite.com FTW.

[rodi]

that elements 1.5tb drive does have an activity light. I have one of them and three elements 2tb drives for redundancy backup of all my video projects.

[ragingclue]

I've had a couple bad run-ins with Seagate drives and have used exclusively WD ever since. I don't know if they've gotten better (Seagate) in the past few years since I stopped using them, or if my failures were an isolated incident, but the impression I've received from guys I've talked to who see a lot of drives is that WD hold up better. Also, I don't like 2.5" externals unless the portability is a big thing. I've had bad experiences with those and failure rates higher and more severe than externals with the 3.5" non-USB-powered drives. I guess I just hate the notion of trying to power a HDD out of a USB connection.

[ddigangi]

i use a first generation 1tb western digital and i have never been happier

i keep all of my...

-photos
-videos
-design resources
-fonts
blah blah blah

about 800 gigs or so

[solefald]

Originally Posted by Feyd

Oh man... it is fucking painful to transfer large files/directories to or from my TC. Direct wired/wireless/anything... we're talking like 1-3 MB per second MAX.

I've read up on forums.. updated firmware/cables/routers/changed computers, etc... nothing has helped speed things up.

That is ODD... Perhaps a bad drive?
Have to tried re-initializing it through the AirPort Utility?
What happens of you hook up a USB drive and share that? Same performance issue?


I have never seen an issue like that.

[.:bHd:.]

If you're scared about the hard drive failing just get a 2TB that supports raid 1. It will mirror the exact same data so if one of the drives fail, you still have the other one.

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by solefald

That is ODD... Perhaps a bad drive?
Have to tried re-initializing it through the AirPort Utility?
What happens of you hook up a USB drive and share that? Same performance issue?


I have never seen an issue like that.

I have tried everything... and other drives work well actually.


It's clearly the Timecapsule and I tried to get it replaced/repaired, etc. a couple years ago but eventually gave up trying to get things resolved through Apple. FWIW it's one of the first gen versions. I'm sure the newer ones work way better.

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by .:bHd:.

If you're scared about the hard drive failing just get a 2TB that supports raid 1. It will mirror the exact same data so if one of the drives fail, you still have the other one.

^ what is the drive called as i can't seem to find it on newegg...

if the drive does fail, is there anyway to get the data on it back or is it completely gone?

im thinking i should get x2 500gb externals as to just one big 1.5tb drive.

i dont like the external drives with on/off switch cause i think each time you do it it puts a strain on the drive. i like wd as they turn on/off with the computer and when not in use just goes in sleep mode.