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What brand has the best external hard drives? One that is reliable, won't get damaged, good quality, etc.. I am looking for one with at least 300 GB that works with Windows 7.
What brand has the best external hard drives? One that is reliable, won't get damaged, good quality, etc.. I am looking for one with at least 300 GB that works with Windows 7.
The two cheapest hard drives, one used as a backup of the other are more reliable than the most expensive, most reliable hard drive. The probability of both of the cheapies failing is less than the probability of the best hard drive failing. So, I just backup everything (photos, data files, personal files, irreplaceable stuff etc) on a second hard drive.
There is no best, any brand is just as likely to fail as another. Get one that's a decent price with a good warranty. Hard drives have no operating system requirements, there is no such thing as a Windows XP or Windows 7 compatible hard drive, any drive can be used with Windows, OSX, Linux, etc.
Do you have any evidence that there is any significant difference between the two at an apples to apples comparison?
Not likely, as there are none. Been using Seagate for years in my PC builds for clients, no significant issues, less than one failure per year. Also use WD sometimes, no issues either.
AFAIK, there are only four manufacturers of 3.5" hard drives left, and it's about to become two, with Samsung and Hitachi selling their businesses to Seagate and Western Digital respectively. If I was going to run the external drive 24x7, I would look for an enclosure with a big fan that kept the drive cool, even if it was loud. Heat is a killer of hard drives, and some cheap enclosures don't keep the drive cool enough for reliable 24x7 operation. You'll pay a lot more for a good external enclosure plus internal hard drive, compared to those packaged external drives with cheap plastic enclosures, but they would be my choice if maximum reliability under 24x7 usage was important.
Seagate has had a few widely publicized recalls, and some people have experienced much higher failure rates than the raw data would predict. Understandably, those people shy away from Seagate.
It's like an old Ford vs. Chevy argument. They both do the same thing, cost about the same, etc. etc.
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