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So, I've had two Seagate portable hard drives from Maplins now and both were faulty. I thought it was me as I don't really understand computer stuff, but I (hubby) tested them and they both failed at 10% into the test. I use Windows 7 64 bit, but previously when I used Windows XP 32 bit I never had a problem.
Someone recommended Samsung drives but apparently they don't make them any more. Does anyone have any suggestions re a reliable portable hard drive as I don't want to keep treading the same path.
Cheers, Chris
Western Digital have a good reputation in portables, Though many complain about the software that comes with them, That said there is no obligation to use the supplied software, Plus it may have improved since I last dealt with it, My dealings where with a desktop unit, The drive is fine and I just ignore the software, 2 years down the line and the drive is still good though....
The other brand that gets named as ok is " Freecom " , No personal experience of them but a pal of mine uses a portable Freecom, He has no complaints to date.
Seagate always used to be good, Was my drive of choice a few years back, But then the quality issues crept in, The switch to Western Digital has so far been a positive choice.
HTH.....
I've had a WD portable for a couple of years. I use it as a back-up when I'm away from home. So far it has been absolutely hassle-free - no problems whatsoever. I would certainly recommend them but shop around for prices before you commit as they can vary wildly for the same product.
Ewan
ALL my HD's are WD Chris. Highly recommended.
I've used Seagate drives for years without a problem. My Seagate Black Armor NAS drive recently started making a strange noise, so they replaced the unit free (3 year warranty).
One of my USB drives is about 2 years older and never had a problem with it.
I also have a 3Tb Buffalo drive, and that has been faultless.
For an internal drive, I would have gone for a Samsung drive - I hadn't heard they stopped making them.
Quote: For an internal drive, I would have gone for a Samsung drive - I hadn't heard they stopped making them.
So the guy in Maplins said. He uses them so he should know I guess. My Seagate GoFlex external hard drive works perfectly, it's just the small portables I'm having trouble with.
Seagate bought Samsung Hard Drive Division late last year.
Pity, the Spinpoint drives by Samsung [especially the 1TB F3] were some of the very best you could buy.
Presumably, Samsung production facilities are still working - I'm just not sure to what extent - just rebranded as 'Seagate'
Quote: Any brand of drive can go bad or have bad batches. It's just unlucky for you that you had some Seagate lemons but overall there isn't really much difference in the overall reliability of each of the HDD brands.
I've been following this as I need new hard drives, bot internal and external.
I recently installed, and subsequently removed, a WD internal SATA drive that was physically problematic from the start.
It made a terrible noise and let me down more than once.
In the rid, I got rid and reinstalled the old drive which works perfectly well but is getting full.
I guess sometimes you're just unlucky.
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