[buchanan]

nice one thanks phil,

if it was going through usb, would there be any speed advantage to getting a sata drive over ide for the enclosure?

[philthomas]

Generally SATA Drives are slightly faster, but as you say the USB2 interface will negate any benefit here.
Having said that, it's probably better going for a SATA Drive & Enclosure, if for no other reason than keeping up to date with the tech.
As you know most mobos now only provide 1 x IDE Controller, so eventually IDE Drives will become obselete and you never know you might want to refit it in a Tower one day .

[buchanan]

would i have any problems needing drivers for the sata setup (like when i need drivers on a floppy to install windows on a sata drive) which i wouldn't need for ide?

thanks

[philthomas]

No ... the USB Enclosures will work with the generic USB2 drivers, built into XP or VISTA

Once plugged into the USB port, they should install automatically.

[buchanan]

nice one thanks, sata it is.

i'll go choose a hard drive

[buchanan]

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB SATAII Hard Drive 16MB Cache - OEM
£56.99

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Maxtor 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM
£59.99

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Western Digital WD5000AAJS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200RPM 8MB Cache - OEM
£62.61

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM
£62.62

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM
£65.99

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Western Digital 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 8.9MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache - OEM
£69.38

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>
Samsung HD753LJ 750GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM
£89.99


here is the enclosure i will probably use
<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!> (thanks for the recommendation phil).
this seems the same but with esata too so maybe get this one.
<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>

these drives are all from ebuyer, are there any clear winners from the ones here or better drives i have overlooked?
i included the 750gb drive because it looked good value but i will probably stick with a 500gb i don't know.

would it be worth getting a drive with 32mb cache?

i read good things about samsung but also that they can be unreliable compared to others.
i really want the most reliable drive i can get for backing up my data, i have included prices here but really i would prefer to pay a little more for best reliability.

there were also some hitachi drives i did not include here.

i would be grateful to hear your opinions phil and alex (and anyone else)

cheers guys

buchanan

[Carbon]

Of those, the £69.38 one is the best imo. The C is 2 platter unlike the other one (K), and WD is the best brand of those.

[philthomas]

Yep ... I agree with Carbon, the WD @ £69.38 would be my choice.

A drive with 32mb cache, in theory will be faster, but USB will govern speed here anyway .... also WD is probably a better drive than Maxtor, Seagate or Samsung.

[buchanan]

thanks a lot guys,
could you explain the platter and why it is better than the other 16mb western digital (WD5000AAKS).

are there any better drives out there you would recommend over these?

many thanks

[buchanan]

the 750gb samsung is £10 cheaper now: 79.99, i am tempted by the value here now, do you think it is much inferior and less reliable than the WD?

<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>

thanks in advance

[philthomas]

I have used Samsung drives a few times in the last few years and they have been very reliable.
The spec. of this one is quite good, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

[Carbon]

I've heard nothing but bad things about Samsung drives..

[philthomas]

Well the thing is this, you will always get several different opinions when looking for recommenadions on a specific brand, these will differ, depending on who you talk to.

From experience, I believe Samsung are excellent drives that are both quiet and reliable, definitely preferable to Maxtor and Seagate (since the Maxtor takeover). WD are excellent too, but it's fair to say that any make/model can fail and when it does, folk who have lost precious data, are very wary to recommend or to buy the same make again.

At the end of the day, you pays your money and takes your chance

[philthomas]

If you dont mind a little reading, this <Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>covers larger capacity drives and is from a reputable stable (toms hardware).

As you will see the 500gb Samsung got there "Best Buy" for price/performance recommendation and comes with a 3 year guarantee.

[buchanan]

ok guys, i just bought this enclosure:
<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>

and this hdd (750gb samsung,)
<Link hidden. Register for free to see this link!>

got free shipping from ebuyer and 99p shipping from svp so i'm not expecting them for a few days at the earliest but i'll let you know how i get on, cheers for the help.

buchanan