Been looking for a new hard drive as my current one is on it's death bed, reporting bad sectors....

Looking to spend around 60 quid max including delivery.

So far have found ebuyer offering the following;

Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 8 - 30GB - 7200rpm - 42.19 & VAT + delivery
Western Digital Protege - 40GB - 5400rpm - 47.15 & VAT + delivery
Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 8 - 40GB - 7200rpm - 48.31 & VAT + delivery

Does the rpm make a big difference or am I better getting the most GB for my money. My system's only a Pentium 3 - 600mhz so it's not exactly cutting edge technology. Would it take advantage of the 7200rpm?

After a bit of research, I see that WD and Seagate are rated as drives, although some seem to dislike the Maxtors...is this the general feeling out there?

Looking for any advice out there on best deal or which drive I should go for.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Michael467

Hi m8

This is just my opinion and experience over the years so you are obviously going to get differences of opinion from the majority of people:

Forget the Maxtor 30gb drive as this is from the same family as the 40gb Maxtor and as the 40gb is only £6 more for another 10gb then if you decide on the Maxtor get that one. I'd also be inclined to get a 7200rpm drive as this will provide faster data throughput/access time (In Theory).

I have Maxtor,IBM,Seagate and Western Digital drives in various systems around my house,the only drives I have had to return with faults have been the IBM drives,the others have performed flawlessly up until now.

Check the warranty offered with each drive,search the net for reviews on hdd's. A manufacturer I used to work for used Fujitsu drives before changing to Maxtor,this company ships thousands of PC's a year and the failure rate on the Maxtors is negligible.

At the end of the day the choice is obviously yours,i'd probably opt for a Western Digital 7200rpm only because I have read on these and other forums that people have experienced problems with Maxtor drives but the the argument against this is that Maxtor probably have a bigger percentage of the market and therefore ship more units..

JMHO

Smiffy

Moving to Consumer's Forum...

IF it's your main drive, that run window and other program, get a 7200 rpm. If it's just a backup slave drive, use to store music, movie etc, then a 5400 willd do just fine. Also it depend, would you want efficiency over quanlity, meaning do you want a fast drive that can run program faster, or more space but a little bit slower.

I totally agree with the posts thus far. Go with a 7200 rpm drive, with the largest capacity available for what you are willing to spend.

Of course, check the warranty before purchasing.

Thanks Smiffy, DR69ON and ElaineM for the feedback - 7200rpm looks like it's one the day hands down as it'll be my master drive. I can get the Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 8 40gb, 7200rpm for my budgeted 60 quid....

Just as a last bit of research, what is the general view on Maxtors out there?

Smiffy reckons that they're decent drives, given that a manufacturer he worked for used them in their droves with a relatively low fail rate. Is it the case that because they're just that bit cheaper than an equivalent Western Digital or Seagate drive that they end up in more machines which potentially leads to more potential failures?

Michael467

Maxtor works fine, I have two of them. I think western digital is better thought, I have one of those, but have not use them yet. I don't know about seagate thought, heard they make cheap hdd, that's why thier price is low.

On my main PC ive got a Western Digital 120 gb , 7200 rpm and touch wood ive not had any probs with it .
It is also very quiet compared to other drives ive got or had .
Sorry cant tell you how much it cost as I borrowed it from work .