External Hard Drive

[redsox44]

Looking at purchasing a W D Passport SE 1TB external H D. Anyone had any problems with this drive or for that matter WD drives?

Edited February 15, 2011 by redsox44

[MJP]

. . . click . . . click . . . click . . .

I have two WD Passport drives, 320GB, both died with the same fault. I have a 500GB Samsung drive made up in the local IT shop, no problems so far.

For portable I'd look at a Solid State Drive once prices have come down a fair bit.

[MKAsok]

Had the WD My Book 1TB external for around 2 1/2 years. No problems so far. Also have a 1.5TB studio edition that I bought around 6 months ago, also running fine.

I think with externals, if you don't move them around (i.e like the My Book as opposed to the Passport) and keep them running at a reasonable temperature (install a monitor) they will generally last a decent period of time (unless you get a lemon).

But anyway, the rule with all hard drives: it's not a question of if, it's a question of when (they will fail). So back that shit up somewhere.

[MJP]

Had the WD My Book 1TB external for around 2 1/2 years. No problems so far. Also have a 1.5TB studio edition that I bought around 6 months ago, also running fine.

I think with externals, if you don't move them around (i.e like the My Book as opposed to the Passport) and keep them running at a reasonable temperature (install a monitor) they will generally last a decent period of time (unless you get a lemon).

But anyway, the rule with all hard drives: it's not a question of if, it's a question of when (they will fail). So back that shit up somewhere.

Yup. For portable go solid state. Think about how much capacity you really need and what you need the drive for. An alternative is larger capacity USB flash memory. 32GB sticks are now down to under 1500 Baht.

32GB flash

[koknia]

I have 6 or 7 TBs of WD drives of all types and have never had a problem.

(I still back up everything twice though.)

[NALAK]

^{had a 500gb wd lock up on me, probably because i did not eject it first from media player. banana it replaced it no problem, but lost all data on it. read some where put them in the freezer couple of days and every thing contracts and unlocks it. i just changed it}

[ELCata]

WD used to be king many years ago, but have sadly fallen from grace.

I've been using a Samsung Storystation for 6 months now & all's good. Had a scary moment after a power cut the other day, which seemed to confuse it a bit, but all the data is present & correct.

[Mole]

A couple of months ago, I had a WD 500 GB suddenly dieing on me. Came home after work and turned on the PC and got stuck at boot when the BIOS was scanning the Harddisks. (I had 7 connected at the time)

Tried unplug, replug turn on/off a few times and nothing.

Put it in freezer overnight, next morning worked!

Naturally, I copied all the data over to other drives and sent it to Hardware House to get it replaced with brand new.

Just one day earlier, also had a Seagate 500 GB fail. Put it in freezer together with the WD, but the Seagate would not detect.

Had to give it to a hard disk recovery center in Bangkok which did manage to recover all the data. Cost 7500 bt!!

Let them copy over the data onto the WD 500 GB which were replaced by Hardware House.

Now have only 6 HDDs connected....

In my experience, the chances of hard drive failure is about equal on any of the brands.

[KunMatt]

I only use WD drives for the last 7 or 8 years been upgrading as the capacities increased so I've had at least 6. So far I have only had a problem with one with Windows reporting that it was about to fail, so I backed up and transplanted everything over to another drive. The drive still works but I didn't want to chance it as it was my OS drive, it had been used for 5000 hours over 18 months though.

And for the people talking about using solid state drives as external drives; I wouldn't go this way, for one they are far too epensive at this time, and secondly it really only makes sense to upgrade your Operating System drive to a SSD and use plate drives as external. Using a SSD for OS will dramatically increase your boot and OS read times and, if using it for a laptop, increase your battery lasting times.

I can't see why anyone would want to use a SSD as an external drive, use a USB stick instead, they are much much cheaper.

[KunMatt]

Also, I plan to get one of those WD Elements portable 1TB SE next time I am in the UK. They were on sale for £70 at a few places recently, how much are they in BKK right now?

[Forkinhades]

Also, I plan to get one of those WD Elements portable 1TB SE next time I am in the UK. They were on sale for £70 at a few places recently, how much are they in BKK right now?

Why would you want to buy something that is made in Thailand, 'in the UK'??

[KunMatt]

OP, you should be aware that the Passport SE 1TB drive you are talking about was a step backwards after their Passport 320GB/500GB/640GB versions. For one they changed the connector from a mini USB (which most drives use) to a micro USB which is used more by some phones (HTC) and cameras. A more negative feature was the drive comes hard-partitioned with WD software that tries to install whenever you plug it into a new PC. You cannot delete this partition or stop the software from launching.

The newer WD 1TB drive is the Elements Portable version, it uses the mini USB, no partition and is cheaper than the Passport SE drive (in the UK). I've got an Elements 2TB drive at home and it's great, so I will definitely upgrade my portable external drive to this one asap.

[KunMatt]

Also, I plan to get one of those WD Elements portable 1TB SE next time I am in the UK. They were on sale for £70 at a few places recently, how much are they in BKK right now?

Why would you want to buy something that is made in Thailand, 'in the UK'??

Well obviously cost, convenience and buying from a well reputable supplier. Just about everything that makes great shopping.

The GBP is in the toilet right now and with the mega deals and online shopping on in the UK, just about all electronics are much cheaper if brought within the UK and it's much easier to find the best price and supplier from sitting at my laptop at home.

Any other questions??

[Forkinhades]

Also, I plan to get one of those WD Elements portable 1TB SE next time I am in the UK. They were on sale for £70 at a few places recently, how much are they in BKK right now?

Why would you want to buy something that is made in Thailand, 'in the UK'??

Well obviously cost, convenience and buying from a well reputable supplier. Just about everything that makes great shopping.

The GBP is in the toilet right now and with the mega deals and online shopping on in the UK, just about all electronics are much cheaper if brought within the UK and it's much easier to find the best price and supplier from sitting at my laptop at home.

Any other questions??

No only answers m8y

well a 500 gig sata HD brought from the UK will cost you about 32 pounds, in Tukcom, they resale for 1,200 baht, and oh the exchange rate is 50 to 1, you do the math, Krusty

[KunMatt]

No only answers m8y

well a 500 gig sata HD brought from the UK will cost you about 32 pounds, in Tukcom, they resale for 1,200 baht, and oh the exchange rate is 50 to 1, you do the math, Krusty

I have no idea what 500GB drive you are talking about, or comparing to what, or where you are getting your prices from, but it has nothing to do with the new drive I am talking about.

Also, I can assure you that all of the drives, printers and cameras I have brought in BKK after many hours of trawling around all the stores have been more expensive to what deals you could find online in the UK at that time.

And did you notice that I did ask anyone for the price of the drive I want in BKK, just incase there happens to be a great promotion on that would better the UK current price?

[ELCata]

Also, I plan to get one of those WD Elements portable 1TB SE next time I am in the UK. They were on sale for £70 at a few places recently, how much are they in BKK right now?

Why would you want to buy something that is made in Thailand, 'in the UK'??

Here's a picture I just had to take of my brand new 500GB Seagate Barracuda; £28 from Amazon UK. Notice anything?

[redsox44]

Want to thank all for the imput. Seems like everything else it comes down to one's luck.

As for the question on the cost of the W D Essential SE best I've found is 4190 at J. I. B. computers. Seen it as high as 4450 in a comparable shop.

Again thanks all for the info.

Redsox44

[lomatopo]

FWIW, I always recommend a robust enclosure; I like Rosewill (routinely on sale at Newegg for $25), but you can find these locally, then you can add whatever HDD you prefer. These enclosures have excellent cooling, and even offer e-SATA. For my past few builds, and any add-ons, I've been using Samsung 1 TB drives, locally available for ~ 1,700 THB. FWIW, I've never had a HDD fail, including my first 10 MB HDD in 1986.

[ELCata]

For my past few builds, and any add-ons, I've been using Samsung 1 TB drives, locally available for ~ 1,700 THB. FWIW, I've never had a HDD fail, including my first 10 MB HDD in 1986.

Can I ask where you source your drives? How are the prices for enclosures? Icy Box?

[RedNIvar]

I'd say in terms of reliability, an external drive with a lower duty cycle should perform the same regardless of make. I would go for WD as they are currently the market leader and the largest drive manufacturer in the world. They manufacture here in Thailand, and have a very competitive price. I use only WD drives and have no complaints.