Storage Solutions Need a reliable HDD [internal or portable]

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bmwfanboy

bmwfanboy

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I need a HDD to dump my data i rarely use [like movies, TV shows etc.] and i need a reliable HDD.

I am confused between getting an internal hdd or a portable/external HDD. here is what i found


INTERNAL HDD:

pros:
1. Cheaper
2. value for money

cons:
1. would constantly run while the PC is on [reduced life in long term usage? ]


EXTERNAL/PORTABLE HDD

pros:
1. Will be used once of twice per week [longer life?? ]

cons:
1. No idea, maybe slower compared to internal HDDs ? i have USB3 on my laptop but only USB2.0 on my Desktop [primary rig]

I am unable to decide between these.

I am currently using 3years old WD 1TB Caviar green HDD as my primary HDD with partitions for windows, games and movies etc. i have 3 options as of now

1. buy a WD blue 1TB internal HDD @4.1k and use it as primary HDD [OS and games, might improve performance] and use current WD green to dump all the data.

2. Buy a WD Green 2TB from shopclues @ 5.3k [awesome value for money. 1TB more space for just 1.1k more]
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/wd-caviar-green-wd20earx-internal/186186?pos=0;38

3. Get portable/external 1TB HDD @4.1k [maybe more reliable than internal as it will spend less time hooked onto PC . no improvement in performance]
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/dell-backup-plus-1tb-hard/541620?pos=0;55
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/hitachi-touro-basic-1tb-hard/650723?pos=1;55

my requirements : Reliability and value for money
 
Get internal hdd and buy a hdd dock. You can then use the internal hdd as external hdd. Store the hdd safely in cupboard when not required.
Only drawback is transfer speeds are limited to USB 2 or 3 speeds.

Forgot to add internal hdds don't run constantly. They stop after 10 mins of inactivity normally, or the time set by you in windows power saver options.
 
If you need reliability, don't touch the HDD, get an internal and leave it installed in the cabinet. Most people end up damaging their HDD when handling it. Internal HDDs used externally without a casing are all the more susceptible to damage since the cover plate is not thick enough and will flex if not handled correctly.

Since you've had good luck with the WD green, you can get another. Although a Blue would be faster if you want to use it as the OS drive - but there aren't any 2TB versions of the Blue.

Have a SMART monitoring tool like CrystalDiskInfo running in the background monitoring your disks for any issues. You can't prevent hard disk failure but you can atleast be warned about it.
 
While other advice here is good, there is no such thing as a "reliable" hard disk. All hard disks fail, sooner or later. If your rarely used data is really important, store it on at least 2 DIFFERENT kind of hard disks for the long term, and keep checking.
 
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Thanks for your replies i have decided to go for internal HDDs

I have Never experienced any problem with HDDs so far.

My current wd 1TB green works perfectly fine but it shows "Reallocated Sectors Count" warning in hd sentinel health monitor. I dont know what that means and some people say wd green are more prone to failure than WD blue. (Saw customer comments on shoplclues for 2TB green. 2 reviewrs out of 4 suffered hdd failure on day 1)

So should i go for 1tb blue @4.1k (seems faster and more reliable)

1.5tb green @4.5k (meets my initial budget, sweet spot)

or 2tb green @5.3k (seems risky as i 2 people suffered hdd failure)


Ps; i don't use a UPS
 
bmwfanboy said:
So should i go for 1tb blue @4.1k (seems faster and more reliable)
1.5tb green @4.5k (meets my initial budget, sweet spot)
or 2tb green @5.3k (seems risky as i 2 people suffered hdd failure)

Ps; i don't use a UPS
Click to expand...

Blue is good option than green. 2TB disks are more prone to failure than 1TB, so buy 1TB now and if required add 1TB later.
Note: Not using UPS is not good idea. You are not only putting your HDD but all comopnents (Mobo, CPU, RAM etc) at risk, depending on which city you live in. At least buy UPS which can give you enough time to shutdown your system safely is recommended.

Well said statement by @amitkher, "no disk is reliable, all will fail, sooner or later". I have seen few HDD failure and suffered a data loss once. Got a lesson, since then I keep my critical data in 2 HDD (internal as well as external) and do sync them every week to keep them updated.

6pack said:
Get internal hdd and buy a hdd dock. You can then use the internal hdd as external hdd. Store the hdd safely in cupboard when not required.
Click to expand...

@6pack will you please provide me links for such good docks, I was looking few years back. But didn't find good options that time.
 
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Its a myth that your components will die without a UPS. When you shut down your system, you're just sending a signal to the PSU to cut the power. In older days the hard disk needed time to park its head, but heads these days automatically park on loss of power.
The other mistake is that people assume UPSs have voltage stabilizers - regular ones do not. At best they switch to battery during low or high voltage, but the voltage window they're configured for by default is pretty wide.

bmwfanboy said:
My current wd 1TB green works perfectly fine but it shows "Reallocated Sectors Count" warning in hd sentinel health monitor. I dont know what that means
Click to expand...
Its nice to see you're following a good practice of monitoring your drives :) There are spare sectors on the drive which get reallocated when a sector goes bad, so reallocated sectors aren't a problem. But if there are many reallocated sectors, or the reallocated count starts increasing at a rapid rate - then you need to be worried and RMA the drive.
 
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@sky, I'm using a Thermaltake Blackx from past 4+ years. I got it for around 2k but prices show 4k now. You might have to search around for docks that fit in your budget. Plus I see docks coming with ssd ports now. :D
 
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6pack said:
@sky, I'm using a Thermaltake Blackx from past 4+ years. I got it for around 2k but prices show 4k now. You might have to search around for docks that fit in your budget. Plus I see docks coming with ssd ports now. :D
Click to expand...

@6pack
4k is out of my budget :depressed: . I was expecting within 2k range. In 4k, I can buy a large internal drive whose capacity is more than all my spare internal drives :happy:.

SSD port is surely future proof but as of now SSDs are not that cheaper that people use it externally, on the dock :D
Anyway thanks.
 
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Thanks crazyeddy

One last question, is there any possibility of reduction in price of HDDs in next 15-20days? Eg: wd blue 1TB used to sell at 3.7-3.8k few days ago. Now its priced @ 4.2-4.3k
 
Sorry for hijacking the thread. I too am looking to buy a hdd to store anime, tv shows, movies, etc. I was thinking of getting a 1 tb portable. Which is the best one to get?

If you guys think i should go for internal will it slow down my pc? I have a 500gb internal with 2 gb ram.
 
1TB portable WD My Passport has 3 years warranty as compared to 2 years for the 1 TB internal at roughly the same price.
A portable drive is ideal for the usage pattern of @bmwfanboy + portability is an added advantage. Unless you are going to replace your primary 1 TB green with it.
 
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Price differene between 1TB internal and WD my passport is ~700-800 which doesn't worth it IMO as portability is not required.
I've decided to go for WD 1TB blue or hitachi 1TB HDD [idk models]

Is there anything i should check before buying?
like different models from hitachi, RPM and SATA interfaces ? [i have Gigabyte GA78LMT-S2P ]
i Didn't knew WD green were slow, i assumed its just environment friendly that's why i ended up buying one 3years ago :P
 
the only think you should check is the serial no. and the warranty period using it .. recently saw some people getting WD black with 2 yrs / no warranty instead of 5 yeards warranty because of the seller selling the wrong item - not imorted through proper channel / HDDs not meant for retail / OEM selling.
 
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