Storage Solutions Selecting a 2 TB USB 3.0 external HDD

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geekboy

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Hi

I need help urgently as I want to immediately order a 2 TB USB 3.0 external HDD to take a backup of my laptop. I am confused between 3 models;WD, Seagate and Transcend models. Each has its own pros and cons. I'm unable to decide which one to take. I am quoting all the prices from flipkart.com as I will be purchasing it on flipkart.

1. WD My Book Essential - Flipkart.com: WD My Book Essential 3.5 inch 2 TB: External Hard Drive

Pros: 1. Cheapest 2 TB USB 3.0 ext HDD (4950 INR)

Cons: 1. It has WD SmartWare software melted onto the drive and I hate that.
2. It also has data encryption in h/w. So if ext HDD fails, you cant recover data (unlike earlier WD HDD). Read this from Amazon. WD sells same model
worldwide with model no changes I think (NESN,SESN etc).
3. Read cases where the USB connector part of enclosure is loose and so it gives problems.
4. Not sure of WD A.S.S and RMA. I doubt they have many offices in India, just one in Delhi I think.
5. Warranty confusion. WD says 3 yrs and letsbuy.com says its only 1 yr warranty. Flipkart also werent able to confirm when I asked them.

2. Seagate GoFlex Desk - Flipkart.com: Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 3.5 inch 2 TB: External Hard Drive

Pros: 1. Upgradeability to many other data interfaces (eSATA, Firewire, USB 3.0) by buying new docks.
2. Easy to recover data if ext HDD fails it seems. Some even mentioned that you can use dock to connect it to other SATA HDD.
3. Seagate has better network and A.S.S in India I think.
4. Internal HDD used is mostly Seagate LP series which is 5900 rpm. Decent speed (better than 5400 rpm) and wont cause heating issues.

Cons: 1. Too expensive considering that I need 2 TB USB 3.0. I will have to buy the USB 2.0 drive (4717 INR) + USB 3.0 dock which costs 2k approx. Total cost
becomes 6.7k. The USB 3.0 dock is here ---> Seagate GoFlex Desk Adapter : USB 3.0 - www.deltapage.com Is deltapage.com reliable?
2. The drive has problems with power management like sleeping, turning on and off with computer. Not a big issue for me though.

3. Transcend Storejet 35T3 - Flipkart.com: Transcend StoreJet 35T3 USB 3.0 3.5 inch 2 TB: External Hard Drive

Pros: 1. Its USB 3.0 and guaranteed 7200 rpm speed.
2. Good price for the specs (5513 INR).

Cons: 1. Transcend A.S.S ????
2. Transcend only makes enclosures and not internal HDD. So you may get HDD of any company inside. No guarantees on quality I guess.

In short I'm confused. As of now I'm more inclined to get the Seagate 2 TB + USB 3.0 dock to be on safer side. Have had good experience with Seagate in past. If it werent for all the cons of the WD I would have taken it by now.
Any comments on the WD and the Transcend? Anyone has experience with the 2 TB WD?
Maybe I might change my mind about the WD.

Thanks.
 
Hi ,

I have the same 2TB 3.0 hdd of WD

The transfer speeds are very good and i have had no problem of loose connection as yet.

Regarding WD A.S.S and RMA i have had a bad experience with them for my past 500 gb WD 2.5 inch HDD

I had got my model from US and since they have global warranty i was offered warranty on the same , i applied for home pickup by WD , they came pretty soon (2nd day of my RMA request) , the tracking on their site doesnt work for nuts , i contacted their CC ( sometimes it takes hell lot of time just to get hold of one and ifs your day just in 30 seconds someone will respond to your query ) , i was told my drive has been shipped after 10 days and i was very happy waited for 6 days drive still did not arrive , then i contacted they said it was wrong info given they dont have same model in stock so they will send me the higher model i.e the passport elite , i recieved my drive after 1 month of raising the request and go to see it failed to do write opertaions to the drive , i contacted CC sent for rma again and got my drive in another 20 days .

3.Warranty is 3 years from date Of purchase if u have bill else from date of import i guess.
 
@Sukant: What transfer speeds (read/write) do you get over USB 3.0 and USB 2.0? Did you do a benchmark anytime? And since how long do you have this ext HDD?

I'm scared because of the warranty. Plus I'm ordering it from flipkart and their bill is a computerised one with no signature. Thats fine?
Where did you purchase your external HDD? Online or shop?
Also did you verify what the internal HDD in the enclosure was? Speed and cache size? Just curious.

Thanks.
 
I purchased online frm itwares , no i did not verify wat internal hdd was ni enclosure and other stuff , i did benchmark it , on usb 2.0 it was giving normal 15-25 Mbps , and on 3.0 highest i got was 100 mbps and avg is arnd 70+ mbps. Warranty is based on serial no only if it turns out to be invalid you will need the bill. Yea flipkart bills will be fine for warranty.
 
Can anybody tell me whether letsbuy.com is reliable? Thinking of taking ext HDD from them by using discount coupon. Last I read they were holding up people's money (credit card payment) for days together until they got items in stock. They showed items in stock when they didn't even have them.
 
^ Yes thats usually how they work, I ordered a few items which were easily available and they came to me in a couple of days but when I ordered my galaxy s it was not in stock and not easily available and it took 20 days to reach me. I was ok with the wait at the time since it was a good deal but you may want to decide on your priorities.

I found it wasn't any real use calling before ordering either since they would usually just say yes in stock but you can try that before placing an order or else use the COD option and cancel if the delays take too long.

Lots of feedback available here http://www.techenclave.com/hot-deals-and-discussions/letsbuy-com-deals-and-coupons-186393-265.html
 
I was in a similar situation for a 1 tb external hard drive,i went for wd my book essential as i wanted usb 3.0 out of the box.this model also has better design for heat dissipation compared to the seagate drive.you dont have to install the software for encryption.But the utility to switch on/off the drive by pressing the power button on the drive is really useful if you keep it connected all the time.it will power down the drive and power it back on.But i don't think it is worth the premium to pay so much for extra ports on seagate.it is going to be a backup drive,don't drop it and you will be fine!
 
got the 2tb 3.5" usb3 WD just now...registered the product online...it has 3 years warranty so you can keep that concern out of your purchase :)

getting around ~80-85 Mbytes/s on usb3 as an average
 
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