Posted by Arny Krueger on 04/27/07 12:56

<leekazimir@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1177668171.891504.188340@r35g2000prh.googlegroups.com


> Looking for a good backup solution for big HDV files and
> projects.

> Currently looking at Maxtor's OneTouch Turbo III
> (available in 1 TB or
> 1.5 TB sizes) and Lacie's BigDisk 1 TB drives.

I tell my clients that anything by Lacie or one of the prime drive
manufacturers (Seagate, Maxtor, Hitachi, Western Digital) is going to be a
better choice than some no-name cheapie.

But, watch the GB/$ index. You generally pay a big premium to get the
highest possible density. A cursory look suggests that GB/$ is relatively
flat up to a surprizing 1 TB.

However, I'd rather have 4 each $100 250 GB external drives rather than 1
each $400 1 TB drive. Shelf space isn't an issue for me at the 3.5 form
factor. With the 1 TB drive, one human or hardwaer destorys lots more than
it would with 4 smaller drives. If the goal is backup, then the smaller
drives give you better options for off site backup. Also, I would probably
never buy 4 drives at one time, but buy 2 to start for redundcancy and watch
the cost per GB of the remainder of my future disk drive farm drop as the
price of storage continues to drop.

> Most of the "official" reviews I've read on these are
> very positive, but a lot of user comments (on sites like
> CNET and Amazon) talk about failing drives and bad
> customer service.

Modern hard drives will simply experience an apalling number of failures.
That is how it is. The majors do better than the no-name guys as a general
rule. If some no-name company does a good enough job long enough, they will
have a name. It's as simple as that. ;-)

> Anybody here use these drives? Are they worth a damn?

Yes, people are using these by the droves.

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