Dell-Brand Hard Drive Reliability

[Fluidstream]

I wouldn't have a Dell computer, but I've seen my friends go through several Dells and I've never seen one have hard drive problems. They always end up being replaced before there are ever any drive problems. But then when I needed to strip my friend's old Dell that was no longer working so I could get some spare parts to build a temporary (and slow) computer, I noticed it had a Western Digital 120GB hard drive in it.

I bought two identical Western Digital 320GB hard drives a few years ago. One failed after two years and the other is still going strong. A long time ago in 1994, I had a 200-megabyte (300 with disk compression) Seagate hard drive in a Compaq Presario 433 (monitor and computer in one unit) (my first and only off-the-shelf PC purchase (the rest I have build myself)), and when I went bonkers in 1997, I picked up the computer by the wires, twirled it around, slammed it up against the wall, and threw it into a bathtub full of water. Then it sat in an old rent-house for a few years with no environmental controls. A couple or three years later, I went to get the hard drive to see if I could get any of the data off of it. Remarkably, I was able to hook it up and get all the old data I wanted. Some of the images were slightly corrupted, but that was understandable considering what the drive had been through. The fact that it still worked at all was amazing to me and it gave me a really good impression of Seagate.

Enter 2013 and so much of what I hear about Seagate is trash-talk and that they're no longer what they used to be.

So I wondered about Dell hard drives and if anyone had any experience with them.

I know any hard drive can fail, but I got some Christmas money and currently all I have is one 320GB Western Digital hard drive. Like anybody else, I hate it when something dies before its time. One Western Digital hard drive fails, and suddenly I'm left with PTSD over all hard drives.

I don't even know why I'm posting this, actually. It's like I want someone to tell me which hard drive to buy and then have everything be okay, and I know that just isn't realistic. But there HAS to be a best hard drive out there for regular non-professional computer users. I want a GOOD drive, but I can't spend $12,000 on it. I'm thinking a couple of 1TB hard drives will be fine because I've heard that the failure rate on 2TB drives is definitely higher than it is on 1TB drives. I plan to keep using this 320GB hard drive since it already has Windows 8 up and running with no problems.

I plan to use the two new drives to archive data off the 320GB drive, and I plan to use them both for (a) redundant backups and (b) video capture. I'm not a huge data hoarder. I like to burn files to discs as soon as I have enough of one category of data to burn a single disc, so I don't plan to just keep a lot of data lying around on the new drives. This will probably leave me with a lot of empty space most of the time, but then I like that.

Finding a brand of power supply was easy. I found a survey in which a vast majority said they would get a Seasonic power supply, so I got a Seasonic and I've been happy with it, though it's less than a year old. Much better than the Thermaltake Smart-M series which died on me when it was less than a year old. Trying to find a similar survey for hard drives has been fruitless.

Okay, so I'll just ask here. What will your next hard drive purchase be?

 

[Y0GI]

I've had drives from both Seagate and WD fail on me so no favorite until now. I built my new rig back in July and a 1 TB Seagate was included in the Newegg shell shocker deal so I got it. I have been very impressed with the Seagate. Quiet, reliable and VERY fast! Here is what I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840#
Seagate Data Sheet: http://www.seagate.com/files/staticfiles/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/desktop-hdd-data-sheet-ds1770-1-1212us.pdf
Note the "Average data rate read/write: 156 MB/S" and "Max Sustained Data Rate, OD Read (MB/s): 210"

For a few bucks more you can get a SV 35 Series drive which is rated for 24/7 usage and increases the warranty from 2 years to 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148912
SV 35 Data Sheet: http://www.seagate.com/www-content/product-content/sv35-fam/en-us/docs/seagate-surveillance-hdd-ds1679-7-1309us.pdf

If I were buying today I would definitely get the SV 35 Series.

Yogi

 

[popatim]

The new WD black drives are very quick also, Their model # ends in FZEX

 

[Nada190]

I've had multiple Dell's before and replacement reasons were simply to upgrade. I think Dell's are one the best for a prebuilt to keep on 24/7, quiet and efficient. Not really good for gaming. The Dell I recently just replaced had a Hitachi HDD and I am using it as a extra drive in my current computer, it's slower than my primary drive but I think its about 5yrs old and never had a hiccup. Not sure what HDD's they use now since Hitachi is now HGST by Western Digital.

 

[Fluidstream]

My friend's old Dell Dimension 2400 had a 120GB Western Digital drive in it. Maybe it's like potatoes... restaurants get the best potatoes while inferior ones go to grocery stores. Maybe Dell gets the best hard drives and the marginal ones go to electronics stores.

 

[Fluidstream]

I've had drives from both Seagate and WD fail on me so no favorite until now. I built my new rig back in July and a 1 TB Seagate was included in the Newegg shell shocker deal so I got it. I have been very impressed with the Seagate. Quiet, reliable and VERY fast! Here is what I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840#
Seagate Data Sheet: http://www.seagate.com/files/staticfiles/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/desktop-hdd-data-sheet-ds1770-1-1212us.pdf
Note the "Average data rate read/write: 156 MB/S" and "Max Sustained Data Rate, OD Read (MB/s): 210"

For a few bucks more you can get a SV 35 Series drive which is rated for 24/7 usage and increases the warranty from 2 years to 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148912
SV 35 Data Sheet: http://www.seagate.com/www-content/product-content/sv35-fam/en-us/docs/seagate-surveillance-hdd-ds1679-7-1309us.pdf

If I were buying today I would definitely get the SV 35 Series.

Yogi

Oh wow, yes, I saw those drives optimized for 24/7 video surveillance systems, but I didn't know if that meant there was something about them that made them not desirable for PC use. But I do plan to use the drive for video capture, in addition to data storage. I prefer getting the hard drive at a store where I can take it home myself instead of letting UPS drop-kick it toward the front door of the house. At that price, I suppose I could take my chances and just not really trust the drive too much until I see how reliable it is. I'd almost like to send Newegg a package of bubble wrap and tell them to pack it in tightly around my drive. If they don't want to use bubble wrap and foam peanuts just to reduce their own returns, they should at least offer it as a shipment option. I'd pay an extra $5 for bubble wrap and foam peanuts because I hate hardware failures enough to pay it.

Thanks for this suggestion. I see people saying that drive is either great or DOA. I'd rather get a DOA drive than one that works at first, then crumbles within a year.