Hard drive advice

[mrt209]

Hey guys

I'm running out of storage and am looking for a new hard drive (2TB or 3 if not too expensive).

I'm going to use the hdd for time machine and server backups. I know there's been a few other threads in the past asking the same, but those were mostly a year old.

Right now I'm looking at this drive: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...02FAEX/dp/B004CSIG1G/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Anyone have it? I'm pretty happy with the Caviar Black that came with my mac pro, so that's why I'm leaning towards this one.

Thanks for your help

 

[derbothaus]

Nice drive. Noisy on seeks and gets hot. But I would get one if I needed 2TB or more. Just installed 4 in a 2008 Pro the other day. 1 boot and 3x RAID0. very nice. The RAID tested out at around 340MB/s using aja test.

 

[strausd]

I have 2 of those and 2 of the Caviar Greens, both are really nice. I have an OWC SSD as my boot drive with my home directory and everything else on my Caviar Blacks. I use TM and CCC to backup to my two Caviar Greens. I have had only good experiences with Western Digital drives and recommend them to everyone. Go for it!

 

[philipma1957]

your other option is buying these from a very good ebay seller

he will take an offer of 150 or so. I have purchased a lot of these from him. They come sealed with a good warranty. Around 35 months on the warranty. no one sells them as low as he does. Read his feedback you will see I made a lot of purchases of them. He has some kind of deal with newegg to sell them.


western digital 3tb.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Western-Digital...ltDomain_0&hash=item4158e6146e#ht_1458wt_1036

 

[dave239]

I have been running 3 off 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black drives (together with the Apple original 1TB) since the New Year and have no complaints at all. I have a Kingston SSD for my boot drive and home folder with everything else on the Caviar Blacks.

 

[mrt209]

Thanks for the input

So should I go with the Caviar Green or Black drive? I know the green is a bit slower, but its also quieter. Which one should I choose?

And how reliable is the 3TB one on Ebay? philipma1957 can you tell me if its noisy?

Thanks

 

[strausd]

The green will be a bit quieter, but in my opinion, they are more for backups. If you don't plan on using the drive as a backup drive, go for the Caviar Black.

 

[Vylen]

The green will be a bit quieter, but in my opinion, they are more for backups. If you don't plan on using the drive as a backup drive, go for the Caviar Black.

Well, they're also for slow media where speed isn't an issue. I have two 2TB Caviar Greens in Raid 1 and I put 14.6MP RAW photos and videos (shows and the like) on there. Speed isn't a necessity for them.

 

[strausd]

Well, they're also for slow media where speed isn't an issue. I have two 2TB Caviar Greens in Raid 1 and I put 14.6MP RAW photos and videos (shows and the like) on there. Speed isn't a necessity for them.

Good point. And I watch movies off CGs from time to time. But for everything else I do, I like the advantage of the CBs.

 

[mrt209]

Good point. And I watch movies off CGs from time to time. But for everything else I do, I like the advantage of the CBs.

So the CGs are better for media? I'll be watching some movies from the hard drive too.

 

[strausd]

So the CGs are better for media? I'll be watching some movies from the hard drive too.

Not necessarily better, but if you are going to just be watching movies then you shouldn't notice a difference besides maybe a little less noise. And since you said you will be using it for time machine and server backups, I would suggest the Caviar Green. If you were going to be doing a lot of video editing or anything else that requires the fastest speed you can get without getting an SSD, then I would say go for the Caviar Black. But since it will be mainly for backups, go green!

 

[mrt209]

Not necessarily better, but if you are going to just be watching movies then you shouldn't notice a difference besides maybe a little less noise. And since you said you will be using it for time machine and server backups, I would suggest the Caviar Green. If you were going to be doing a lot of video editing or anything else that requires the fastest speed you can get without getting an SSD, then I would say go for the Caviar Black. But since it will be mainly for backups, go green!

Thanks for the info. I'm going with the 3TB Caviar Green