Reliable external hard drives... any opinions?
 

Does anyone have any particular brand / model of external hard drives they like / feel to be reliable / of good quality?

I'd like something in the TB range, and I'm considering some kind of network-ready device... but I am simply not sure if there is any =thing out there that is simply "the absolute best."

Hope everyone is doing well. :)

I've never met one I liked. But I especially do not recommend MAXTOR.

Seriously.

Also, build one yourself with an external enclosure and a quality hard drive. At least you know what you're getting.

I would make sure it has a decent fan to cool the drive:cool:

Amen to the Maxtor. They hosed me BAD! And I agree, build one yourself.

I could give you quite a few recommendations, but first I need to know what you're using the drive for. There are numerous options out there as well as building your own, but in order to recommend the "best" I need to know what it's use would be. I've used USB, firewire, firewire-800, and eSATA from about every manufacturer out there. Each have their uses as well as pros/cons.

USB -> WD makes a pretty solid unit. I actually have 3 of them.

Firewire/Combo -> LaCie makes some pretty solid units as well, but they cost more than some of the other models out there.

eSATA -> My current favorite is a unit from Sans Digital. It's a TowerRaid Unit supporting up to 4 drives. I've got 2 1TB drives mirrored in it for working on some of the large projects I deal with. It's pretty bulletproof and a lot faster than any USB or Firewire drive setup you'll find. It's also the most expensive.