I've also recovered 3.5" HDDs from 'portable' cases that worked well, seems it's the interface in the case between the drive and the cable from the computer that gives the most trouble. Being self-powered they need both 12V and 5V power provided by that interface. For truly portable use I use either cases that accept the 2.5" Notebook drives or a couple of pocketable WDC My Passport, one is 1TB and the other is 500GB reformatted from Mac OS X to NTFS.
People forgets the gyroscopic effect of a rotating disk. When you force a change on the rotating plane, the disk bents.
Any device with a HDD should remain standstill when in use. This apply s to laptops and USB devices.
So my suggestion is to use a USB case with a SSD.
Hi @jumanji,
Based on your and @Caledon Ken recommendations, I see an inexpensive course of action. I already have a docking station and there are many 1TB PC HDDs (7200 RPM, SATA, 3.5") available for well under $100.
I'd be interested in your thoughts on a brand that may be more reliable than the others in the field.
Thanks again,
And something to look at is the manufacturer's MTBF rating and customer reviews on sites such as TigerDirect, NewEgg, Amazon, etc.
MTBF = Mean Time Before Failure
i don't have any specific brand preference. Some will swear by WD.Some will swear by Seagate . Just toss a coin and call head or tailHi @jumanji,
Based on your and @Caledon Ken recommendations, I see an inexpensive course of action. I already have a docking station and there are many 1TB PC HDDs (7200 RPM, SATA, 3.5") available for well under $100.
I'd be interested in your thoughts on a brand that may be more reliable than the others in the field.
Thanks again,
. I shall shortly be buying a 4TB HDD and it will be a Seagate.
Last edited by jumanji; 06 Mar 2020 at 11:32.
I have always bought WD first brand (Black and Gold).
Gold are enterprise HDD and has a better quality and 5 years guaranty.
They of course cost more than the Green and Blue types.
A 1T SSD cost almost the same of a WD Gold (~US$100) so I would buy a SSD.
Crucial BX500 Have already used 6 of them. So far so good.
WD Gold Have one of this for data.
Last edited by Megahertz; 08 Mar 2020 at 08:46.
My vote would be Western Digital.
Haven't had a Black or Blue fail on me. Had a Red fail which was funny as I wasn't using in a NAS.
Another vote for Western Digital Black. Very reliable drives.
@Caledon Ken, I'm running four 6TB WD Red Pro drives in Western Digital 4-bay NAS in RAID10 and the system has been running 24/7 since April of last year. So far no issues or weird noises. Fingers X'd
I'm running three 4GB and one 3GB reds in my Synology NAS.
I also have two blacks running in cable boxes and they run 7/24 and are at least seven years old.
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