[taumpytears]

my wd elements 500g just froze up the other day when i plugged it into a not working usb port in my friends computer. he was like "oh yeah those ports on the front dont work"... not only that but it froze my drive for good somehow. now the light stays on and no computer will recognize it (you know, that old bit... frozen)

so even though it is probably through my error that this drive crashed. i would like some recommendations on another one... prefferably 500g-1tb. usb powered would be nice but it seems like more than 500 gb always has an ac plug.

7200 rpm

reliable reputation

100 bucks or less (yes there are 1tb units for <100

 

[Rebel_X]

Hitachi SimpleDrive 1TB

it seems to power on/off with the computer, but I am not sure about the turbo usb 2.0
what it is exactly, if it will work with regular usb 2.0 ports or not..

Anyways I compared the price between newegg and tigerdirect both the same.. $90.

 

[taumpytears]

ive noticed a lot of report about 1 terabyte drives in general having a high failure rate(western digital/seagate). i'll have to check this one out.

i just read that yes turbo usb is backwards compatible. even with usb 1.1.

 

[lagunareturns]

first of all try another usb cable, reconnect it and see if it makes a difference and if there is a power cable or the usb cable has two connections use them to see if its a power problem....

lastly, before giving the drive up try another case or just hook it up to a comp and see if the hard drive is really at fault....

i used to have the same issue until i got a high quality usb cable, heavy duty one and it worked perfect... i have buffalo hdd and it was designed to use it supplied usb and wrap it around the hdd case for storage but it used ultra thin cable which is prone to damage when bending.

as i had to bend it to store around the case it had issues (from the wear and tear from bending) like the hdd got power (led was on) and a unplug then replug was needed to get it working but after two months it end up bieng like it still got power but never shown up on any computer i tried then i got a heavy duty, high quality one which was made in japan and not in china or taiwan and it worked 100% always, all my issues disappeared

 

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

I am not a fan of external harddrives, I think it would be a much better idea to just get a normal internal HDD and then stick it an an awesome external enclosure like the Transcend StoreJet 35 Ultra...at least that's what I have done and am very happy with.

 

[Rebel_X]

i just read that yes turbo usb is backwards compatible. even with usb 1.1.

Ah, I see.. so there actually no difference between USB 2.0 and the turbo.
just a different name to distinguish it from v1.1..

@schumi: I have to disagree with you in this point, well somewhat.
Actually external hdd are neat for their portability, backup or
transferring large files to another computer.

on the other hand, internal hdd are good for faster speeds in general..
but probably you know that already.

 

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

With an external enclosure like Transcend StoreJet 35 Ultra you get the best of both worlds and keep your HDD cooler than it is in an average system (or at least cooler than it is in pretty much every other external casing aside from the two or so others that also have active cooling).

My problem with a normal external is that you are entirely dependant on the manufacturer of it, if the HDD dies or has issues you can't even take it to a normal recovery place cuz it has custom firmware and is literally built into it's casing so to get it out you have to break everything.

However with a good external enclosure the thing basically has an endless life, if the HDD dies or goes on the fritz it's just as easily recoverable as a normal internal is (well aside from the few extra screws to get it out) and you don't have to throw the whole thing away if the HDD died, you simply stick a new one in. It uses a normal mini-usb (or eSATA as well in the case of the Transcend StoreJet 35 Ultra) cable to connect and seems to run off your average laptop power convertor/charger so pretty much everything is replaceable.
Not happy with the capacity or dont want to spend hours transferrring from your storage drive to the "external"? no problem, just stick a bigger drive or temporarily your storage drive into the enclosure.

I never said external HDDs are bad period, I just said external HDDs are bad, but internal HDDs in an external enclosure give you the same protability and are great.

Perhaps it's easier if I link to it:
Transcend StoreJet 35 Ultra + any normal 3.5" SATA2 HDD of your choice, perhaps a nice Western Digital 750GB Caviar.

 

[Rebel_X]

Ahh, I see you have good point there, I will keep that in mind thanks.

 

[taumpytears]

it's not my usb connection. even when i leave the usb unplugged and just plug in the ac, the light stays on (it's supposed to blink a couple times and go off). plus the sudden nature of this malfunction with no usb connection ereors in the past.

 

[lagunareturns]

remove the drive from the case and connect it directly to the motherboard and see if its the controller on the case is the issue or if it really is the hdd

 

[taumpytears]

hmm. let's say that the reason my hard drive froze up is because i plugged it into that non functioning usb port (as it seems to be), as if something became :confused.

may that be the controller on the case like you say?

if i crack it open the warranty is void. but from what i have said so far you have a pretty good idea of what state i'm in... i dont really care about the drive as much as the data thats on it... you guys think i should open it and check.

how easy is that to do?

 

[Yeloazndevil]

just open it up, a flathead screwdriver will help. warranty means nothing if you lose data

 

[Phil]

If your hard drive dies, the data is not magically "erased". The hard drive platters are in encased in an air pressure equalized chamber, preserving the data stacks. If you absolutely must have your data back, all Hard drive companies can get your data off the platters, but be prepared to pay a ridiculously high fee....usually north of $100

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

unless the drive is still in warranty, which then they are obligated to save the data because their producted ****ed up.

 

[taumpytears]

thats how it should work. but they only honor the warranty enough to fix THEIR hardware that crashed. from what i hear people still have to pay the small fortune for their precious data.

because they can.

but you guys started making it sound like i can extract the data myself? so lets say screw the warranty and try that.

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

Thats because people are ignorant to their rights. I on the other hand know my rights as a consumer, and if the fault is in their product then they have full responsibility for recovering my data and replacing the drive at their own expense.