# Meh!



## 10203 (Nov 11, 2001)

Don't know whether it was the hot weather or the power cut that we had last night* that finished it off, but my 300GB Maxtor is now kaput. What's the current thinking on the best make/model 300GB+ drive for TiVos?

*: Yeah, TiVo is on a UPS.


----------



## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Samsung or Seagate would be my advice.


----------



## swuk (Jan 19, 2004)

What lifetime are people expecting from discs? Both Samsung's that I've used have lasted just over 1 yr. I know that equates to a lot of hours of continuous writing, but the original disc lasted much longer than that, and still works.


----------



## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Seagates have a longer warranty (5 years) than Samsung (3 years) but are not as quiet. I would not put a Maxtor drive in a TiVo. 

Actual life in a TiVo varies depending on all sorts of factors, but mostly luck! Temperature is important though so if you can get a 5400rpm drive that might help. Seagate do some "CE" drives that are supposed to be for PVRs, but they still run at 7200rpm. 

The only readily available 5400rpm drive (5760 actually) is the Samsung HA250JC which runs very cool and is currently the quietest drive around by far. I can't really speak for long-term reliability yet as I've only been selling them for just over a year - however, initial impressions are promising.


----------



## mccg (Jun 18, 2002)

I know Maxtors are slagged off everywhere, but my Maxtors are still working fine (2x120G) after 4 years (now in TiVo3).
I had a Hitachi Deathstar which died after 1 year & 3 days... and it was noisy - but it was free! - but I lost all my unwatched recordings :-(
I now have Samsung 250Gs (5400rpm) in Tivo1&2 - only for a few months, but all is OK so far.
I've had 4x300G Maxtors in my PC for a couple of years with no problems.


----------



## swuk (Jan 19, 2004)

I pretty much discount drives that are in a PC. Most PCs are not on 24x7, and even if they are, they're not writing to the disc 24x7. A TiVo sees 8736 hours of continuous writing in a year, whereas my work PC at the very most sees 2080 hours - and in reality it wouldn't even be that much.

I think I'll look out for the slower Samsung's. The SP1213 that I took out last weekend was almost too hot to handle.


----------



## 10203 (Nov 11, 2001)

How about Hitachis? Bought some for a server recentlyish after researching drives that have acoustic managment that is end user controllable. My other server has Seagates in and they're very noisy when the drives are seeking. I could hear the Maxtor seeking in the TiVo too. TiVo has such a low throughput requirement that I guess a 7200rpm Hitachi set to max acoustic reduction will still work fine.

Incidentally I just checked the Maxtor website and the dead drive is under warranty till 2010!


----------



## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

I don't think Hitachi have a very good reputation for reliability either 

The Samsung HA250JC is the quietest and coolest around at the moment and with a 3 year warranty and less than a week's turnaround on RMAs via www.rexo.co.uk you can't go that far wrong. As with any new drive though you should test it thoroughly before putting it your TiVo as shipping damage is all too common these days.


----------



## andyjenkins (Jul 29, 2001)

blindlemon said:


> I don't think Hitachi have a very good reputation for reliability either


Hitatchi bought the HD business from IBM a few years back, and as far as I remember, Hitatchi basically renamed the disk and that was about it - same equipment that IBM used to make the HDDs, same staff, same buildings etc etc. Remember the Death, sorry, DeskStar fiasco? If not - Google it - you'll find plenty of hits . As I'm an IBMer I had a DeskStar in my home PC - and yup, it failed. Luckily, through contacts they got it working again though  Still left a bitter taste in the mouth though.



> The Samsung HA250JC is the quietest and coolest around at the moment and with a 3 year warranty and less than a week's turnaround on RMAs via www.rexo.co.uk you can't go that far wrong.


My original TiVo disk failed a couple of years back. Luckily I too found that it was warranted, and not marked as an OEM drive (meaning that you could'nt claim on the warranty). One RMA on the Maxtor website, one credit card number supplied, and the next working day I had a new 40GB disk, and a box to return the dead one (else they'd have charged that Credit Card). Fantastic RMA service from Maxtor, but then I do believe they have plenty of practise


----------



## ericd121 (Dec 12, 2002)

blindlemon said:


> ...Samsung HA250JC ...As with any new drive though you should test it thoroughly before putting it your TiVo as shipping damage is all too common these days.


How would one do that?


----------



## mike0151 (Dec 13, 2001)

ericd121 said:


> How would one do that?


Manufacturer's diagnostics will often be suitable for this.


----------



## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

HUTIL is available from Samsung's website and works fine with HA250JC drives.


----------

