Hmm..comprehensive stuff. I did check a few more Sammy drives, a couple peaked @ 36C. Similar OEM style enclosure, part aluminium, part plastic. Of course the sticky tape used to hold the probe may artificially raise the temp by small amount. By comparison, Speed Metal enclosure with a busy 160gb dr...

I've just stuck a HD400LD in an external enclosure. So far been pretty impressed sonically. One thing it does seem to run quite a bit hotter (at least to touch) than other drives I've got running externally. I presume this is relatively normal considering the jump in size (250 > 400gb). For my own i...

I willing/hoping to be corrected..but haven't all the major players stopped making 3.5" 5400 rpm drives?

Tis a shame.

Have the higher capacity WDs lost that idle tick noise I've had on two 3200JBs?

My tips for external drives are to look at putting them on either a rubber mouse mat, a polystyrene block or foam padding.

Indeed I've used the padding from the external enclosures' packaging to good effect.

Other option would to be to boost the rubber feet with sorbothane.

I'm thinking it's about time to upgrade my old Toshiba machine. It's a Satelllite 5100-503 and only has one fan for the CPU (GPU = GeForce4 440 Go). It's not exactly super quiet but it does only come on when required or when the machine is being heavily pushed. I find it bearable. Ideally I'd look f...

Asus seem to make very nice laptops.

I'm not keen on glossy screens however which leaves choice extremely limited.

Were you able to try out the machine before you bought it or was it mail order?

Do tell more...does it have a fan always on? How many fans are inside? Does it go through fan cycles?

I'm interested in the Asus range as a possible replacement for a Toshiba.

Thanks

Slot drives are never great, I wouldn't stick one in a PC unless it was the only option. As for Plextor, it seems the build quality make not be what it was a few years back. I have a Plexwriter Premium and it's stunning drive. Their DVD writers have not reached close to that standard. I believe the ...

Well I got it today, and it's certainly not overly noisy, I'd put it on a par with a Plextor. However the PL3507 enclosure was a duff move as Nero can't verify disks for some reason. Tried flashing the chipset firmware but it won't work. I can get the Benq to run fine in another enclosure with GL711...

I'm just about to try a Benq 1650 in an external enclosure. I have been using NEC drives in plastic enclosures and after a recent bit of scanning/checking been mildly disappointed with some of the burn qualities. With the new drive I'm also getting a aluminium enclosure with a Prolific PL3507 chipse...

Just put a SP2514N out of the box in an external enclosure and it's noticeably different to the old 160gb units I have. The idle whoosh is about the same, perhaps a touch higher but there's no hint of whine. The seeks are acceptable, not great when you are transfering from multiple drive sources. Wh...

I believe the Inspirons have a fan on at all times which ain't gonna please anyone here.

Go with a Sammy, from multiple experiences Tosh drives are totally unreliable.

Devonavar wrote:The official Nidec/JVC motor poll. AFAIK, yes, the new drives are all Nidec, but Samsung wouldn't confirm this...

Yeah I remember contributing to that poll when it seemed to be split mainly on the 160gbs when they first came out.

I'm sure someone once posted that all the 200gb+ drives were Nidecs..can anyone confirm this?

I'm looking to buy from PC World.

Which Thinkpad do you have?

PC World have had the PATA 300gb listed for some time, now showing as in stock.

Link

Would have definitely seasonal, specific 2.5" hard drives were tricky to find in the UK and I guess 3.5" too.

I'm sure the major desktop and laptop manufacturers buy large bulks of stock in the autumn.

Hmm it's those fans that are key...unless my eyes are off they look like a one piece plastic section (bar the blades).

Two fans, some superglue and cable ties could be the order of the day

Of course I'll be waiting for the first mod chip to make an appearance.

I believe the second quote is also one of mine. Without doubt the Tosh's have improved but I guess they are also doing this head unmount as per every other drive it seems. It's more annoying than noisy. One other thing to note, the MK8032GAX is totally unconfigurable using any utility. The APM is fi...

Well here's some more clicking drive info... Found the new Toshiba MK8032GAX also does 'it' when idle for say 10sec+ I'm wondering whether my laptop is to blame but I've never noticed it on my previous Tosh drives... Perhaps it was because they were accoustically louder and such things were not as n...

Time to dig out this thread again...

Has anyone ever tried putting a 2.5" drive in? I know the tray isn't the right size but with a bit of jiggery pokery I would have thought it could accomodate one.

As I said, I have no such click with my WD3200JB. Anyway, I heard that Western Digital's RMA policies let you RMA a drive for pretty much any reason so you shouldn't have a problem. I'm right now in the process of RMAing my WD3200JB because the SMART system was throwing errors (a closer examination...

Well Samsung's RMA service via Rexo in the UK is quick...but nowt else I'm afraid. Wasn't a new drive as I had been promised my Andrew @ Samsung HDD support. Looks clearly a refurb and on the label it's undated. Also..it makes more clicky noises than the previous one. Indeed if left idle for any len...

I stand corrected. Sounds like an RMA all the way.

Sounds like it fits the profile. Not sure I'd describe it as a metallic loop though. Like jaganath says do some research before RMA-ing and try the utilities. However if your drive is recent (i.e. manufactured within the last 6 weeks) it may not be fixable until WD release another firmware update th...

You may or may not get a clicker...might be pot luck I'm afraid.

I have 2 80G Samsung 2.5" drives, 1 in my laptop (which doesn't see a lot of use) and the other in a desktop. I can't say I've heard anything much from them ever. Does yours get hot? Drives do tend to get hot in my laptop because of where the bay's positioning at the front of the machine, away from...

So it could be the platter swap?