What's the best drive ? dumping my ibm

[speedkills]

After using many ibm drives, my own raid array is about to bite the dust again. This time I'm switching to something else. Any suggestions for a reliable, fast drive would be great. Iv'e heard alot about the WD400BB, but m only starting my search. I would like to stick with 7200rpm ATA/100 as i'm hooked on the speed.
Thanks.......

[BipolarBill]

Storage Review rates the WD BB series on top in IDE and I agree. Maxtor's 7200RPM drives are very good too. Seagates new 7200RPM drives are sweet too.

I like the WDs and you'll have to pry mine from my stiff, dead fingers. :eek:

[biglaker]

I've got 7 Western Digitals in 4 machines and have had some of them as long as 4 or 5 years and have not had a lick of trouble from them. I use Norton's System Works to keep them defragged. The last 3 drives I bought were all ATA 100 40 Gb but if you do some looking around, you might find a bargain out there. Just before Christmas, our local Sam's club was selling 100 Gb drives for $219 with a $100 rebate. What a deal- but they sold that out in about a week.
Biglaker

[speedkills]

Thanks Bill, and Biglaker. I shopped for, and found my best deal on a couple of WD BB series drives today. All the tech sites I use seemed to agree with your opinions. I never thought I would switch away from IBM. But then.....I never thought the "Patriots" could win a Superbowl either. Thanks....Tony

[BipolarBill]

Let me tell you a story, speedkills:

A few years ago, WD cranked out a bunch of defective drives. They pondered how to handle this and decided to come clean with a recall of the affected drives. We're talking hundreds of thousands of drives. Wall Street pounded the hell out of WD for this. There were flames all over the net.

Well, 6 months later, no one seemed to remember the incident except for those affected. Some refused to buy WD again, but it was those that were inconvenienced initially that abandoned WD, mostly. The ones who were expeditiously sent new drives were mostly loyal. Those who saw WD recall the drives were impressed with the company's integrity. Today, WD again has a loyal following and is seen as an honest institution.

Compare this with the current state of affairs at IBM. This DTLA problem has been dragging out for 1.5 years. They seem no closer to admitting a defect. Do you think that those who had to return two drives will buy IBM in the future? Do you think of IBM as being square with us? Would you buy a new drive from them in a year or so when a whole new series is introduced?

I would gladly risk my $$ on a WD drive because I know they'll back it up.

I'm really impressed with Western Digital. I'm very disappointed in IBM.