Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831A 300GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Pros: Not too loud. Not too hot.

Cons: I just RMAed my second drive. Something is wrong with these drives that they are failing so frequently. I have a 36GB Raptor in the same machine that has gone through two of these drives already. The second one only lasted 2-3 months.

Other Thoughts: I agree with an earlier reviewer. They are just replacing drives under warranty with ones they repaired. Do not waste your money and time on this.

Pros: Seagate has a great warranty, they make quiet drives.

Cons: These drives have an enormously high failure rate, I've had multiple 120GB, 160GB, and 300GB Failures. Their warranty process is difficult and then 2-3 weeks later you get a USED drive. I'm switching back to western digital they'll replace a drive in 2-3 days and it's new not used.

Pros: Newegg is the very best. Seagate is a very reputable compnay, but...

Cons: I have purcahsed many Seagate HDD's in the past and will continue to do so, I think. Never had any major situations or problems until this drive. Had in install and runniing 24/7 for just over a month when it crashed. Really crashed! BIOS would not recognize and even the Seagate utility Seatools wouldn't either. Have doen a warranty replacement with Seagate which is an ardous exercise but a replacement is on the way. Hope the quality is better.

Other Thoughts: Stay with the RMA program. It isn't easy to follow. Be patient and they will make it good if you have trouble. Judging from other reviews, this HDD is really suspect.

Pros: Fast, quiet, great price, 5 year warranty. Highly recommended. :)

Cons: ATA100? Why not ATA133? Please see other thoughts though. :)

Other Thoughts: Despite the fact that this drive is ATA100, it runs much faster than the Mxxxxr 8mb cache, 7200 rpm, ATA133 drive it replaced.
This is probably one of the quietest drives I have ever owned. I loaded it with the case open and barely even heard the drive.

Pros: I have owned two of these drives since they were reliesed.... they are resonably fast. (I'm used to 15,000rpm SCSI drives so I really don't know how fast ATA-100 should be)
I have these hooked to a Promise RAID card in RAID-0 they have worked flawlessly.
Heat and noise do not semm to be issues (my case is well ventlated though)

Cons: ATA-100 not S-ATA
I know I could have bought the S-ATA ones but at the time I needed the P-ATA drives..... Now I have a need for S-ATA

Other Thoughts: I currently own about 10 Seagate drives including a 10mb drive for a IBM PC-AT they all still work without any bad sectors... The PC-AT is still fired up about twice a week as I use it for a programing project.

Pros: Seagate is supposed to be a good manufacturer. However watch out.

Cons: I own 2 of these. The first failed in 3 months. The other failed in 9 months. Both only get used a few hours a month (backup drives). My friend just gave me a dead drive tonight and I look at the label... It's this drive too. He has had it for only 1 Month. So 3 out of 3 have failed in less than a year. You do the math.

Other Thoughts: Don't trust people who haven't ran thier drive for an entire year. I run my backup drives in a properly cooled case with a APC 1500 UPS. I bought them to backup my 1TB Raid 5 system. I think I will go back to WD again.

Pros: 5 year warrenty

Cons: Slow ups shipping

Pros: Stays warm, doesn't overheat, even during read/write intensive operations. Can't beat the price. $xxx very good deal for 300 gb.

Cons: Isn't "dead silent" as some ppl will have you believe. Makes a high-pitch noise when writing. But it _IS_ softer than most hard drives.

Pros: Just got it today. Formatted size (NTFS) is 279GB. Have it installed in an external enclosure, so it's very easy to hear how much noise it makes. The motor makes a very low-pitched, quiet humming noise. You cannot hear the heads seeking unless you put your ear right on top of it. Heat is low-to-average; all HDs create heat.
Can't comment on the reliability, obviously. Time will tell...but with a 5-year warranty, I'm not too worried.

Cons: None, ATM.

Pros: Very quiet operation and fast. Works GREAT in a TiVo series 2 (540 model). The quiet operation, fast speeds, and a 5yr warranty, it's tough to beat for the price.

Cons: None