Why do people love the Barracuda ATA drives?

[Adcadet]

it seems many people think the world of Seagate's Barracuda ATA's. Maybe they were competitive when they switched from SCSI to ATA (does anyone know if they kept the same internal mechanics? I doubt they did...), but it seems ever since then they trailed the competition significantly, except maybe in noise. Comments?

 

[ddrueding]

you seem to have hit the nail on the head. It is very quiet, and is 10-15% slower than louder drives. All depends on your priorities I guess.

Me? I use raptors :mrgrn:

 

[Tannin]

Well, the bottom line is, the Seagate Barracuda ATAs are:

* Roughly 100% faster
* About 80% better-looking
* and Approximately 500% more reliable

 

[Tannin]

.... err .. as compared to the unlovely U-series, that is ...

 

[Mercutio]

It can't be anything but noise.

Seagate and Samsung drivers exist largely to make Maxtor, IBM and WD drives look faster, I think.

Can't be price. Everyone else is cheaper (in small quantities, anyway). Go look at any page of price listings on pricewatch. Let me know how many times you had to click "Next" before you see a Seagate drive.

Can't be performance. Last time I remember a Seagate drive atop SR's ATA performance leaderboard, it was a Barracuda III, which was quickly dispatched (literally, after about three weeks) by the Maxtor DM40+.

Can't be reliability. I'll let Tannin comment on that one. Seagate manufactures ONE drive with a three year warranty. Doesn't speak highly of their products, does it?

Noise is the only thing Seagate brings to the table. Seagate should've been taken to task for their IDE products a LONG time ago.

 

[SteveC]

Can't be price. Everyone else is cheaper (in small quantities, anyway).

Not necessarily. I got my 160GB drive for $80 after rebate, about four or five months ago.

 

[blakerwry]

yup, Maxtor and seagate have jumped on the rebate bandwagon along with WD. There are some nice deals to be had...

also, what do you mean about the warrant merc? several versions of the 7200.7 have 3 year warranty, any ATA V you find on the shelves should have a 3 year warranty(I think?). All the ATA IV's came with a 3 year warranty... all the SCSI stuff comes with a 5 year warranty.

It seems that their warranty policies are about on par with maxtor and IBM.

 

[SteveC]

also, what do you mean about the warrant merc? several versions of the 7200.7 have 3 year warranty, any ATA V you find on the shelves should have a 3 year warranty(I think?). All the ATA IV's came with a 3 year warranty... all the SCSI stuff comes with a 5 year warranty.

It seems that their warranty policies are about on par with maxtor and IBM.

All of their retail drives come with only a 1 year warranty.

 

[blakerwry]

all of seagates retail ATA drives.... same with maxtor and WD..... hmm....

 

[Mercutio]

IIRC the 160GB 7200.7 SATA has a 3 year warranty.

The most recent drives I've purchased for myself have been MaxLine II 250GB models. Those have been the only exception I've made to the "only Samsung" rule in the last eight months.

 

[Computer Generated Baby]

...Maybe they were competitive when they switched from SCSI to ATA (does anyone know if they kept the same internal mechanics? I doubt they did...), but it seems ever since then they trailed the competition significantly, except maybe in noise...

The Barracuda ATA (SATA and parallel) are very quiet and very reliable.

If Seagate wanted to go down the WD route, they could monkey around with the firmware a bit and boost performance more. But, their engineers have optimised the Barracuda ATA series for quiet and reliable operation with "lazier" seeks. They also put money into a quiet and dependable spindle over other parameters. The Seagate Barracuda ATA line is definitely conservative.

I might also add that the Barracuda 5400.1 is extremely silent in all phases of operation -- including startup! I use a 40 GB 5400.1 in an Alesis HD24 audio recorder . The 5400.1 is way quieter than the 10 GB Fujitsu that is provided with the unit.

 

[CityK]

If that provided Fujitsui is the same 5400 model that one of my friends has then I willing to bet that your's loves to grumble too. Not outrageous, but definitely not the quietest of seekers.