real hard drive differences??
 

is an expensive internal hard drive as good as a more expensive one by the same manufacturer?

I see WD has hard drives with the same stats (capacity, connectors, speed) that are priced at $80, $90, $100. is there a difference?

also, the prices for housings with the same stats vary from $10 to $100. any differences there?

thanks

With the same stats, they are equal. However, stats have to do with RPM, capacity, connector, but also with generation of the logicboard, number of platters, magnetic coating, power consumption, bearings, accoustic dampening, etc. For instance, even with the same capacity, RPM and connector, there is a marked difference between WD Caviar green, blue or black lines.

With externals there are price differences based on quality of the housing, fans, power supply, cooling capacity, materials used, etc.

W.D. offers different packaging options that affect the price. You can buy a bare HD only packaged in an ESD bag, and no accessories or you can get the exact same HD in a fancy cardboard box complete with cables and stuff.
If the part number is identical, the hard drive itself is identical.
If you get the cheapest version, do not expect any extra goodies or fancy packaging.

Well it seems I have nothing to add! I will just say this: if you get an external enclosure, try not to get the cheapest one because they tend to not last as long, as the warranty will imply.

JS

the cheap cases have lower performance. count on it. my favorite cases are bare OWC ones with FW800 and hold 2 drives for $99. its the deal. I think they have a eSata version now

as for drives, the more expesive ones are usually enterprise versions designed for 24/7/365 use. OTH, the ones sold in big box retailers are often the lowest quality. if a drive doesn't have a 3 or 5 year warranty, don't buy it. its your biggest indicator of how long the drive will last. there are some new drives out there designed for multistream video recording in DVR's. haven't tried them to say if the extra $ is worth it or not.