Maxtor hard drives... any good?

**arokh** · April 28th, 2002, 01:07 PM

I used to swear by Maxtor IDE hard drives. I have never had a problem with mine, and I see very little, if any, have problems in the shop where I work. I'm at the point where I want to buy a bigger one, but now I noticed since they bought out Quantum, they are using the old Quantum design and slapping the Maxtor name on it. For the most part, Quantums used to be junk, so I'm hesitant. Do they still manufacture true Maxtor drives, and if so, how do you tell the difference without opening the box? Is it time to go with Western Digital? We put WD drives in a lot of our builds, and see very little failure rates (but again, not as low as I used to see with pre-Quantum Maxtor drives). I will not buy either Seagate or IBM, these two have the highest failure rate I've seen, so it's either Maxtor or Quantum. Any thoughts? I'd like to get an ATA-100 60/80GB 7200 rpm.

/|rokh

**Darren Wilson** · April 28th, 2002, 01:20 PM

I used to use only Seagate & Maxtor drives, but since Maxtor are now shipping Quantum drives instead (had horrendous return ratios with Quantum drives), I have now stopped using them. Now I will only use Seagate drives and have had only 1 bad one (which was a 15Gb ATA66 drive in my own personal system, which Seagate replaced with a BarracudaIV 7200rpm 30Gb) in god knows how many I have used.

I have seen so many WD drives go back under warranty that these I will not go anywhere near either. Same with IBM.

**arokh** · April 28th, 2002, 01:31 PM

Well.... I think, at least by perusing Maxtor's online technical base, they do still make true Maxtor drives. Now it's just a matter of buying the right one, because when you buy one in the store, it could be any number of specific model #'s. I just have to figure out what the heck "Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motors" means, and if it's better, then I'll buy it.

<a href="http://www.maxtor.com/products/diamondmax/diamondmaxplus/QuickSpecs/42094.htm" target="_blank">http://www.maxtor.com/products/diamondmax/diamondmaxplus/QuickSpecs/42094.htm</a>

That link shows a drawn picture of the back of the drive, and it resembles the old Maxtors I know and love. Not the CS,DS,PK garbage on the new ones (using jumper diagram to figure out what drive it is

).

/|rokh

**arokh** · April 28th, 2002, 01:40 PM

Ok, I think I got my choices narrowed down, I just need to know what is the difference between these two items, and which is better. I have a feeling the first is better, because it was listed first (kind of in fans, ball bearing vs sleeve bearing), but I may be wrong:

"** The letter "J" contained in the model number denotes that this drive was manufactured in Japan with Ball Bearing Motor."

---- OR ----

"** The letter "L" contained in the model number denotes that this drive was manufactured in Japan with a Fluid Dynamic Motor."

/|rokh

**freddy** · April 28th, 2002, 02:08 PM

im in the same boat needing a larger h/drive , i have been using a maxtor 6l020j1 which is the 20g maxtor (d740?) ata133 drive , this drive has performed perfect , i will replace it by the 60 or 80g version.

Ps there is a dos program (amset) that allows u to adjust the noise/performance ,

freddy

**Antimatter** · April 28th, 2002, 05:00 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by arokh:
I will not buy either Seagate or IBM, these two have the highest failure rate I've seen...<hr /></blockquote>From what I've seen, most failures in these brands appear to be heat related although Seagate's quality control seemed to have had problems late 2000, with lots of failures within the first week.
IMO, active cooling is essential for HDDs these days.

**Cygnus** · April 28th, 2002, 05:15 PM

I have used nothing but Maxtor and WD drives for the last 4 years. Seagate pissed me off with so many returns years ago and IMO Quantum just sux.
I have one Maxtor that is in an old K6-2 450 I own that has otlasted a couple of WD drives. Its a 6 gig and is 5 years old now. Considering how much use that one has seen I consider it impressive.

**MacGyver** · April 28th, 2002, 05:22 PM

My 2 cents: it doesn't matter what brand of hard drive you buy, not one manufacturer is perfect!

All hard drive manufacturers make quality stuff, but sometimes hard drives do fail. Make sure you have your data backed up and be prepared for the worst.

I don't pity the foo who don't back up his data.

**arokh** · April 29th, 2002, 10:33 PM

I figured out which drives are the true Maxtors. However, they only made them up to 60GB. If you want a Maxtor above 60GB, it looks like you are going to have to settle with a Quantum-Maxtor drive (hint hint, nudge nudge, if any Maxtor Execs/Engineers are reading this, make a real drive, like you used to!!!!!).

For anyone interested, these are the model #'s of the real drives:
<a href="http://www.maxtor.com/products/DiamondMax/DiamondMaxPlus/QuickSpecs/42084.htm" target="_blank">http://www.maxtor.com/products/DiamondMax/DiamondMaxPlus/QuickSpecs/42084.htm</a>

Now I just have to find one of those 60's, could be tough because they never list the model # on the box, only the kit #

/|rokh

**AlienDyne** · April 30th, 2002, 12:24 AM

I agree with MacGyver on this.

I have had numerous problems with almost any kind of hard drives. This made me think no brand is perfect.

**BC GREEN** · May 2nd, 2002, 07:11 AM

never had any problems maxtor hdd.the last maxtor i got was a Quantum 40.didnt know it till i went to install it in my sys.that was about 7mos. ago.im now wanting an 80gig.it to will be a maxtor.

**jza734** · May 2nd, 2002, 08:35 AM

I used to think IBM hdd's were great until the whole reliability and mtbf issue came up. now i use anything but the rebranded quantum drives.
My boss also loves cheap reman. maxtor's, they all die within 2 months <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

**kato** · May 2nd, 2002, 08:36 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by MacGyver:
My 2 cents: it doesn't matter what brand of hard drive you buy, not one manufacturer is perfect!

All hard drive manufacturers make quality stuff, but sometimes hard drives do fail. Make sure you have your data backed up and be prepared for the worst.

I don't pity the foo who don't back up his data.<hr /></blockquote>I second that. just make sure you are buying from the major companies (maxtor, segate, WD, IBM) I try to stay away from the second tier like fujitsu, samsung etc

Also check the warranty before you buy. not all OEM drives carry the 3 year direct warranty. NO REFURBS - unless warrantied for at least 1 year (I learned that lesson the hard way)

**ephmynus** · May 2nd, 2002, 09:43 AM

I definately recommend Maxtor drives as that is all I use anymore. The way, right now, to ensure you get an actual Maxtor drive and not a quantum is to buy an ATA133. Since Maxtor was the first to put this drive out to the retail market, you can be assured they're not quantum drives. The letter J in the drive model means that it is a ball bearing motor. Not bad in any sense as this is how most hard drives are made. The L means that it is a fluid dynamic ball bearing motor wherein the casing for the bearings are sealed and is filled with oil. Quieter and less prone to drying up and quitting. I just bought an 80gb ata133 "liquid bearing" drive from Maxtor and I love it.

**TRICKPLAYER** · May 3rd, 2002, 01:52 PM

As a few have said, all makes go bad now and then, so lets talk service, for me Maxtor are brilliant, closely followed by seagate.
these 2 at least when there drives go wrong STAND UP AND BE COUNTED,
flipping to cdrw, YAMAHA !!! FREE SERVICE LINE TO BELGUM, THEN TNT DO A SWAPOUT!!! come on guy's more of this, they all go bad now and then, but when they do only a few stand up and be counted.....
buy Maxtor then seagate, they deserve it,

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