I have had problems with the Western Digital ATA100 drives, and have now went to nothing but Maxtor ATA133s.
I think on the average they are quieter, and so far, more reliable. I provide a 1 year warranty for my customers, and if the WD's would've at least lasted that long, I wouldn't have cared or switched, but as of now, I'm VERY pleased with the results.

I used to use Maxtors, back in the day of 540MB-1GB drives, but my regular distributor quit carrying them, so I now have to order them from another place and keep them in stock. errrrr!