Maxtor Advice

[Nooyawkah]

I currently use a Maxtor 40GB Hdd (GL040J2) and it's working great, although it sometimes gets a bit noisy. I'd like to add a 2nd Hdd and wonder if anyone has used the "quiet" Maxtor (D740X-GL) and found it to be especially quiet.

[Whyzman]

Nooyawkah ,

If it's making noise I would run the POWERMAX (http://www.maxtor.com/products/diamondmax/techsupport/TechnicalProcedures/20014.htm) utility immediately.

I've had two Maxtor drives die on my recently (one a 40 and the other a 20), and mjc has had a few. Seems as though it could be something random...then again, perhaps they got a bad batch...

In any event, I would be sure you're backed up. The noise was my first warning...:(

[ranchdog]

The Maxtor 40GB that I use in this PC is the

D740X-6L (rather than GL). It is the fluid

bearing model. To me it is quiet.

No complaints. :)

[Nooyawkah]

Whyzman. I should have been more exact in my wording. It vibrates a bit, at times. I don't think we're at the "clunk" and "thud" stage.

[Whyzman]

Nope, no "clunks" or "Thuds!" It was just a "little" louder accessing then I thought it should be, yet nothing "really" out of the ordinary.

Maxtor does suggest that the PowerMax diagnostic is used after installation of the HDD. Might not be a bad idea....

[Jumby]

I know Maxtor bought Quantum, but I thought the Quantum Fireball was a quiet drive. Don't know if they've changed now though.

[jabarnutcase]

Hmmmmmm-
This is all very interesting- And not exactly what I want to hear:eek:

One of the drives I posess is the exact same model as ranchdog's
(D740x-6L)

When I first put it in, this is exactly how I would have described it:

Nope, no "clunks" or "Thuds!" It was just a "little" louder accessing then I thought it should be, yet nothing "really" out of the ordinary.

I had the same concern at the time because my WD drive is so quiet you need a stethoscope to hear it when it's being accessed.

Asked around a bit and got comments like: "Ha! you think thats loud, you ought to hear my"......(whatever)

So, never really thought much more about it other then- Hey, some drives are louder than others.

Been using it for a few months and it's been working great and has performed well in certain tests.
Now?..........Maybe I better run that utility too! :confused: :(

[iisbob]

i also have that exact same model and i thought it perculiar that it seems to occasionally make a lot of noise while being accessed, so i purchased another one and tried it out-exact same noise pattern.

I contacted Maxtor and questioned them about it, and they said that it's known about and that it's not something to worry about-but that in their next series of Liquid drives they'll be using a different makeup so it will be truely quiet.

Now i've got a Seagate that's 6 years old and has been quiet as a mouse all those years, but ever WD i've ever owned has died within a 2 year period-and sounded like frieght trains the entire time! Same with IBM, tho they were quiet-they never lasted more than 2-3 years, however i've yet to have a Maxtor die on me, no matter how noisy they've been.

Just goes to show you the different experiances we all have on similar hardware.

:rolleyes:

[Steve]

Hi Nooyawkah,

I'm using a Maxtor 4D080KA and it is very quiet. I can't hear it at all! :)

[jabarnutcase]

Thanks for that iisbob! - I feel a bit better now (except for the part about the wd):D

You're right, it's interesting about different experiences, because my "whisper quiet" WD I've had for around four years and (so far), still working great.

Go figure:)

[Whyzman]

When mjc was assisting me a while back trying to determine why I wasn't being able to load Windows, he had me run the utility and it came up with an error code.

I'd had my Maxtor 40Gig for about a year and a half. My Father's 20Gig bellied-up within 2 months. In my conversations with mjc he noted a few also...

Since they've different manufacturing facilities...just curious if they were coming from a certain one. I didn't check the location of the ones I returned vs. the replacements...

With all this in mind....cannot wait for "Flash-RAM" drives to become economically feasible....