[Nekoyasha]

Hi there! I hope I have this in the right forum, just let me know if you need to move it.
I've had some great help here from members in the past & just recently over the last few days removing some trojans.
I've been wanting to get another external HD, was likely going to get a 1 TB. Well, looked at some ads & when I stopped into Walmart yesterday, I picked one up. I thought it was a good price. I figured I could do more research on it at home before opening it. They just had 2 on the shelf, and online they are out of stock.
This is what it is:

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External HD, 2 TB, USB 3.0 Plug-and-Play (USB 2.0 backwards compatible).

Upon looking up reviews, the USB 2.0 version did not sound so hot - lots of crashing, HD death after only a week or 2 of use, clicking noises (which the company said could be remedied by moving further from the computer). Some suggested with the clicking that it probably does not have good insulation.

Was hard to find reviews on the USB 3.0 version. CNET gives it an Editor's Choice pick, and you can watch a small video on it on their site. It said it's downfall is it can tip over easily & it runs hot, and no power off switch. That's what makes up for the good price they said.

What are your opinions? Price at Walmart was $119 - model # is STAC2000103
2 year limited warranty.

I was telling a computer friend about it today - he told me this, and I have heard something similar before - that he has never had good luck with computer products from Walmart, and that some products like this sold at Walmart are not as high-quality or up to par like if it were sold in Staples, Best Buy, etc. What are your findings with this?
I do know that Walmart has a habit of 'putting broken things back on the shelf after they've been returned' (witnessed it myself with a child's toy we returned). And, I know some products are specially packaged and sold in other forms for Walmart exclusively. (for ex: Iams cat food large bag is normally 20 pounds - Walmart is the only store that sells it at 14 pounds, and several other products). My friend also told me that you get less ink in the HP cartridges than if you buy them from the manufacturer directly (which this may apply to other stores & ink cartridge brands as well, I'm not sure).

Oh, and before I forget - this drive I will mainly use to backup photos, etc & to move stuff from my main computer to free it up (and at some point will back everything up onto DVD's). I did want to be able to shut the External HD off since I would not plan to use it so much - with it constantly on, couldn't this make it more vulnerable to a virus if I get hit? I have also renewed my Webroot Spysweeper Internet Security Essentials, and I don't do P2P either. My friend said turning the external HD on/off will kill it faster than leaving it on, which is what my father says too, and I believe I've read that here as well.

Thanks for any opinions!

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Walmart will buy the computer stuff off usually the same wholesalers as Circuit City or any other computer retailer would. The failure rate will be no higher than anywhere else. If you know for a fact Walmart put broken things back on the shelf then why do you keep buying from them? That's a pretty serious thing to say about them, by the way.

Anyway, now you've bought it, use it. If you look after it, it should last practically forever. If it packs up in two years, send it back under warranty. If you have something of mission critical importance that you cannot afford to lose, make multiple back-ups on multiple media. As to power cycling it, well, when you restart your machine the drive will power cycle anyway with the machine, so if you're not using it, turn it off. You don't leave the car running in the garage when you're not using it, do you?

[Neil Jones]

Walmart will buy the computer stuff off usually the same wholesalers as Circuit City or any other computer retailer would. The failure rate will be no higher than anywhere else. If you know for a fact Walmart put broken things back on the shelf then why do you keep buying from them? That's a pretty serious thing to say about them, by the way.

Anyway, now you've bought it, use it. If you look after it, it should last practically forever. If it packs up in two years, send it back under warranty. If you have something of mission critical importance that you cannot afford to lose, make multiple back-ups on multiple media. As to power cycling it, well, when you restart your machine the drive will power cycle anyway with the machine, so if you're not using it, turn it off. You don't leave the car running in the garage when you're not using it, do you?

[Nekoyasha]

Thanks for your input. My questions were genuine & I really appreciate your feedback. I can't say how other Walmarts handle their returns (I'm sure most don't do what I posted), but I can assure of one incident where we did return a child's toy, and the next day when we were going to see about replacing it, it was back on the shelf. I was surely upset that they did that.
I do keep shopping there as it's one of the closest larger stores in my area (I'm not in a big city), and I surely don't expect it's a common practice they do.....at least one would hope, but surely makes you wonder.
Anyway to go back on topic, I suppose I can try it out. I will work it in trying it out to make sure files copy/play, etc good. I just didn't want to be stuck with a HD that would die fast on me/other problems & only be able to replace it with the same product vs. a return.
What I was more concerned about with it being on constantly - I would have it off most of the time except for when I need things from it or to add files to it.....I wouldn't need it on the whole time my computer is on most of the day. I guess I can just unplug it.
The other external drive I have is a Maxtor, and it is hardly ever on, and I have had it for just over 5 years now.
I would like to see others opinions on Seagate & this model. My one friend says Seagate, Western Digital, & Hitachi seem to be of the top 3.

[123Runner]

My friend also told me that you get less ink in the HP cartridges than if you buy them from the manufacturer directly (which this may apply to other stores & ink cartridge brands as well, I'm not sure).

This is not necessarily true. Your manufacturers package them in various sizes. HP for one has different volumes available. Next time take a look at how much ink is stated as being in the cartridge. It is not a readily known fact. For instance, when you buy a printer the ink cartridge is a "starter" cartridge and will only last a short time.

As for enclosures, I am preferential to an enclosure and then placing a drive in it. I don't like the all in one units.

The opinions vary on the "best" manufacturer of drives. I have used them all and have not had any bad drives other than an hitachi for a laptop that was bad out of the box.