I have both Western Digial and Maxtor drives, never had a probelm with either.  You can find either for very good prices as well.

Drives are commodities. IN the past I have had problems with Maxtor and Quantum mostly, but that is in the past. Then there was the episode about 4 years ago where Seagates were trash. Lately, I have not heard any issues with any, and lose one about every year - of all makes and models (given the number of drives I have, that is normal).

I personally prefer Seagate (even with their episode), but they do tend to be a bit more expensive than the others. So I would go with what you are comfortable with. With MTBF of 500k hours and longer for all makes, you may get one that lasts forever, or dies in 6 months. It is the luck of the draw.

For me Maxtor drives have a high failure rate. I have 1x30Gb, 1x80Gb, 2x160Gb dead and a S3 300Gb which sometimes looses contact with my pc.

I now use Hitachi - 2x320Gb and 1x500Gb - all running smoothly and quietly...

I have a 3gb quantum and WD drive that both still work.

My personal choice is WD

Same here as Island Dog....Have an internal Maxtor and External Western Digital....haven't had a problem with either one.

both are very good reliable drives. Maxtor gives ya a little more because it comes with max blast which allows you to format the drive using the NTFS format tool,just incase some of you don't know Maxtor is now owned my seagate

I can't say anything about the life of Maxtors because I stupidly fried mine, but..

Western Digital has a lot nicer warranty.

WD has always been my choice, my alternative would be Maxtor. Beyond that, am a bit afraid of using the other brands.

Western Digital is the answer but it didn't hurt to ask for your opinions. I thought it was the best choice because I have used them for my last two hard drives and they are reliable. Just getting more gigs cause they are on sale right now. Thanks for the input.  

Which ever isn't from China.  

I usually use Seagate but at the moment my main hard drive is a Maxtor and I've had no issues, it's been running without any problems for roughly a year now. In a matter of 6 months I went through 3 Western Digital Drives, so I'd stay away from them at all costs.

Interesting how opinions differ. But the end conclusion seems WD and Maxtor seem to be your best option with Seagate as a second, or third option. I guess it's just a matter of luck (see if it breaks or not) and which name you like more.