Black Friday Sale Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS

Touch Remedy "TouchRemedy" Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Seagate Barracuda 2TB: can hold it all, one of fastest & quiet too!, 2010-02-24
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Package:Usual clear plastic & resealable which comes in handy for storage of other drives.Compatibility:Used this in external eSATA HD dock. It supports the new serial ATA3 6 gig interface for added speed for those with the most up to date computer as of the day of this review. Mine isn't as fast, so using SATA2 3 gig hardware.Operation:The HD powered up fine, I formatted from Win Vista 64 setup as one large partition & so far in the past two weeks it's been running well & consistent even with a lage amount of files. It runs also very quietly, which is surprising considering it's immense speed & capacity. The drive is in reasonable temperature range with use.Speed:So far this is working well, the speed is great. I can write a 4.15 gig file in under 40 SECONDS.Conclusion:I recommend this drive, the performance is great, with fast speed, great reliability & quiet operation.Will definitely update this review if there are any issues.

Gordon M. Wagner Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Impressive drive for hard-core gamers or video pros, 2010-02-02
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
The first hard drive I ever bought was a Seagate. It was a 20MB internal. Once I'd gotten it installed I thought "I'll never fill up all this space." That was more than twenty years ago (and it turns out I did fill up all that space).Here is the latest and possibly the last of the Seagate Barracuda drives, and it's a beauty. I just cannot get over how BIG the drive is. Two terabytes is TWO TRILLION BYTES. And it flies! Until SATA3 becomes the de facto standard, this drive will satisfy the needs of any hard-core gamer or video editing pro.I'd read about earlier large Seagate HDs having issues in multi-disk arrays on Mac or Linux systems, but I found that this drive works and plays well with everything I've got plugged in to my system. Installation was easy. The drive is remarkably quiet. The capacity reminds me of those stretch limousines you see on the freeway, amazingly large but moving right along.100% recommended. This is a terrific hard drive. And it's HUGE.---Months later: I've been trying to choke this thing somehow or other and it laughs off my every attempt. Really a nice bulletproof drive.

D. Couse "darkman1969" Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
So far, so good!, 2010-01-29
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
I've got to admit, after purchasing a 1TB drive I couldn't imagine ever needing more storage. Well, after my original hard drive failed, I don't think I can get enough for backups! So when this popped up on Vine, I didn't hesitate.The frustration free package is fantastic. I love being able to open something with the simple use of my hands. I didn't need to get out the Ginsu knife, or Leatherman multi-tool, or even a pair of super strength scissors to get to the drive. Love it!When they say bare, they mean it. They ship you dead metal. I've converted it to an external drive by using a 3.5" USB SATA external case and plugged it in...the computer recognized it, but it wouldn't show up under My Computer. Then I remembered you need to initialize and format the drive. Once I did that, my PC had no problem picking it up. I began by copying my music library over (12GB) from my 1TB drive as a backup. That took about 15 minutes flowing USB to USB.The drive is quiet, didn't get too warm and is 2TB!!! I'm not sure I can come close to filling this one, but I sure look forward to trying!

Dougie Fresh Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Fast, quiet and expensive, 2010-02-03
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
This is an OEM product so expect that it does not come with some other pieces that are required to install. You will need a SATA data cable and if your power supply doesn't have any, a SATA power cable. The drive comes in a plastic clamshell case that just snaps shut. A concern here was a lack of a anti-static bag and padding for the drive but it seemed to have arrived in fine condition. It was definitely easy to open. No scissors needed and not blood drawn from sharp plastic unlike a more recent experience trying to open a toy for my daughter. Kudos to Amazon on their packaging even if it made me a little nervous.This 2TB Seagate drive uses the latest SATA 6Gb/s technology (also known as SATA III) and is intended for use with the latest SATA 6Gb/s controllers. SATA 6Gb/s technology is a fairly recent thing so right now only the top-end motherboards have this technology and they are rather expensive. New SATA 6Gb/s PCI-e cards are also available and don't seem to have the premium price tag of the latest motherboards. However, thanks to the SATA standards, these aren't necessary to use a SATA 6Gb/s drive. These drives are backwards-compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s depending on the BIOS of the SATA controller. I was not able to test this drive with a SATA 6Gb/s controller because I do not own one but I was able to test it with both SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s controllers.In all cases, the drive was very quiet and quick though not noticeably quicker than any other hard drive for the applications I use. Though, again, the testing was limited to SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s controllers and was also done using applications that don't necessarily benefit from the extra speed such as watching videos and streaming data. Importantly, it was easy to install and was readily recognized by both Windows 7 and Windows Home Server, the former having a SATA 3Gb/s controller and the latter a SATA 1.5Gb/s controller. In one setup which I will detail in a bit the drive ran a bit too warm for my liking compared to the other drive in the system. At all times the drive was whisper quiet, no clicking of drive heads audible even during a long copy process.The first PC I tried this drive in was my home theater PC. This PC is housed in a case about the size of an audio-video receiver and sits inside my entertainment center. To install, I just needed a SATA data cable because my power supply had plenty of SATA power plugs left open and the screws that had come with the computer case. As with all SATA drives, it installed easily, Windows 7 recognized it right away and I was able to create a partition and quick format the drive via the Disk Manager interface. The drive had indeed arrived safe and sound despite the minimal packaging. SATA is such a godsend after the old days of setting jumpers, setting drive types in the BIOS, etc. The drive formatted to 1.8TB. No drive ever formats to the advertised capacity so this was no surprise. The OS needs room for the file allocation tables. I used 64K allocation blocks since I was testing this drive out with large video files. I then copied 600GB of video data to the drive which took a few hours over a gigabit network. There were no glitches in the copying and the data written to the drive played just fine in Windows Media Center as expected. I then shutdown the machine and opened up the PC to see how warm the drive was getting. It was definitely warmer to the touch than I would have liked. I am not sure if that's the drive itself or the confined space of the home theater PC. I did notice that the system drive however was not as warm. I think if I were to use this drive in a home theater PC or any confined space I would have concerns about the heat and be sure to have some additional cooling around the hard drive cages. There is currently one 92mm fan pushing air over the harddrives but I would add one more. Keeping components cool is a key to their longevity.The second PC I tried this drive in was my home server PC. For this install, I needed a power cable and a data cable. I used a combined data/power cable that cost less than $10. My home server is an old Dell Optiplex tower repurposed as a Windows Home Server. Being an older machine, it only has a SATA 1.5Gb/s controller on-board along with an add-in SATA PCI card also running at 1.5Gb/s. Installation was the same experience as with the home theater PC. The drive came right up in the server console, recognized by the older controller hardware without issue and by Windows Home Server without issue. The drive was added to the drive pool as a 1.8TB drive. This is probably not the kind of drive I would use in a home server but I wanted to see how it played with the older controller. There were no issues at all and it was fully backwards-compatible with the older technology. This drive is definitely overkill for a simple home server but I am sure it would be great in an enterprise-level server where speed is king with its huge 64MB cache and SATA 6Gb/s support as long as it was hitched to a drive and network controller that would not bottleneck the drive.I do wish I had the kind of hardware that could have put this drive through its paces to see how it compares to the other drives I have. If I can get my hands on some I will do more testing and update this review. I think this kind of technology is overkill for the everyday home user especially at this price point. This is especially true in a home server that's going to be running 24/7 where something in a "green" drive is more suitable. This drive is going to be bottlenecked by the on-board controller in a desktop-class motherboard and a home network so a faster drive isn't necessary. The advertised speeds are beyond what my gigabit network can handle with my home-class router and switch. As for its use in a media front-end it's likely overkill there too and I am not sure how it peforms temperature-wise in such an enclosed environment. I would worry about longevity with what seemed to be a hotter running drive. This is another place where a cooler running albeit slower green drive would suffice at a much lower price point. HD video streaming at 480Mb/s is going to be no match for any class modern drive.I don't think however, I am the target market for this drive. Given the price point, large cache and advertised speed this drive would be more suited for someone who has the hardware and software that can take advantage of this drive. It's definitely an high-performance piece of technology positioned for the higher-end or enthusiast who needs to speed and features it offers. Everyday users such as myself would find a better value in a slower, lower power, less expensive drive. Given my experience so far with the drive, I would say that if I was looking for the fastest and the quietest this is the one I would pick. So far it's been a gem. Now the test will be longevity in the home server. How will it hold up compared to the WD Caviar Green drives that are running alongside it. These drives have been running smoothly, one for over a year, another about half a year and a third, a 1.5TB drive that cost 1/3 the price, about 4 months. This will be the most important test of all. As time goes on I will come back and report on how the drive is holding up. It's one thing to write a review on a drive after a week but how reliable will it be after 6 months, a year, etc. only time will tell. Stability and longevity (aka reliability) are after all the most important features of any data storage technology.Update (27-May-2011)This HDD is still going strong in my home server running Windows Home Server v1.Update (05-Dec-2011)Another six months or so gone by and the drive is still running well. It's now in my WHS2011 server.Using SpeedFan to analyze my SMART status it gives the following scores:The overall fitness for this drive is 89%.The overall performance for this drive is 89%.All SMART attribute values are still in the green except the readings attributable to the age of the drive and the "raw read error rate" which bears watching but is nothing to be concerned about at this point.

Penetralia Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB, 2010-01-29
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
At 6Gb/s, this Seagate is FAST, and quicker than any other drive we've had to date.The Frustration-Free packaging was simple to open; it was a mere plastic casing, which also means less waste for planet earth. We purchased the Acomdata Samba 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 Enclosure for PATA/SATA IDE Hard Drive SMBXXX2E-BLK (Black) to fabricate this as an external device, and are very pleased with the speed.Our Dell XPS recognized the device immediately, and we used it to backup mega loads of data from other drives. Hard drives often go bad no matter how good they are, so we keep a backup of backups just in case.The Seagate Barracuda transmitted over one terabyte of data in a fraction of time in comparison to our others. This drive is highly recommended.

Tech Junkie "Tech Junkie" Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Quite, very fast, quiet, and did I say quiet?, 2010-02-15
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Pros: 1. Very quiet - absolutely no noise even when I was doing continous reads/writes running performance tests (iometer). The older Seagate Barracuda 750gb Sata II drive I have (Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 750 GB 7200RPM SATA 3 GB/s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive ST3750528AS-Bare Drive (Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging) does make some sound while doing some reads/writes, but this drive - nothing at all.2. Very fast. Even when connected through the eSata interface (downgraded to Sata 2 - 3gb/s level), it still outperformed the internal Seagate Barracuda 750Gb drive I have - by about 10% (both in throughput and in access times).3. Size: obviously, enough for almost all purposes - as a great backup drive, as a store for videos/music at home.Cons: None serious so far; but I did notice that it gets slightly warm when I ran a continuous sequential read/write test for about 10 minutes (that's not the normal usage anyway and so it should be fine).My system setup: eSata interface (Sata 2); I will be testing with Sata 3 this week and update the review again. Performance tests ran include IOMeter (8 threads on a quad core cpu, 10 and 20Mb sequential read/writes).

Jack Toering "IT_Architect" Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
IT Company - Unreliable drive, 2012-03-01
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
We are an IT company and we have been putting these drives in for use as backup drives, and drive is e approved by Seagate for this purpose. The following is the litany for just one customer, new server install, with two-drive backup system:Summary:- One of the two drives was bad out of the box. Seagate sent me a refurb to replace the new drive.- The refurbed drive lasted 10 months.- Ordered a new drive from Amazon. It was bad out of the box. Returned the drive.- Took 3 attempts to get a good refurb to replace the 10 moth old refurb.*Total to keep one drive running for one year required 2 new drives and 4 refurbs.Packaging:The new drives from Amazon came packaged in a cardboard book mailer and no padding. The drives shipped from Seagate were packed in the normal custom fitted foam drive carriers.Detailed history for the curious:- Ordered two drives from Amazon one year ago for new server setup.- One of the two new drives disconnected while backing up the first time a backup was attempted on it. Failed Seatools long test. Seagate warranty sent us a refurb. (Should have returned it)- 10 months later the refurb disconnected while backing up, as did the one I received from Amazon in the beginning. Failed Seatools long test.- Purchased a new drive from Amazon. The new drive disconnected while backing up, same as happened with the original new drive. Returned drive to Amazon and requested a credit.- Warranty exchanged 10 month old refurbed drive from Seagate. New refurbed drive spun up fine, but wouldn't come on line. Failed Seagate short test.- Warranty exchanged bad refurb from Seagate. New refurbed drive had faint beeping noise (beep of death)- Received another refurb. Had techs test it for a day day with Seagate tests before we wasted any more time on these drives. Ran full battery of Seatests. Drive passed all tests. Installed drive at customers. Backups happening fine.- Now that drive went bad within 2 months time. I'm putting in a Western Digital at almost twice the prove tomorrow. We'll see.

Power User Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Data Errors after 3 Days, 2010-11-09
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
My new high performance Seagate drive failed after 3 days!After buying Seagate bare drives for over 15 years, I noticed that the quality of Seagate drives has been deteriorating over time. The Seagate 2TB 6 Gb/s drive started generating data and file errors in my Win7 PC after 3 days of use. Upon restarting Windows, CHKDSK is automatically launched to check the integrity of the new Seagate drive.While this particular drive could be a bad unit and I was unfortunate to receive it, I have experienced too many premature failures with Seagate drives over the last 5 years. None of my Hitachi drives have failed yet.The warranty is useless considering the amount of effort and time to recover or rebuild your data after a drive fails. Plus, who would want to return the drive when all of your data is still in it! Unless I can perform a 3-hour procedure to wipe the bad drive, I normally smash the drive with a hammer instead of invoking the warranty.This time, I was tempted to purchase this Seagate drive because of its higher 6 Gb/s data trasfer rate. I couldn't find a similar offer from Hitachi. I have learned my lesson.

Marisa Nitsch Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
Very fast and quiet, great for backups!, 2010-02-12
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
The frustration-free packing was very nice and simple to open. Its nice not to fight with a package! I was a little concerned that the drive was not in a static case, with-in the frustration-free casing however all did turn out fine.First off, you will need a SATA data cable to use this product. Some power supply's have it, others don't so keep that in mind in case you need a cable when you purchase this. All of our computers recognized the device fast. We have an HP, two Dells, a lenovo laptop and a personally made computer which I used to really test the drive's speed and capacity out. The drive is very quiet, no noise or clicking coming from it. Besides installing easily, your able able to create a partition through the disk manager interface and do a quick format as well. Our systems mainly have windows 7, however some have vista and there were no issues.I plan to use this as an external hard drive once I purchase a eSATA USB Docking Station. (they run about $30) It will make it easy to move from computer to computer and backup what I need. With the massive 2TB drive capacity, you won't run out of room! It has 7200RPM, 64 MB cache, and 6gb/s interface; which in turn makes for a great performance of power and quality.

Ed Say: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
DOA, 2012-01-11
This review is for: Seagate Barracuda XT 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Bare Drive ST33000651AS
As soon as I connected the drive, it made very scary mechanical sounds and wasn't even recognized. Dead on arrival.I can't help but wonder if this was due to the the poor packaging. I'm all for saving waste that Amazon is doing with their new packaging but sending the hard drive in a bare box with only two plastic holder? Not a good idea.