I hope its okay to post here, this is a request for guidance on the matter of HDD purchase.

I have been waiting since the beginning of the year when single 2TB HDDs came out to get a Freecom HDD. Its only just now that the Quattro line they have has been updated to 2TB but I was holding out for a Pro drive. Currently I have a 1TB from the Pro range and keep it permanently on and connected to my wireless network via Apple's TimeCapsule. Its good in that it can switch itself off. I've had no problems with it, now a year in use.

However I think the Pro range is to be scrapped and it looks like the Quattro is the best they have to offer, the problem is that customer services at Freecom don't have a sample drive and cannot tell me if it powers down like the Pro does - I don't know if any of you are familliar with Freecom drives but they are well designed.

I was thinking then of replacing the internal HDD of the 1TB Pro I have and inserting one of the following:

A Western Digital (WD20000CSRTL) 2TB Green Caviar HDD (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... ifications), this was the first 2TB out and has been around for a while now, nobody's complained about it.


Seagate Barracuda ES.2 1TB Hard Drive - same as above

The Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 which is just out and the same as the rest.


I'm not sure which would be best to go with, I think the 4.4watts or less for idle power is good but don't know how this compares with the Caviar from WD. Also I'm not sure about opening up my HDD enclosure as the Pro has a little more inside than a standard HDD enclosure.

If anybody has experience with Freecom drives or replacing them let me know about the decision to make the upgrade thanks.

I rung their Technical Support, which is a world away from their clueless Customer Service email support, and they said that any Freecom Drive would be safe on a network. Although the Quattro 2TB is designed to be directly connected to a computer its going to be fine for a wireless network. My set-up I described as an Apple Time Machine with the drive connected into the back, wirelessly streaming data.

The Quattro has four interfaces so Mac users best benefit from it because of FireWire and that its the first to have a 2TB HDD inside. If those sell well then the normal drives will be sold with 2TB. I told them the pricing might put people off a bit but having just recently opened up one of their drives its obvious that the quality of the build extends not just to its exterior.