HDD GURU FORUMS

can someone suggest me which one is better.

Atola is great for cloning but firmware operations are way more limited and simple then more advanced tools like PC3K. Atola is simple to use and nice for a starter but if your goal is do data recovery/fix drives at firmware level and because Atola is more expensive then PC-3000 and way less powerfull i would go for a PC-3000 unit with DE.
If your goal is just clone drives then consider a DDI4 unit as it will be cheaper and will do it's job (but doesnt allow firmware fix/manipulation).

Atola is great for cloning but firmware operations are way more limited and simple then more advanced tools like PC3K. Atola is simple to use and nice for a starter but if your goal is do data recovery/fix drives at firmware level and because Atola is more expensive then PC-3000 and way less powerfull i would go for a PC-3000 unit with DE.
If your goal is just clone drives then consider a DDI4 unit as it will be cheaper and will do it's job (but doesnt allow firmware fix/manipulation).

thanks for your suggestion

He asked about DFL-SRP vs Atola.

DFL-SRP is a combination of the DFL-DDP imager and the DFL-FRP firmware repair tools into one box. The FRP/SRP uses separate firmware modules to provide functions for different brands of hard drive and you buy them separately, e.g., ST, WD, SS, F/T, HT. The DDP/SRP imager incorporates many common firmware repair features that make it very useful for more than just imaging, so you my not even need a separate firmware repair tool when starting out. Most importantly, DFL provides many videos/PDFs on how to use their tools to fix problems, and these are very helpful to the novice who may know next to nothing about firmware or data recovery in general.

DFL target data recovery start-ups. Their products tend to have the occasional bug but they try hard to fix them and continuously improve/enhance their products. I just wish they exercised better qulaity control over software changes, as bugs that get solved in one version often re-appear in later versions. For the money, they are still excellent and very capable tools for those who can't justify the expense and training required for the industry standard tool: PC3K+DE.

Many thanks for the reply LarrySabo

can you explain what type of bug is there or rather I would say is there any problem in using this product.

@shivram, minor examples include buttons on some display panels that are obscured until you mouse over them, not being able to write an adaptive ROM to a PCB (although it generates the adaptive ROM perfectly). Some of the tools do not yet work with some drive models, e.g. recent Hitachi and Samsung models. Sometimes, a head map cannot be produced by DDP, especially for Samsung drives. Sometimes it depends on how unstable the heads are so that's not the fault of the DDP.

I only have modules for FRP-WD+ST, so don't have a lot of experience with the tools on the other drive makes/models. Therefore, I can't provide a comprehensive list of problems. Also, I don't want to leave the impression the tools are "buggy" or crippled. They are excellent tools and I am very glad that I bought the ones I have--they work very well, for the most part, and DFL are dedicated and strive to improve them and fix bugs. The only alternative tools are MRT Pro (which is really buggy, from what I read, and share some of the mentioned limitations) or PC3K (which is not affordable by most start-ups not prepared to invest $10K-$15K with no legal prospect of reselling the tool if things don't work out.