up to 60 gb

The Maxtor DiamondMaxx 40 Gigabyte hard-drive is, quite simply, one of the best hard-drives I have ever seen in my life. While I've seen faster and better drives, none are as affordable dollar-for-gigabyte, and all have some inherent flaw(s) which make them unsuitable for data backup and recovery. The DiamondMaxx is a very stable hard-drive, able to survive all kinds of temperature extremes (though it is not recommended that you test this theory). I have purchased them for many different clients, and all agree that this drive is the workhorse of their companies. I, myself, am using one of these drives in the computer I am writing this review from.
Bottom line: if you want dependablility and overall good performance in your hard-drive(s), than look no further than the DiamondMaxx 40 GB hard drive.

I have had this drive for about 10 days now and the performance seems quite reliable. However, two things bother me about this drive:

1. The noise. I have a brand new Dell Dimension 8200 that is a very quiet machine. I am adding this drive as a second volume and there is an annoying reverberating noise from the disk even when its not accessing. Its not an outright loud noise but persistent enough that after 15 minutes it "feels" very loud. I'm thinking of giving them a second chance and return this for a replacement.

2. The quality of the enclosed IDE cable is deplorable. The instructions in the package suggested using that cable to "maximize performance." Looking at the substandard cable, I thought of leaving the original Dell cable in there. When the sound kept disturbing me, I decided to give the Maxtor cable a try, for what it was worth. As expected, that didn't have any effect on the noise level.

I did find a quirk with Windows 2000 in the process that might be helpful to other users. Apparently, when you switch IDE cables Win2K loses track of the bootable device! Switching back to the original cable does not help either. I tried all forms of recovery and repair but to no avail. I had to do a full install to get it up and and running again. This is not a problem with XP Home or Professional though.

After two *BRAND NEW FROM THE FACTORY* Western Digital hard drives failed on me within a year of buying them, I decided to try a Maxtor instead. My 40gb drive has worked flawlessly since the day I installed it. It works just as fast and quiet as the Western Digital. The included software and ATA100 compatible cables included are a definite plus. Unfortunately the warranty the drive comes with isn't as good as the one Western Digital provides, but if the way things are going is a sign of things to come, I probably won't have to use the warranty anyway.