After fast and quiet HDD - not SSD :)

[pipTheGeek]

My main PC has a 15k SAS drive in it, a 74GB Raptor and a 400GB (from when that was big). I have a PC running as a fileserver with an old 500GB WD Green disk, a 1TB WD Black and a 2TB WD Green. Out of all of those the only one that makes any significant noise is the Raptor. I've been very impressed by the recent WD "Black" drives. Although a friend had 1 which failed after a few weeks, was replaced, next one failed after a month, replaced, then it failed again and he gave up with WD.
My advice, if you want bulk storage then just pick a drive. I don't think there will be any significant difference between the makes, so long as you get a "modern" drive.
If you want performance then really you should look at SSD (although I don't own one). If you want the best performance you can get from a mainstream HDD then I'd suggest picking any drive that isn't one of the "green" variants and is from a recent line of drive models.

[Megalon]

I have the 7200.12 1TB paired with an OCZ Vertex 2 and it all runs just fine.

Cheers - this was my original plan actually the Vertex 2 and a Samsung F3, but saw the Vertex 3 - although not sure the extra cash will be worth it for me!

I've been very impressed by the recent WD "Black" drives. Although a friend had 1 which failed after a few weeks, was replaced, next one failed after a month, replaced, then it failed again and he gave up with WD

I have a mate with a similar story to be honest! Although have a couple of WD external's, 1 and 2TB's and dropped the latter in the road and still works - so perhaps their external drives are better built!?