I don't think SATA3 is a thing. If you mean SATA 6Gbps, then yes, a SATA6Gbps device will plug into a SATA3GBPS port, and will just run at the lower speeds.<br><br>As far as manufacturers go, Samsung Spinpoint drives have always hit the sweet spot of price, performance and reliability for me.<br>
<br>If you need a hard-drive, buy one. If you don't need one, wait around, they're only going to get cheaper in the long-run. It's worth spending a bit more for a proper branded one (No eBuyer Extra Value for me) since you want it to last at least 5 years. When you consider this, the difference between £60 and £80 hardly seems relevant.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On 3 November 2011 14:21, Jason Irwin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jasonirwin73@gmail.com">jasonirwin73@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Seems the warnings are going out about massive HDD price rises. Bit of<br>
a bugger as I'd been putting off buying drives until the house was<br>
sorted, anyways...one can still get 2TB jobbies for < £100, which means<br>
there is currently a small premium but not the doom-and-gloom being<br>
reported. So my questions are:<br>
<br>
1) Is SATA III backwards compatible with SATA II? I think it is, but<br>
it'd be an expensive mistake to make (the HP Micorserver is SATA II) and<br>
for some reason SATA III drives are way cheaper than SATA II (go<br>
figure). Wikipedia is silent on the subject of SATA III compatibility.<br>
<br>
2) Seagate Barracuda Green (5400rpm) or WD Caviar Green<br>
('IntelliPower'rpm)? I've never had much trouble with drives from<br>
either company and WD replaced a failed USB drive without quibble. WD<br>
is £22 more and I intend to buy two HDDs.<br>
<br>
3) Wait a few months for the hype/speculation to die down and buy<br>
cheaply after Chrimbo?<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Jason Irwin<br>
<br>
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