External HDD Options

[BRUTALiTY]

Am looking to purchase an external hdd soon and have a few things to ponder before I do.

I bought a Maxtor/Seagate 1TB external a while back which bricked on me (it's recognised but can't be accessed...probably salvagable but anyways...). I was curious to know as a result of this, whether I should consider 'better' brands, and what people might reccomend. For instance, should I focus on WD, are they more reliable? What are people's experience (as subjective I guess as they may be...)

Secondly, I'm unsure whether I should opt for a model with e-sata. While sometimes double the price, it would be nice to transfer files at what should theoretically be 10x the speed of usb. It's unlikely I'll be moving it around a lot so the advantage of usb allowing 'hot-swapping' isn't terribly overbearing, but will I ever reach the transfer rates of e-sata that are preached? Is it worth it?

Are there other things I should be considering?

Fairly mundane question I guess, but would appreciate any comments nonetheless

[phrostyboi]

I've found USB to struggle when it comes to transfers with a lot of files, whereas esata seems to be more robust

I've had seagate, maxtor and WD drives in systems over the years and have settles on WD drives as they're more quiet and i've never had any issues with mine

have always had issues with maxtor, seagate and hitachi