Most homes have more than one TV. Maybe two, three or more. They are installed in different rooms - in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bedroom or in the nursery. Requirements and selection criteria change depending on the place of registration. So it turns out that choosing a TV is not so easy.
To choose a TV, you first need to decide at least with the technology by which it will be manufactured. They all have their pros and cons. But even the disadvantages can be used “for good”.
Plasma screens
Plasma display device is fundamentally different from all other technologies. Between the two glass plates are cells filled with gas - xenon or neon. Therefore, such televisions are sometimes called gas-discharge televisions. When the current passes, the cells glow, the brightness of the glow depends on the magnitude of the current.
The main advantage of this technology: high quality of the "picture", which is preserved even in very dynamic moments. Other advantages of this technology look no less impressive:
Very good indicators, which contributed to the rapid growth of popularity. But there are also disadvantages:
If you want to choose a TV with a large screen, high quality images and good color reproduction, pay attention to plasma panels. This is exactly what they are. Only if you want, you have to look for the appropriate brackets and the wall must be of good load-bearing capacity. Drywall or foam concrete will not hold such a mass.
Properties of LCD TVs (LCD)
Liquid crystal screens use a digital image transmission method. They are named so because the cells are filled with liquid crystals, which in an electromagnetic field polarize the light passing through them, changing the degree of their own transparency. To obtain an image, a matrix with liquid crystals is backlit (with cold cathode lamps), color filters are used to convey shades.
The advantages of LCD TVs are as follows:
- The models of recent years have low power consumption.
- Higher resolution (compared to plasma).
- The ability to play in FullHD format.
- Low weight.
- There are screens in different sizes - both small and large. The image on them is of the same quality.
- Good geometry of the image.
- Low level of electromagnetic radiation as they are powered from undervoltage.
- No screen burnout and transillumination.
- The screen does not attract dust.
This set of qualities contributed to the rapid proliferation of LCD TVs. But they also have a number of disadvantages that you should be aware of:
If you want to opt for an LCD TV with a good resolution, you have to shell out a hefty sum. If the requirements for image quality are not so strict, it is quite possible to look at models from the middle price range.
LED technology
The difference between LCD and LED TVs is in the different lamps used to illuminate the matrix. LED TVs use LEDs. They are smaller, which makes the screens very thin. They are also more durable and consume less electricity. There are two types of LED backlight screens:
Due to the use of LEDs, LCD TVs receive additional advantages:
If you decide to choose a TV with high image quality, take a closer look at LED models. They have, perhaps, only one drawback - the high price. A good quality LED TV costs $ 600-1000. Compared to conventional LCDs, they cost 40-50% more. Nevertheless, these are not the most expensive models today, and many opt for LED TVs.
OLED and QLED technology
This technology for making TVs appeared already in this century, and they have been mass-produced for only four years. The image is formed by organic light-emitting diodes, which themselves emit light and do not require backlighting. In English, they are designated OLED, which gave the name to this type of TV.
Today, there are two main technologies for producing OLED TVs:
Before buying something, you need to clearly answer the question: "How much money can I spend on this?"
TVs belong to the category of equipment, where the price is practically unlimited from above. There are more than worthy models for 20 thousand rubles, and there are also for six and a half million.
How do you like a TV that costs more than the new 420-horsepower Porsche Cayenne S? The best thing about these models is the comments and feedback from the "buyers".
Sold an apartment in Moscow, bought a TV! I live in a box from under it, I enjoy 4K format! Everything is super, I advise!
Bought four TVs per room instead of wallpaper. Everything is beautiful, you can choose the location. The only drawback is that it is impossible to leave the room, since there are no doors on the TV. Help leave the room.
It is a pity that the set does not include a person who will praise your choice during the warranty period.
But seriously, the combination of the uncertainty of acceptable spending, lack of knowledge on the topic and some of the seller's techniques that provoke a person to buy and dull his sanity is a very real risk of losing a large amount or getting a loan.
Determine the dimensions
“Now I’ll buy it, and I’ll think of something with placement” is a very bad way to think before purchasing any large product.
You will most likely want to position your newly purchased TV in an existing environment. This can be a separate bedside table, headset or wall mount.
- If the TV turns out to be noticeably narrower or wider than the bedside table, then such a design will look very poor.
- An oversized TV will simply not fit into a wall-mounted headset, and this will become a big problem.
Mounting on a wall gives you more freedom, but there are also limitations.
There is such a thing as the optimal viewing distance. It is generally accepted that these are 3-4 diagonals of the TV.
Let's say the diagonal is 40 inches. An inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters. 40 inches is 106.2 centimeters, that is, it is supposed to watch TV from at least three meters. Will it be possible to apply this rule in your house or apartment? No? It's okay, because the optimal distance is a rather arbitrary parameter.
It is much better to pre-measure the distance from which you will watch your future TV and evaluate candidates for a purchase at this very distance. You yourself will understand which screen diagonal will be optimal for you.
Too large a screen will not allow you to cover the whole picture, your eyes will start running around the image, trying to see details on the periphery, and quickly get tired.
A screen that is too small will not work either. You realize that you do not see small details, and in general there will be no theatrical effect of presence that a person expects to receive from a modern widescreen TV.
It's okay to come to the TV with a tape measure.
Optimal resolution
Resolution is the number of pixels that make up the screen.
Now the industry standard is de facto Full HD displays, in which the image consists of 1,920 pixels horizontally and 1,080 pixels vertically, but advertising is actively promoting 4K TVs, beautifully telling about the charms and advantages of this technology over the "outdated" Full HD.
A 4K screen typically consists of 3,840 horizontal pixels and 2,160 vertical pixels.
It turns out that such a display has four times as many pixels.
The more pixels, the clearer the image the screen can give. Is it logical? It is logical.
This means that 4K TVs provide four times sharper images. Is it logical? No.
Marketing uncles are silent about two very important things:
- A 4K TV needs 4K content.
- The human eye is quite limited in its perception of sharpness at a distance.
The first feature is easy to demonstrate using any picture.
Here is the Lifehacker logo in a resolution of 150 x 150 pixels. Let's assume this icon is made for Full HD viewing.
And here is Lifehacker's logo in a resolution of 300 x 300 pixels. Let's say it's made for 4K viewing.
The difference in detail is palpable, isn't it?
Question: what happens if you do not have an icon in 4K resolution, but only for Full HD? That's right, the TV will try to stretch the image to fill the screen. Take a close look at what a 150 by 150 px icon looks like when stretched to 300 by 300 px.
See? The image is clearly worse.
For comparison, look at a normal 300 x 300 px logo, to the right of which is the original 150 x 150 logo, stretched to 300 x 300 px.
The difference in quality is obvious.
Much the same thing happens on a 4K TV when you play Full HD and even lower quality content on it.
In a real situation, the difference will be less noticeable due to the so-called upscaling - image stretching, in which special algorithms try to neutralize accompanying defects. It turns out better, but it still can't match the quality of real 4K content.
Even in 2017, there is very little 4K content. The vast majority of films and programs are provided in Full HD or HD format.
The second factor, due to the limitations of the human eye, is even easier to demonstrate.
Take another look at the normal and stretched logos.
Now slowly move away from the monitor.
When Steve Jobs showed the world the iPhone 4 - the world's first smartphone with a Retina screen, he meant that the pixels on the device's display are so small that the eye cannot see them from a typical distance of a mobile phone.
Human vision is actually not that sharp. For each screen, there is a distance from which the pixels of which it is composed are no longer distinguishable. The larger the pixel, the greater the distance.
You can use the Lifehacker's Retina calculator to independently calculate the pixel indistinguishability distance for any of your gadgets.
The paradox is that on a Full-HD TV with a diagonal of 40 inches (106 centimeters), the pixels are no longer visible from a distance of 160 centimeters, and the recommended minimum distance for comfortable viewing is 300 centimeters. The advantage of 4K will appear only when you sit down in front of the same screen at 80–150 centimeters, but who will do this and why?
Full HD is already overdriven.
Why, then, are 4K advertisements so actively promoted? In fact, this technology is needed, but only for designers and other professionals who need to correctly see the smallest details at close range on the monitor, but everything else is a marketing necessity that exists and works solely due to the ignorance of consumers.
Think for yourself, what else can a TV manufacturer do when there are dozens of the same companies with the same products? Of course, to invent something new, something that will set him apart from the swamp of carbon-copy telescopes. This innovation does not have to be beneficial to the user. The main thing is the very fact of having something special, and the PR people will come up with everything right.
Competitors, in order to keep up with consumers, have to repeat such essentially useless innovations, but as a bonus, manufacturers get the opportunity to significantly raise prices. New technologies are the same!
Frequency
Frequency is the number of times the picture on the screen is refreshed in one second, measured in hertz. 60Hz means the image can be refreshed 60 times in one second.
It is believed that image refresh rates above 60 Hz are not picked up by humans. But to view 3D content at 60 fps, when you need to alternately show frames for the left and right eyes, you need a 120 Hz TV.
Higher frequencies, be they 240 Hz or 100,500 Hz, are just another marketing noodle.
Matrix type
In fact, the matrix market is now dominated by a single technology called LED, on the basis of which the vast majority of displays are created. That is, the screens of all TVs are approximately the same.
Only the type of matrix is important, and it will be either LED or AMOLED, which is actively promoted now.
AMOLED is otherwise called organic matrices. Distinguishing an LED TV from an AMOLED TV is very easy for the price. The second one with the same diagonal and other parameters will cost much more.
At the level of perception, the AMOLED screen beats LED in only one, but very important property: it is able to show you the true black color.
The main problem with LEDs is the reliability of black display. The entire area of the screen is illuminated regardless of the color of individual pixels, and black, as we know from an elementary physics course, is not light, but the absence of light. As a result, black turns into some kind of gray, which is especially annoying in dark films and scenes.
AMOLED works differently. In an organic matrix, each pixel glows independently, and when it is necessary to show black, the diode simply turns off, becoming truly black.
Left - LED, right - AMOLED AMOLED displays are also credited with high "juiciness", but often it gives the opposite effect. The colors seem unnatural, acidic. Not everyone likes to look at such a picture. But when sunlight enters the room, the contents of the organic screen are almost invisible.
The unjustifiably high price of AMOLED does not allow us to call this technology competitive. Buy a regular LED TV and you won't go wrong.
Color gamut
As mentioned above, screens are now made using the same technology. And this technology is fine-tuned enough to show a picture of acceptable quality, covering the entire color range. For aesthetes, there is a fine manual color adjustment, while everyone else has enough preset modes.
All sorts of powerful phrases like Super True Absolute Elite Pro Vision are marketing again, dust in the eye, just additional pre-configured modes. No more.
Color gamut is a parameter that you don't need to pay attention to at all.
Flat screen or curved
The curved screen is another example of a forced race for manufacturers, one of the most pointless innovations, and one that is more inconvenient than beneficial.
A curved TV must be viewed from a strictly defined position, when the distance from any point on the screen to the eyes will be the same, otherwise the picture will be distorted. Try to look at the screen a little from the side, and you will understand everything.
Accordingly, it will be extremely inconvenient to watch such TV with the whole family or with friends. The curved screen significantly reduces comfortable viewing angles.
Simply put, curved TVs are crazy marketing and down the drain.
Smart TV or regular
In fact, Smart TV is a set of applications built into the TV's software shell for broadcasting various content from the Internet. Recently, manufacturers have offered full-fledged Android as a platform with Google Play and their own sets of applications.
The weak point of such decisions is management. Entering queries and moving the cursor using the remote control is long and inconvenient. The solution may be to use a smartphone or tablet as a control. Check the availability of such a possibility when choosing a model.
However, if you buy a TV without a Smart TV and no internet connection, you can make it smart later with an external set-top box from Apple or Android. Or, you can use an intermediary like Google Chromecast to stream content from your smartphone or computer.
Which is the best option? Choose by preference and price. It is quite possible that a separate set-top box will cost significantly less than the built-in Smart TV in the TV.
The disadvantage of an external set-top box is that it will take up one HDMI port, which could be adapted for something else.
The advantage of external attachments is that they can be changed based on needs. You can also install third-party firmware on them. The speed and frequency of software updates may vary depending on the specific STB model.
The choice of external set-top box is also determined by your budget. The price of a device, as a rule, directly depends on its capabilities and set of functions.
The only critically important criterion is your TV's resolution support. Very cheap set-top boxes may not perform well or will not support Full HD resolution at all. Pay attention to this.
If you know little about Smart TV and are not sure whether you will use it, then buy a TV without this function. If necessary, you can always buy a separate set-top box for viewing content from the Internet.
HDMI ports quantity
In many families, the TV becomes a multifunctional media center, that is, a lot of different devices are connected to it.
If you plan to use a lot of peripherals, consider the number of HDMI connectors per port per device.
For example:
- Set-top box as a substitute for Smart TV - 1 port.
- Game console like PlayStation 4 or Xbox One - 1 port.
- Media player - 1 port.
As you can see, even a minimal set of equipment requires three HDMI ports. Calculate the number of connectors you need in advance.
Sound
A good speaker system is by definition bulky, but modern TVs, on the contrary, try to make them as thin and light as possible. There is simply nowhere to place a sound system.
Connoisseurs, if they have money, can choose among the top TV models that have really cool sound. Such devices are huge, cost as much as a car and weigh several tens of kilograms.
If you want it to rumble and bomb, buy the sound separately, multichannel, with a subwoofer and a good amplifier.
No “ordinary” TV will give you juicy bass, balanced mid and crystal highs, and therefore you don't need to pay attention to acoustics at all.
Action plan
So you've read everything and are ready to buy your new TV? Fine. Well, in order not to forget anything, we offer you everything described above in the form of a short list.
- Decide on the maximum amount you can spend on a TV.
- Decide on the acceptable dimensions of the future TV.
- Measure the distance from which you will be watching TV. When choosing, evaluate candidates for a purchase from the same distance.
- Decide on a resolution. Consider whether you need 4K anytime soon, or Full HD is enough.
- Decide on the frequency. Consider if you need a TV over 120Hz.
- Decide on the type of matrix. Visit the store in advance and personally compare the picture and cost of conventional and AMOLED TVs.
- Decide on the shape of the screen. Visit the store in advance and personally compare the picture and cost of conventional and curved TVs.
There is a rule - the higher the skill of using a PC, the more volume it needs a hard disk. Various collections of movies, games, pictures and home videos take up a lot of PC memory, so users try to increase its size as much as possible. However, many people do not know what an ideal hard drive should be that would have a lot of space, fit in configuration, and work quickly. That is why further data will be given on what parameters it is worth choosing a drive, which one is more reliable and how to choose a device "for yourself".
Hard drive selection rules
It is worth warning right away that "hard drives" (as hard drives are sometimes called) are different, and their choice is fraught with some difficulties. First of all, you need to rely on the following basic parameters of the hard disk drive (hard disk):
- Volume. Figuratively speaking, the volume depends on how much data the hard disk drive can contain before the warning "hard drive is full" flashes in front of you. Currently, you can buy 1TB hard drives, which is enough for any collection (within reasonable limits) of the most "heavy" games or films.
- Company manufacturer. Currently, several large firms share the title of "best railroad manufacturer", but there is still no clear leader. From what firms create a hard drive, its reliability, performance and a dozen more parameters directly depend.
- Cache sizes. The cache memory sets the speed of data processing by the device, in other words, the better this indicator, the faster the computer will boot, the faster the data will load, and some requests will be executed.
- Connector type. The connector determines whether the "hard" one will fit your computer or laptop. Also, this parameter affects the quality of the device's bandwidth.
- Spindle speed. This indicator also affects the speed of data processing, and, accordingly, a faster railway will record information faster.
Needless to say, the best hard drives will have all the maximum characteristics, and accordingly their purchase will cost a pretty penny. However, combining the performance of the device with your real needs will allow you to buy a good and inexpensive (comparatively) option that will ideally cover the user's needs. QwertyShop experts described the information on selecting a hard disk http://qwertyshop.com.ua/zhestkie-diski as clearly and useful as possible, so that everyone chooses the option correctly and to their liking.
With the development of computer technology, all devices from this category began to rapidly decrease in size, gradually "growing" to pocket versions. The same situation happened with hard drives, as a result, external drives appeared, which are distinguished by ease of use and miniature size. The price, of course, also increased. However, buying such device options is not at all necessary, it all depends on the ultimate goal of the "upgrade":
- Increase the amount of memory. If the user's goal is to simply increase the available memory, then there is no need to spend money on external options for the device. All you have to do is select the appropriate hard disk format for your computer configuration, and then simply connect it as a secondary storage platform.
- The main "hard drive" for the computer. In this option, you also do not need to spend money on mobile types of hard drives, but purchase an internal hard disk with good write speed and capacity.
- Mobile storage location. If the user needs a voluminous drive that is easy to carry and use, then you should pay attention to an external hard drive. As a rule, such devices have a USB connector, which allows them to be connected to any PC without opening the system unit and digging through the wires. In addition, external hard drives can be connected to other equipment - video players, laptops, TVs, and then read data from them.
As for the internal devices, they should be chosen according to the following parameters.
Hard disk space
If desired, you can purchase devices with different sizes, starting from 250 GB and ending with "terabytes", but practice shows that too large amounts of memory are unnecessary for most users. With the spread of the Internet, all data is not stored on the hard drive, but on the Internet, with the exception of games and programs. If the user considers himself to be among the "average", then he needs a 500 GB HDD. Larger devices require more resources for manufacturers, so they are much more expensive. 1TB should be bought only for those people who like to collect collections of films, pictures and other data, and such hard drives are also needed for games.
Cache memory
In fact, the disk cache serves as an operating space where data of primary importance is loaded. The higher the parameter, the faster the tasks will be performed on the computer. A standard hard drive has clipboard sizes (another name for this section of memory) from 8 to 32 MB. This is quite enough for the average user who is not involved in programming, does not like powerful and productive games, but simply surfs the Internet and watches videos. The most productive HDD will be a device with an indicator of 64 MB.
Spindle speed
The hard drive itself looks like a large disk spinning while it is running. It is driven by the spindle, and the head, which has direct contact with the disk, is responsible for reading and writing data. The faster the spindle rotates, the sooner the railway fulfills its task - information processing. An average hard drive has a rotation speed of 5400 rpm, more expensive and productive models have a frequency of 5900 or 7200 units. Again, if the user wants a "faster" disk, then it is worth looking at an HDD with a speed of 10,000 units - one of the most functional options today.
Important information: do not forget about the new types of devices that are gradually taking over the market - drives of the SSD system. This option differs from the standard by the type of device - SSD drives operate on solid media. No disks, no spindles, just data storage chips. Such hard drives have much faster operating speed, they do not make noise (more on that later), but the cost and reliability of these HDDs are much lower. The cost is clear, but the reliability needs to be dealt with. The point is that it is impossible to recover data from an SSD - if the voltage has jumped to the upper bar, then such a variant of the technique burns out.
Interface
With the development of computer technology, hard drives have changed the connector through which it connects to a PC several times. The modern version has a SATA connector (for external - USB), it is used in almost all models of computers and disks. However, another interface, the IDE, has not yet completely gone out of use. The SATA version has a much higher bandwidth, so such a hard drive will process data faster, but if the user has an old PC, he should be careful - these two interfaces are incompatible.
Manufacturer
As for the manufacturer of this technology, then the opinions of experts differ greatly. Most of them consider Western Digital and Hitachi to be the leading rail development firms. It is these companies that create the most reliable devices - their temperature is always at the same level, breakdowns are infrequent, and functionality is at its best. Some analysts put Seagate in opposition to WD (Western Digital). The most unreliable, but popular HDDs are Samsung drives (editorial opinion).
The claims that Samsung drives are unreliable are based on:
1. the number of warranty returns in the retail network QwertyShop;
2. analysis of reviews in the Yandex.Market service;
3. personal experience of the edition with a short service life of the disks of this manufacturer.
The industry leaders, Western Digital, have special color coding for the reliability and quality of devices.
Noise level
Some users are annoyed by the noise that the hard drive makes during operation. It can crackle, hum, rattle, and all this cacophony begins when the computer is powered up and ends when it is turned off. It is believed that Western Digital devices make the least noise during operation, but this is a subjective opinion of the company's fans, so it should be taken into account with a big stretch. There are no other parameters for choosing a disk in terms of the level of noise it makes, so you have to hope for luck.
If the hard drive works in "difficult" conditions for it, then it will quickly fail. To delay this moment as far as possible, consider the following expert advice.
- Use a UPS. A high-quality "uninterruptible power supply" will protect the HDD from power surges - the main killer of technical equipment.
- Apply control programs. There are a number of programs that regularly scan the state of the hard drive - temperature, spindle speed. If you look at them from time to time, you can catch the moment when the disc began to "tinker" and return it for repair in time.
- Provide cooling. HDD generates a lot of heat during operation, sometimes so much that the standard PC cooling system cannot cope with the load. If this situation is observed by the user, it is worth adding a couple of fans to the system unit.
- Choose the correct power supply. If the user has an unevenly operating power supply installed, it can supply high voltage to the hard drive, which is guaranteed to "kill" the device.
Choosing an SSD is an exciting experience, given the comparative novelty of this type of drive, the variety of characteristics and performance test results, etc. For all their undoubted advantages, solid-state drives have (hopefully, for now) one significant drawback - they are not cheap, especially large-capacity models. If you need to store the accumulated collections of music, films, photographs and other information that requires space somewhere, then you cannot do without a regular hard disk.
Hard disk requirements
Now the Internet is replete with comparative tests of SSD-drives. 5-10-15 years ago, a similar situation was with traditional hard drives, when the results of different models were compared, a certain rating was compiled, which drives are the fastest, which are the coldest, and which are the quietest.
Currently, the performance of "hard drives" has somehow faded into the background. The effect is that it is already difficult to squeeze out more of this technology, but it will still not be possible to compete with solid-state drives. This means that you have to "take" with other qualities. Which ones? The capacity, and most importantly, the cost of that capacity. There is such a concept - the price per gigabyte, that is, how much one gigabyte of capacity of this or that disk costs.
For example, the cheapest 4 TB 3.5-inch HDD will cost about 7,500 rubles, i.e. 1 GB costs 1.88 rubles. SSD drives of this capacity are still only in the plans, and from what we have, the most capacious models are 2 TB. Moreover, their cost is (the cheapest) about 50,000 rubles. How much does 1 GB cost in this case - calculate for yourself.
Hence the conclusion - if you need to store a large amount of data, and do it for reasonable money, then the choice is unambiguous for the HDD. That's just how to choose a hard disk, how much to prefer, with what rotation speed?
HDD parameters
Still, one cannot ignore the basic parameters of hard drives. It:
- Form Factor There are 3.5 and 2.5 inches. The former are for stationary PCs, the latter are for laptops, all-in-ones, etc. In this case, the larger physical size of the drives can provide more capacity. Among the 2.5-inch models, there are models for both 4 and 5 TB, but their thickness does not allow them to be installed in laptops, but they are suitable for stationary PCs, network storages, etc. At the same time, their cost is higher than that of larger 3.5-inch fellows. There are also 1.8-inch models, but their prevalence tends to zero.
- Capacity. Actually, it shows how much of everything necessary and important can be stored on disk.
- Interface. Everything is simple here. SATA-3, with little or no options. SAS server drives are usually not used at home.
- Rotational speed. There are two main options - 5400 and 7200 rpm. There are also variants with 5900 rpm, or, as is the case with some models of drives, for example, Western Digital, the speed is not indicated at all, and the specifications contain the word "IntelliPower", that is, the drive somehow controls the speed itself. Well, God bless him, let him rule. Naturally, the higher the rotation speed, the faster the drive should be.
- The size of the buffer memory. Here, similarly, the more, the faster (in theory) the disk should work. In my opinion, this parameter can be looked at last. At home, it does not have a significant effect on the "rate of fire" of the drive.
What else?
Agree, it's unpleasant when some component in your computer suddenly fails. Just now (yesterday, an hour ago, etc.) everything worked, but now it doesn't. The soul, if it could be in the motherboard, memory module, power supply, etc., can fly to its computer paradise quietly, or with special effects such as sparks, smoke, burning smell.
The trouble? No, it's upsetting. The motherboard, memory module, power supply, video card can be repaired, in the end, replaced with a new one, even better than it was, and after a little manipulation continue to work.
And if a hard drive is out of order, is it a grief? But in some situations, this can already "pull" into trouble. Especially if this drive contained a home archive of photos, the results of many days of work, an almost written diploma and something else important that existed in a single copy.
Now I do not mean options with a faulty interface wire, malfunctions in the power supply, "loss" of a disk by the operating system, etc. We are talking about the failure of the disk itself, whether it be a mechanical failure or an electronics failure. Recovering information from such a disk can be expensive, or it may not be possible to recover the data.
Hence, another requirement for a disk arises - reliability. Such a parameter as "MTBF", which each drive has, is not empirical, but based on some kind of calculations. I would not recommend looking at it. It is better to pay attention to the warranty period for a specific model of "hard drive" and the possibility of exchange if a breakdown occurs during this period.
Reliability
How to determine which disk is more reliable and which is not? To be honest, almost nothing. Word battles on forums and in comments like "Seagate sucks, WD rules" only confuse, without giving any useful information. For some, one thing works, and the other breaks down, while for someone it is exactly the opposite.
Personally, I have my own preferences, and for many years have already been using Hitachi drives (now it’s more correct to call them HGST), which have never let me down, but this is a purely subjective opinion. Although I also have several WD Green drives (one of which is already dying), and an 8-terabyte Seagate.
More or less adequate statistics of disk reliability can only be shown by comparative testing, which requires the n-th number of disks of each model and a lot of time. Who is doing this? Almost no one, unfortunately. Although some information can still be found.
So, interesting reports on the number of hard drives in use and detailed failure statistics are published by Backblaze, a cloud storage service provider. Reports are regularly issued on the number of drives used, models, and the number of failures.
They have been keeping their statistics since the beginning of 2015. I will not give graphs and calculations here, they can be easily found on the net. According to the information they publish, HGST disks have the least number of failures. Seagate is doing worse, but there is a trend towards fewer failures and longer drive lifespan.
How should we treat this information? How to "food for thought". In this case, the question is not when the drive will fail (sooner or later "all dogs hard drives go to heaven"), but what is the likelihood of this sad event occurring. Any manufacturer has successful and not very good models, some serve for a long time, others have a lot of complaints.
Nobody can guarantee 100% reliability. Therefore, you need to take care of the safety of information yourself. Really important files need to be stored on several different physical media, or backed up to cloud storage. In the end, collect a RAID array from several disks.
Hard drive series
For each manufacturer, all manufactured models are somehow divided into several series, each of which is positioned for a specific application. So, Hitachi ... sorry, HGST, divides its drives into the Deskstar and Ultrastar series. The first ones are focused on use in home / office computers, the second ones - on use with more serious loads and are designed for round-the-clock work.
Other brands do much the same. Seagate has several series:
- Barracuda and Barracuda Pro for everyday use. Capacities range from 1TB to 10TB. In general, let the fans of the brand forgive me, a kind of consumer goods for all occasions. This is evidenced by such an interesting parameter specified in the characteristics as "Limit on workload, TB / year." For all modifications of the Barracuda series it is 55 TB, and for the Barracuda Pro it is 300 TB. For heavier workloads, we recommend choosing enterprise-class drives. The warranty is 2 years and 5 years, respectively.
- FireCuda is a hybrid model (with a small 8 GB cache on an MLC type NAND memory chip). Designed for productive computers, work or gaming stations. Only 2 capacities are offered - 1 TB and 2 TB. There are no workload restrictions.
- IronWolf and IronWolf Pro are a special series for working in network attached storage (NAS). Available capacities range from 1 TB to 10 TB. The annual load is capped at 180 TB for IronWolf, and 300 TB for the IronWolf Pro version. The number of head parking operations is 600,000 times. The warranty is 3 years and 5 years, respectively.
- SkyHawk - oriented for use in video surveillance systems and can receive streaming data from a large number of video cameras at a high speed. Capacities range from 1TB to 10TB. The load limit is the same 300 TB / year.
It is customary at WD to classify discs into the following series:
- Blue - disks for office or home computers that are not critical to the speed of the disk subsystem. Capacities up to 6 TB are available. The rotation speed of almost all models is 5400 rpm. The warranty is 2 years. Roughly the same as Seagate's Barracuda series.
- Black - more efficient drives for demanding users. Capacities - up to 6 TB, rotation speed - 7200 rpm. The warranty is 5 years.
- Purple - CCTV models. Available in capacities up to 10 TB, rotation speed - 5400 rpm. Workload limits - 180 TB / year. Warranty -3 years.
- Red - for network attached storage (NAS). Capacities - up to 10 TB, rotation speed - 5400 rpm. The warranty is 3 years. The declared number of head parking operations is 600,000 times.
- Gold is a corporate series of drives for servers, data centers. Capacities - up to 10 TB, rotation speed - 7200 rpm. Performance models with a 5-year warranty.
NAS and server models typically include systems that are not used in conventional devices. This includes, for example, rotational vibration sensors, optimization for use in RAID arrays, etc.
At the same time, it often happens that such drives can work louder, and the heating can be higher, so cooling for them will definitely not be superfluous. At the same time, custom-class drives (such as Seagate Barracuda or WD Blue) are less "nimble", but work quieter, heat up less, although they are not equipped with any additional sensors or optimizations. But they are cheaper.
Which hard drive to choose.
I will express my thoughts, which do not necessarily have to coincide with yours. As for laptops, the optimal solution is a 1 TB hard drive, preferably with a rotation speed of 7200 rpm. Manufacturer? Choose which one you like. I personally prefer HGST. Now my laptop has a 1 TB HGST HTE721010A9E630 purchased a few months ago.
For stationary PCs, that is, when choosing a 3.5-inch hard drive, there are much more opportunities to smash your head. Anyway, I would not consider hard drives with less than 1 TB. Judge for yourself, the cheapest 500 GB disk (Toshiba DT01ACA050) costs about 2,500 rubles. The cheapest terabyte Seagate Barracuda (ST1000DM010) is only 300-400 rubles more expensive. Does it make sense to save?
It makes sense to take a terabytnik if it is the only drive on which the system will be installed, and a lot of space is not required, since all that is needed is office work, surfing the Internet, etc. 7200 rpm model (any HGST, WD Black, Seagate Barracuda or, if you don't mind the money, Seagate FireCuda will do).
If the drive is necessary for "to be", if it serves as an appendage to the system SSD-drive, then you can save a little and stay on the Seagate Barracuda or WD Blue. Moreover, pay attention to the capacity of the order of 4 TB. Let me explain why.
Let's take the Seagate Barracuda series as an example. To calculate the optimal cost per unit of disk capacity, let's recall the already mentioned "price per gigabyte". Let's refer to the price list:
- 1TB, model ST1000DM010 - the price is about 2800 rubles, each 1 GB "costs" 2.80 rubles.
- 2 TB, model ST2000DM006 - the price is about 4200 rubles, 1 GB "costs" 2.10 rubles.
- 3 TB, model ST3000DM008 - the price is about 5700 rubles, 1 GB "costs" 1.90 rubles.
- 4 TB, model ST4000DM004 - the price is about 7,500 rubles, 1 GB "costs" 1.88 rubles.
- 6 TB, model ST6000DM004 - the price is about 14,500 rubles, 1 GB "costs" 2.42 rubles.
- 8 TB, model ST8000DM005 - the price is about 18,500 rubles, 1 GB "costs" 2.31 rubles.
As you can see, according to this parameter, the optimal solution is a 4 TB disk, and the most disadvantageous, if you do not take into account the model with the already "ridiculous" 1 TB capacity, is the ST6000DM004 model. True, these are all calculations from the standpoint of the cost of a data unit. If you just need a capacious disk to have 6-8, or even more, TB, then it makes no difference how much 1 GB is there now. Although 2 ST4000DM004 disks will come out cheaper than one ST8000DM005. What is not a reason to think?
HGST disks stand apart a little. The company does not produce 3.5-inch models with speeds less than 7200 rpm at all. True, their cost is higher. 1 TB Ultrastar 7K2 drive has a price of more than 5000 rubles. However, as the name implies, this is not a "desktop" series, but the Ultrastar series positioned above.
But models with larger capacities have a more adequate price tag. So, the 6 TB Ultrastar 7K6000 model costs about 13,000 rubles, which is quite consistent with the cost of competitors. And let's not forget about 7200 rpm and the Ultrastar series.
Naturally, the choice should be based on how much capacity is needed and how much you are willing to spend on disk.
If we are talking about the need to store large amounts of data (a collection of films, music, photos, etc.), then I would not consider the cheapest options. Ideally, these should be NAS-oriented series, Seagate IronWolf (Pro) or WD Red. Even if you do not have a NAS and you do not plan to build a RAID, these disks are still the best choice. Moreover, where is the guarantee that you will not decide to buy the storage anyway in the foreseeable future? Among HGST discs, it is better to give preference to the Ultrastar series.
Let's take a look at a few specific models for specific use cases.
System disk
Let's assume it is a terabyte disk. I would highlight such models:
- Seagate Barracuda (ST1000DM010) - the cheapest, about 2800 rubles. Only the warranty should be considered - only 2 years. Typical budget option.
- Western Digital Caviar Blue (WD10EZEX) is one of the few models in the blue series with rpms of 7200. Direct competitor for Barracuda. Same 2 years warranty. Of these two drives, I would pick WD.
- Seagate FireCuda SSHD (ST1000DX002) - hybrid, the cost is already 5100 rubles. The warranty is the same - 2 years. Belonging to the FireCuda family offers better performance than the Barracuda.
- Western Digital Black (WD1003FZEX) - about the same price as FireCuda. They are generally direct competitors.
- HGST Ultrastar 7K2 (1W10001) - the cost is about 5200. There is 7200 rpm, Ultrastar series, 128 MB of cache (the others have 64 MB).
If I overpay, then I would take the Ultrastar 7K2 model (as an alternative - WD Black), if not, then WD Blue.
Storage disk
If everything has already been decided with the system disk, and you need a drive, or maybe several, to store everything you need and important, then I would prefer to consider models starting with a capacity of 4 TB. If no serious requirements are imposed on the speed of the disks, then it is quite possible to restrict ourselves to models with a rotation speed of 5400-5900 rpm.
I will highlight the following:
- Seagate Barracuda (ST4000DM004) - The cheapest of the 4TB drives. The cost is about 7700 rubles.
- Western Digital Blue (WD40EZRZ) - slightly more expensive than the previous one, by about 400-500 rubles. As for me, this model is preferable.
- HGST Deskstar NAS (0S04005) - costs about 8500 rubles. Unlike the previous ones, it has a speed of 7200 rpm. A desktop series focused on the use of NAS as well.
- Seagate IronWolf (ST4000VN008) - cost about 8900 rubles. The speed of revolutions - 7200. Belonging to a series capable of working in disk storages, it implies the presence of vibration protection systems, has additional balancing and other "enhancers".
- Western Digital Red (WD40EFRX) - the cost is approximately 9,700 rubles. The exact number of revolutions is not indicated, it is managed by the IntelliPower system. A specialized series for storages, which does not negate the possibility of using them as a single disk. If not for the price, it would be a great option.
- HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 (0F23025) - the cost is about 10,500 rubles. Ultrastar series, large buffer, 7200 rpm, good performance, 5-year warranty. But the price is rather big. Perhaps too good for a home "file-loader".
If the main purpose is data storage with a low load, mainly for reading, then why not opt for models for video surveillance systems as well. Provided, of course, that no RAID will be built on them.
Of these, WD Blue, HGST Deskstar NAS and Seagate IronWolf seem to be the best choices. The difference in price between them is no more than 800 rubles, and the last 2 are also ready to work in disk storages and in RAID. If you increase the amount a little, then a good solution is WD Red.
If you need a larger capacity, then here option 2 - either take the corresponding volume of the drive, or take 2 (3, 4 ...) with a smaller volume, but in total you will get what you need. And it will even turn out to save money. Above, there was already a comparison of the cost of an 8 TB disk with the cost of 2 4 TB disks. The question is how much space do you have in the case for drives and what are the prospects for further increase in disk volume.
Conclusion. How to choose a hard drive
So how can you summarize all of the above? To begin with, there is no fundamental difference between manufacturers. Yes, some statistics show that HGST is somewhat more reliable and durable than Seagate, while WD is somewhere in between. However, this does not mean that Seagate should definitely be removed from the list of candidates for purchase. Let's not forget the number of drives this manufacturer sells, and if things were that bad, who would buy them?
The choice can be influenced by personal preferences (like mine, for example), as well as some other, at first glance, insignificant characteristics. So, HGST hard drives are traditionally considered more noisy, which does not prevent them from being considered more reliable.
You should also pay attention to the warranty period for the hard drive. Moreover, it is important to know where to go in case of problems. The ideal option is the ability to exchange a failed drive under the RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) program with the manufacturer itself. Unfortunately, in Russia this program is only available from Western Digital. Discs from other manufacturers will have to be exchanged through the store that sold the product to you.
And the warranty period itself is indirect, but it speaks of the "survivability" of the disk. It is probably clear that a 5 year warranty is better than a 2 year warranty. In the first case, it is assumed that the disk will not die in the next couple of years. But in the second case, anything can already be, he can die a week after the end of the warranty, or he can serve for many years.
It would be nice to be able to rent or exchange a purchased hard drive if, when you first turned it on, you did not like something about its work. It can be a noticeable vibration, or too loud a knock. It is also useful to check the disk, for example, with the HDTune program, including checking the surface of the disks for bad blocks.
Most importantly, do not forget that only timely and correct backup, i.e. backup copying, can guarantee the safety of important information. Storing the necessary data on different physical (namely, different physical, and not on different partitions of the same disk) media is a guarantee that no problems with disks will lead to big expenses, loss of important files, time and nerves.
Have a nice shopping and safe storage!
The choice of a gaming video card should be taken seriously, because it is one of the most expensive parts of a computer. How many times have I heard that you need to pay attention to frequencies, bus width, type and amount of memory. Let's see if these characteristics are so important.
How to choose a video card
View the test results of video cards.
Only with the help of tests you can find out how many frames per second the video card will give. According to the characteristics, one can assume which model is more powerful, but by how much - only the text can show. It is not uncommon for a card with better characteristics to be worse in real performance than a competitor's counterpart.
Focus on other computer components.
If the computer is a platform based on an "Intel Core 2 Q6600" processor with 2 gigabytes of RAM, it makes no sense to take something more than Nvidia GTX750 or Radeon R7 260. If it's even worse, buying a new graphics card is unlikely to solve the gaming performance problem. The number of FPS will grow, but freezes due to a weak processor will not go anywhere. If you plan to change the hardware completely and buy a new video card first, how soon are you going to change everything else? If in a couple of months - you can take any card, if in a year or two - other cards will appear at the same price, which will be faster. The meaning of the purchase is lost. If there is modern hardware: fresh Core i3, junior AMD - the ceiling is about the level of GTX760 or R9 270 cards. Everything starting with Core i5 or AMD FX8320 - you can take any video card. 
Be rational. Determine a comfortable FPS level. If the budget includes an amount for any video card, then it is clear that the more, the better. If the budget is limited, then again we look at the tests. If in games between the cards the difference is a couple of FPS, but still a comfortable level, and the difference in price is several thousand, then it makes no sense to take a more expensive one. If you are building a new system, there is no point in buying a Core i7 and GTX750. The difference in games between processors starting from the Core i5 4570 and up to the most expensive ones is minimal and not worth the overpayment. Therefore, the Core i5 + GTX760 bundle will break the Core i7 + GTX750 bundle for the British flag at the same price.
Additional selection criteria
Power Supply. If it is unnamed and assembled in the basement by Liao's uncle, you should not hang a modern top-end video card on it. In the best case, it just won't start. Dimensions of the video card. Relevant for top representatives, the length of which is 30 centimeters is the norm. We arm ourselves with a tape measure and figure out whether it will fit into the case or not. All sizes can be found on the manufacturer's website or in online stores.
Cooling system
There are two types of cooling system: reference and non-reference.
Two cheap video cards or one top-end
Here the answer is unambiguous - one top. No matter how beautiful numbers the tests draw, you shouldn't take two weak video cards. What the FPS counter counts and what is actually displayed on the monitor are different things. Microshuttering (jams, not counted by the frame counter), false frames, not growing minimum FPS, sli / crossfire not working in some games - this is what you can get. Not to mention the great heating and power consumption. In its current form, these technologies are pleasing only in numbers, but in fact the real FPS does not grow much.
About overclocking
Most video chips can be overclocked without any unpleasant consequences. The safety margin of the design and the cooling system allow it. This is already a matter of rationality. The author of these lines at one time chose between the Radeon 7970 and GTX680. The first cost 13 thousand rubles and lost to the first, the second - 18 thousand. However, after reading the tests of the overclocked cards, I realized that when overclocked, the Radeon 7970 starts to keep pace with the more expensive GTX680. Here you should first read the thematic overclocking forums. There you can find out which models can be overclocked and which are not.
The article is taken from the Pikabu site by the user Yorkfield.
