I'm adding a second hard drive to my PC. It will be used exclusively for my video files. I'm thinking 120GB should do it (about 10hrs of DV, or so, right?).

Anyone have recommendations/warnings about manufacturers?

I'm assuming you're on an ATA channel? IBM Deskstars have been very kind to me. Whatever you choose, I'd make sure you're getting a 7200 RPM drive.

All the best,

7200 rpm and a low seek time are definitely more critical than anything else.

western digital

thats what i have

If you have a fair amount of money to spend, for speed I'd recommend 2x RAID Western Digital Raptors (10,000) using data striping. Or just one - it's still a lot faster than a standard drive.

if its for home, what's he need striping for? i don't think the stuff he's doing is that intense.

Thanks for the responses. I was thinking more along the lines of manufacturers, like if Seagate is crap compared to Western Digital, for example. However, it may be a non-issue these days among the major manufacturers. (I've only got about $150 to spend on one.)

in my experience reviews fluctuate for all manufacturers...i've personally had good luck with all three major manufacturers - seagate, western digital, and maxtor (i actually currently own at least one of each) - but i've seen each one of these brands crap out on other machines. Maybe i've just been lucky. I have five hard drives currently in use between my two pc's and i back up all of the critical data just in case, you never know.