Seagate Technology 200 GB USB 2.0 and FireWire External Drive ( ST3200823A-RK )
periodic loud clicking and loud hum
Be warned, this is a noisy drive - I was misled by some of the reviews here.  I've tried two drives, so its not a defect! <br /> <br />I returned the first shipment of this external hard drive because it would wake up every couple of minutes and produce a loud clicking sound that lasts for a good 20 seconds.  Very noisy!  And this occurs with or without the usb connection to my pc so its not due to the drive being accessed.   <br /> <br />The background hum of the unit is also quite loud; my notebook Presario X1000 is much quieter. <br /> <br />Amazon shipped me a replacement drive (cudo's for Amazon on how easy they make this)!  Unfortunately, the new drive does the same clicking every couple of minutes and the hum is as annoying.  If you want an always-on drive on your desktop, I'd suggest looking elsewhere. <br /> <br />My recommendation; buy an external enclosure seperate, then get a Maxtor 200G Diamondmax plus hard drive and stick it inside.  I did this for my other computer and it is completely silent! <br /> <br />I plan to return this second drive as well, very disappointed.