Customer Reviews

Maxtor L01R300 300GB Ultra16 Internal Hard Drive Kit (Parallel ATA, 7,200 RPM)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a nice drive. It went in without any hitches. I used Ghost v8 to restore my previous drive image to it.

I previously used another Maxtor, an Ultra ATA/133 80GB 7200rpm drive with 2MB cache, so this drive is very similiar except for the much larger (16MB) cache -- but it's enough to make a noticeable improvement in speed! My last one lasted about five years (and was still working fine, just needed more space) so hopefully this one will last as well.

The drive is very silent -- well, when it's just spinning but not being used. When it's actively being used, it's still got that classic Maxtor crunching sound, just like my old Maxtor. Not obnoxiously loud, but you can clearly hear that it's working. If you're looking for a drive you can't hear, this is not the one. Hence, four stars only. However, other than that, I highly recommend it.

I was fairly puzzled why this drive is designated a P-ATA when the thing installs like a regular S-ATA. The Drive Designation and the package on the box I have are exactly the same as the above advertised item.
I was looking to consolidate three external drives on to one internal, so I can use a much larger backup drive.
Anyway, the Drive slots in to a DELL Dimension 8200 easily, and simply... you do NOT even need a screwdriver( but it can help with two side clips, but not essential).
After booting back up, the Maxtor utilities on the disk are essential if you want the absolute most useable space ( PARTITION MAGIC and even the onboard Windows XP Pro disk utils will not provide you with the same useable space).

A word about some additional software. Do NOT use Maxtor's DDO ( Dynamic Disk Overlay ) option in the MAXBLAST Software if you have both Partition Magic 7 or 8, as well as Norton Utilities Premier 2006. The probability of an issue with BOOT.INI and the HAL.DLL file is high. The good news is that using PFEDIT and then FDISK/MBR ( and no, thats not a typo... this switch works, and is not officially documented in MS windows TID's, technical info documents), which will change the Partition type from TYPE 44 to the type you need, if necessary, and also FDISK/MBR will rebuild the MBR( Master Boot Record).

After , essentially, activating the drive with the Maxtor utilites, if you set the power settings in control panel just right, the so called problem with disk spin "noise" is non-existent"; you only get the disk issue if you opt to "power down" when not in use. Mostly for me, thats not an issue, since all drives are in constant use.
The speed is mind blowing.
A word about Disk replacement life: on average, replace your drives every two years, unless you have the most fool-proof back up system known. No Drive is infallible, and each drive has a definite life. Each drive can *potentially* have a long life, but this depends on your useage level.
That being said, if you need a large drive, and have a mid to high end system, then this is a good way to head.

1/4/08 : I just saw the comments/notes about the Dimension 8200 from Early 2007. All you do is put in any Drive above 137 GIG on an XP system and the Registry will automatically detect size differences and make changes to accomodate the larger drive. On Secondary drives this will work up to 300 GIG Guaranteed, and the space is almost totally available. Thanks to maxtors unique setup, the drive formats at almost total capacity. I still have the Same Dimension 8200 and I will be inserting either a 160 GIG ( Minimum )or a 500 GIG, maximum, in the C Drive ( I just have to back up the Current Drive disc, then reload it). You do need to ramp up the memory on the Dimension 8200 as far as you can go, so the more you can load the better. My system as RAM-BUS( thanks to some messing around by DELL at the time I purchased, but many 8200s have better memory), so I am a little hamstrung on the setup, but this beast has worked so well so far, I will likely keep it as a Test machine after some upgrades on the 8200 and a new machine as my main computer.

I bought this hard drive to replace my old Maxtor 40 gb, which nowadays is hardly enough for storing my tons of photographs. And I wanted to keep the old 40 gb as an auxiliary storage device. I had a lot of doubts about my ability to do this type of upgrade, so I read the reviews, and asked some questions. I must thank the endlessly patient and kind Mr. R. A. Edington "Amazonaholic" for all the help he's given me.

The most difficult part was trying to remember how I last cracked open'd my old pc, which was 3 or 4 years ago, to install a second RAM, DVD burner and USB2 ports. To make more room, I chose to remove my 3.5" floppy drive. Yes, I still had that in! Haha.

What I did first was install this new 300 gb hard drive as the "slave" and the old one as the boot drive. I then turned on the pc, and installed Maxtor's own software cd. After installing the Maxtor software, I chose the option of copying (cloning) everything from my old hard drive into the new 300 gb Maxtor. After that was finished, the instructions tell you to shut down, and exchange (switch) the connectors & change pin configurations in the back of both hard drives.

I turned the computer back on, and everything worked just fine. No data or programs were lost or changed. The last step was erasing (formatting) the old hard drive to ready it for new data. I could not believe how easy it was to upgrade to this larger-capacity hard drive. In addition to wrestling with how to open up my computer to get to the vacant port, reading the literature, downloading the software, cloning, powering down & up twice; it took me 2 hours and 10 minutes.

It's much quieter than my old hard drive, and faster. And like the other reviewers, this is one that I could recommend.

I bought this hard drive at a local store [Fry's Electronics] where it was on sale and featured at a price of $99.99. I readily jumped at this offer even though I honestly didn't need 300GB of space, because I know it always seems that way when you purchase a new hard drive: that feeling that it's impossible to use it up. Also, I readily trust Maxtor with my data, and a 5-year warranty came along with it for no extra charge, and I was much obliged to get it.

I've already used about 20GB of it, and it's doing very well in terms of loading times, noise, etc.

I notice that my computer takes a bit longer to boot up at the Windows screen, but with an extra hard drive of this size, I suppose it's understandable. While the computer is on, the hard drive functions very well, transfers files quickly, and provides *plenty* of disk space should the need arise to hold a large file. Installing it was a breeze -- I simply switched the pin configuration in the back to 'Slave', plugged in the necessary cords, and booted it up with the installation disk in my CD drive. The necessary program installed quickly, and was very understandable and simple to work through. There was an option to create a partition, yet I used Norton's PartitionMagic to do the job as it is so much simpler and more reliable.

Even though it does cost a fair bit of change, I wouldn't let that deter you if you think you would need extra storage space (besides, it is a GREAT deal if you compare it to some of the other size/price relationships). You go through it fast, trust me, and ~80 GB, especially in the world of gaming and high-tech software (e.g., video and audio editing), will not cut it, and you will wish you had gotten something more like this.

Had no problem installing the drive. I did have an issue with the P.C. seeing the drive, but I beleve that was a Windows Vista issue, and not the drive's. Once formatted, I have had no issues with it.

I've had this drive for a month now and everything is working fine. The installation was easy with no problems. It can be noisy when it's warming up, but not a big deal for me.

If you are looking to upgrade you old hard drive then consider the Maxtor L01R300. It is very quiet, fast, and easy to install. The 16MB cache is an nice improvement over the old drive it replaced. After 3 weeks of use everything is perfect.

I had zero problems installing this product, except that I forgot to set the switch to "slave" - entirely my fault. This however presented to problems to this hard drive or the existing one on the computer. I called Maxtor support, and talked with a live human being immediately who knew what they were doing. They walked me through the setup in five minutes. It works great! I now have plenty of room for My Documents, Pics, Video, etc.

I purchased this product to upgrade my DELL Dimension 4700 computer. It didn't fit! Product should have included information as to which computers it would fit into, with out additional components being required first!

I bought this thinking I would not need to re-load a bunch of software and it did save me from loading or reloading much of it. After I did a clone copy, I did have to re-load Outlook for my email and I did have to re-load my Roxio Movie Creater software. XP seems to be working fine. Not much help from the 800 number. This drive is fast and you get 93% of the advertized storage space. The other 7% goes to the indexes.