Here’s my stupid table I created from browsing through a bunch of Newegg listings for hard drives:

Model                   4+ 	1 egg   total
-----                   ----    ------  -----
barracuda lp 1tb        83%     8%      62
1.5tb      64%     22%     55
2tb        85%     9%      47
barracuda 7200.12 1tb   76%     13%     287
500g  76%     16%     335
barracuda es.2          67%     13%     142
wd caviar black 1tb     87%     7%      1614
0.5tb   90%     7%      736
wd re3          1.0tb   89%     8%      116
wd green        1.0tb   85%     8%      1049
samsung f1   1.0tb      77%     14%     798
0.5tb      89%     10%     96
samsung f2 ecogreen 54  88%     7%      111
samsung f3 500gb        82%     8%      40
1tb          80%     0%      19
hitachi 0a38016         77%     15%     628

First column is the model, obviously. Second column is the % of 4-egg and 5-egg reviews (generally positive reviews). The third column is the % of 1-egg reviews, which are generally where reports of DOA drives show up.

Conclusions? WD or Samsung = Good, Hitachi or Seagate = Not so much. Caviar Black series seems to have a good record. Latest seagates don’t seem too hot. Samsungs also seem to do well, though there are a far fewer number of reviews there.