Samsung HM250JI clicking noise

Attribute Current Raw Overall
10 Raw Read Error Rate 100 17 Very good
10 Spin Up Time 252 2750 Very good
10 Start/Stop Count 100 2695 Very good
0 Reallocated Sector Count 99 11 Watch
Warning: Reallocated Sector Count is below the average limits (100-252).
1 Power On Hours Count 99 586 Normal
10 Power Cycle Count 100 335 Very good
0 GSense Error Rate 2 999999 Watch
Warning: GSense Error Rate is below the average limits (52-100).
10 Power Off Retract Count 100 109 Very good
10 Reallocated Event Count 100 34431 Very good
10 Current Pending Sector 100 943 Very good
10 Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count 100 4089 Very good
10 Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate 252 0 Very good
10 Write Error Rate 252 0 Very good

 

That means I've had
17 read errors
11 sectors reallocated
have got 943 bad sectors pending to be moved somewhere else
has found 4089 sectors when offline scanning when idle that could be bad.
has reallocated sectors 34431 times!
errors caused by shock to the drive are often occuring despite me being gentle with the laptop.

 

Looks bad then. My G-Sense Error Rate has remained at 81 for the last week, but then I haven't been using my computer much lately. And I've only had 3 read errors so far, so I am better off than you. The graph shows G-Sense Error Rate vs. Power On Hours though and it looks still looks like the value drops faster and faster.

The graph was made in excel from values collected from HD Tune. It was thanks to these data collections I first noticed my G-Sense Error rate dropping.

 

I've ordered a western digital 320GB drive to replace this one. The 250GB version of that drive is noisy when seeking, but the 320's a newer design and everything I read says its silent and fast. Gets several awards.
I'm quite sensitive to sudden unexpected sounds particularly later on in the evening and that loud occasional beep and the very loud clicks from the hard drive was driving me nuts.
Once I've copied all my data over (I've got a USB external enclosure to do this) I'll send this one back, hopefully they'll replace it, and I'll sell the replacement or convert it into an external backup hard disk.
I've not had good experiences with samsung drives. Had one in a desktop and it lasted about a year and then developed bad sectors and the click of death. From what I've seen on here it seems they work well but are too easily damaged. Having said that some of it is probably my fault. The fact it even has a smart value for errors caused by impact loads suggests its fragile! And 34000 reallocated events and 4089 offline uncorrectable sectors still scores 100 in SMART and is considered normal! Speed fans online analysis tool says this value is very large and the drive should be replaced!
I've got a decent case for my laptop now and so it should sustain far less knocks when transporting it. Just hope my new drive is as quiet as this one and hopefully a little bit quicker. This ones pretty fast for a laptop but the access times a bit on the slow side.

 

I don't think it's your fault paulmt123. HDD's are sensitive but not this sensitive. On the product sheet it says 325G (which is quite good), the same as my previous fujitsu drive (and it had no errors or warnings at all when I replaced it after one year of use).

I am also looking for a replacement but my reseller won't take my Samsung drive back unless HUTIL finds errors on it (which it doesn't). I was also looking at the WD 320Gb model, or Hitatchi but I've heard their power consumption is appalling. Good luck with your new drive though!

 

I have my new western digital 320GB hard disc. Seek noise is slightly noisier than the samsung but certainly not intrusive. Only can here it if the rooms completely silent. Clicks a lot more but all the head parks are quiet and correspond to the drive starting/stopping. As it should be, no horrid loud clacks. No doubt if I use a utility and disable power management I could stop this but not really that annoying and really helping battery life.
Battery life has improved from 2hrs 10 mins to 3 hours 45mins (what it was when I first bought it despite battery wear) since I installed the drive and the famous CPU core 2 duo drone is noticable by its absence (I wonder if it was actually something to do with the drive not the CPU at al though it did go if you ran RMclock which is a CPU utilityl!) now only audible if you put your ear to the case!
I suspect reinstalling vista has done these two!
Question is do I reinstall service pack one? It was about this time that battery life started to fall.

Performance seems rapid so far. Installed vista in about 15 minutes!
Bought an ICY box which now houses the samsung for use as an external drive.
So far so good.
HD tune shows more consistent result. 61.7max, 29 min, 48 average.

I'm very pleased with the western digital 320GB so far. It gently powers down when I'm not doing anything, runs quietly, and seems to work well in a dell inspiron.

I don't think the western digital is power hungry, battery life is now brilliant! The computer is running extremely cool. The fan has only come on when installing vista! Base of laptop is luke warm. It was never this good when I first got it, suspect dell installs crap that increases CPU usage!

 

Sounds great. Sony installs loads of crap on theirs too and always put a lousy hard disk drive in it. Anyway, did you get the samsung hdd replaced? Did they give any comments?

 

I'm not sure what to do with the samsung now. I've just about transferred all my data over to the new one but Hutil still finds 0 errors! If they won't allow replacements until Hutil finds errors I'm going to have to wait until it gets worse. Don't think it will be long before problems occur. Leave it running for over an hour and even when connected externally as a USB drive it will click loudly every now and then. I'll just leave it plugged into to my parents desktop overnight and then see what state its in!