F1 vs Barracuda .11 and external FreeAgentquestion

[MoRT489]

Hi guys couple of quick questions:

1. How long should it take to format a 1TB HDD?
2. Which (from personal experience not reviews) is quieter drive the 7200.11 or the F1 1TB in idle and use?
3. Going to get a Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1TB USB2.0 External Hard Drive to backup everything on the new 1TB. Anyone reckon its worth paying extra £15 (elsewhere) to get the esata version bearing in mind it's just for backing up the internal?
4. Is the external drive the best/safest way to backup the internal HDD?

TIA

 

[balls]

1. If you use quick format it'll take about 2 minutes, if you're using xp and do long format it'll take a couple of hours.
2. The Samsung drives are practically silent in normal use/idle whereas the .11s I've had are noisey.
3. If you're using a 1tb drive i'd suggest getting an e-sata caddy ( I went along the lines of a F1-1tb and an Icybox with e-sata and usb)
4. Its definitely the easiest option, but nothing is 100%. If your house burns down you'll lose both etc