[mitac]

I installed a Seagate 160GB drive with 8MB buffer memory just yesterday. Very nice thing, quiet, fast and doesn't get hot. I went for PATA, since I just don't have the necessary SATA controller. But if I had, I'd have gone for it.

Edit : you may want to take a look at storagereview.com, the "reliability survey" over there is a nice means to judge on the long-term expectations for your HDD. It's basically a database where users can enter their drives, thus judging on their reliability. Plus they got some general reviews, as well.