Which External HDD brand id the best?

I have Western Digital and Hitachi drives and have for many years without a problem. If given a choice, at the same capacity and price I'd choose Western Digital for myself. Stay away from the larger Seagate drives -- in general they're a very solid brand, but the 1TB and 1.5TB drives have been experiencing failure rates approaching 40% within the first six months of use. No reports of problems with the smaller drives from them though. I wouldn't be skittish about buying a drive branded Samsung, I don't think they actually manufacture the hard drives themselves, but probably buy OEM units from WD or Hitachi and stick them in Samsung branded enclosures. Same thing for Buffalo and Imation, neither of them make the actual hard disks inside their enclosures. But quick answer, go with Western Digital.