Seagate Expansion 2TB Portable Hard Drive

I've owned a number of Seagate products including two similar external drives purchased for my kids about 2 years ago. I have used Seagate and WD drives for years without any issues. This purchase was to replace another external Seagate drive that was starting to make noise during operation which is to be expected after 5 or 6 years of use - I understand stuff wears out. The challenge is that apparently Seagate's quality has slipped considerably since my last purchase. After purchasing this 2 Tb drive I moved about 600 Gb of data from my old drive to the new one over a period of several days. On Day 4, the drive developed a squeak when operating, which as it turns out signals the beginning of the end for the drive. After several hours of trying to copy the data to other media, the drive is now a stylish paperweight. I did a bit of research and it appears that these drives have a 15% failure rate. This isn't an issue if it fails during the original set-up - Amazon will replace it without question. I requested a replacement and it was at my door 2 days later. (BTW - Amazon gets 5-Stars for their customer service and replacement policy) The challenge is that once you've spent a few days loading data on the drive, then find out you have purchased one that falls into that 15% failure category; plan on investing some more money to recover your data. Seagate's Marketing Team has you covered. They've developed a strategy to provide a recovery service that ranges in price from $79 (download on sale right now - YIPPEE) to nearly $600 if you want Seagate to recover your files. I figured that I'd click Seagate's little "Try Before You Buy" option, but it still doesn't recognize the drive. The implied solution is to try the "Technician Download" for more than $100. Spending more money is apparently my only option. Good for Seagate, bad for me. BOTTOM LINE - Before purchasing this drive, PLEASE read the 1-Star reviews. I made the critical mistake of not reading the reviews before this purchase - I figured Seagate was a reliable option as it had worked for me in the past. When the drive failed on Day 4, I visited the Amazon page and found a significant number of recent 1-Star reviews who have experienced the same issue - CATASTROPHIC FAILURE after a few days to a couple of months. My recommendation is that you spend a few more dollars and look at another brand before purchasing an external drive. Second, I realize now that I mistakenly assumed that I could move the files from my old external drive which had signs of failure to this one. Poor assumption on my part. If your system is operating and you can copy the files - do so. Otherwise be prepared to have Seagate's hands in your pocket or get used to the idea of losing your files. At least I've got a stylish paperweight as a reminder.