Toshiba X300 vs N300: Which Internal Hard Drive is Better?

When it comes to hard drives, some will prefer a standard SATA 6 Gb/s while others will feel the need for a NAS SATA 6 GB/s. Which you choose will depend on your needs, but we are going to compare two popular choices from Toshiba.

Today we will compare the Toshiba X300 vs N300. We will look at all of their features in order to decide which is the better buy. To help, we will include a comparison chart and some pros and cons of the two internal hard drives.

There are a few similarities between the Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300, so we will cover these first.

Hard Drive Format

The Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300 are 3.5-inch formats, so are compatible with any device that has a spare 3.5-inch bay. They are also Advanced Format, so they are built for higher capacities and maintaining data integrity.

Shock Sensors and Anti-vibration

With shock sensors and anti-vibration technology, any bumps or knocks to your computer when using the Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300 will be detected, and your data will be protected.

Cache

The Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300 have a 128MB cache (where data is temporarily stored during the data transfer). This is a fairly standard size for a 4TB hard drive and does increase to 256MB with the larger storage capacities.

RPM

The higher the RPM, the better the performance of an internal hard drive. Most come at either 5400 or 7200. The Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300 have an RPM of 7200.

The following comparison chart will help to recap the specifications of the Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300.

	Toshiba X300	Toshiba N300
Image
Size	1.03 x 5.79 x 4 inches	1.03 x 5.79 x 4.01 inches
Weight	1lbs	1.59lbs
Storage Capacity	4TB	4TB
Other Storage Capacities	5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB	6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB
Ideal Uses	Professional and non-professional digital artists, photographers, video editors, gamers	NAS- Up to 8 drive bays for home and small business use.
Form Factor	3.5 inches	3.5 inches
Advanced Format	Yes	Yes
Shock Sensors and Anti-vibration	Yes	Yes
Interface	SATA 6 Gb/s	SATA 6 Gb/s
Data Transfer Rate	150Mb/s	204MB/s
Cache	128MB	128MB
RPM	7200	7200
MTTF	600k hours	1 million hours
Warranty	2-years limited	3-years limited
Price	Check price on Amazon	Check price on Amazon

Now, we will turn our attention to what makes the Toshiba X300 and the Toshiba N300 different.

It’s not the most important feature as they both fit in a 3.5-inch bay and it’s not like they will be on display. Still, it’s worth a mention.

Toshiba X300

The hard drive is white and gray. It measures 1.03 x 5.79 x 4 inches and weighs just 1 pound.

Toshiba N300

It’s brown and white and clearly states NAS. It measures 1.03 x 5.79 x 4.01 inches and weighs a little more at 1.59 pounds.

The Winner Is- A Tie

There is a good range of capacity options and it’s great that they both go up to 14TB.

Toshiba X300

You get one extra buying option here including a 5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB and 14TB.

Toshiba N300

Aside from the 4TB, the only difference is that the 5TB is not available for NAS.

The Winner Is- The Toshiba X300

As they are both SATA 6 Gb/s hard drives, you can generally expect excellent data transfer speeds.

Toshiba X300

You can get read and write speeds of up to 150 Mb/s.

Toshiba N300

There is a noticeable difference with reading and write speeds of 204 Mb/s.

The Winner Is- The Toshiba N300

Read next – Seagate Barracuda vs WD Blue: Which Hard Drive is Better?

The mean time to failure or MTTF estimates the number of hours before the internal hard drive fails.

Toshiba X300

Although the product information states there is no guarantee, the MTTF is listed at 600,000 hours.

Toshiba N300

In this case, you have an MTTF of 1 million hours. On top of this, the estimated workload is 180TB per year.

The Winner Is- The Toshiba N300

There is little difference in the price, literally just a case of a few dollars. The warranty does make a difference.

 Toshiba X300

This comes with a 2-year limited warranty.

Toshiba N300

The advantage here is that the warranty is extended to 3 years limited.

The Winner Is- The Toshiba N300

As the internal hard drives are so similar, the pros and cons below will help with the overall decision.