I wonder if Samsung are still outright leaders for
low-noise, reliability and value as they used to be.

IMO they still are, but were taken over by Seagate.

I'm so out of touch now that I wouldn't know
if they still make HDDs without Googling.

Not 3.5" hard drives anymore, that part of
their operation was bought by Seagate.

I use Samsung Evo Pro SSD drives, very fast and come with a 10 year
guarantee, Samsung must be very confident of the longevity, which is
reassuring.

--
Bod

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus