Here's my stupid table I created from browsing through a bunch of Newegg listings for hard drives:
Model 4+ 1 egg total
----- ---- ------ -----
barracuda lp 1tb 83% 8% 62
1.5tb 64% 22% 55
2tb 85% 9% 47
barracuda 7200.12 1tb 76% 13% 287
500g 76% 16% 335
barracuda es.2 67% 13% 142
wd caviar black 1tb 87% 7% 1614
0.5tb 90% 7% 736
wd re3 1.0tb 89% 8% 116
wd green 1.0tb 85% 8% 1049
samsung f1 1.0tb 77% 14% 798
0.5tb 89% 10% 96
samsung f2 ecogreen 54 88% 7% 111
samsung f3 500gb 82% 8% 40
1tb 80% 0% 19
hitachi 0a38016 77% 15% 628
First column is the model, obviously. Second column is the % of 4-egg and 5-egg reviews (generally positive reviews). The third column is the % of 1-egg reviews, which are generally where reports of DOA drives show up.
Conclusions? WD or Samsung = Good, Hitachi or Seagate = Not so much. Caviar Black series seems to have a good record. Latest seagates don't seem too hot. Samsungs also seem to do well, though there are a far fewer number of reviews there.