Yes, the western digital Raptor 74 Gig turning at 10,000 rpm are probably the fastest most reliable, but they don't have volume.
You can buy a 250 Gig Maxtor or Western Digital Sata with 8 Meg cache 7,200 rpm and have ~ 15% less speed but ~ 300% more capacity for ~ 25% less in $ !
So, it is all in what you want as fast and reliable, because reliability will always depends on how you use your computer. I have persnally never burned or broken a hard disk because my PC is basically always ON. But if you start and stop often, your disk reliability will be a factor on the way you use your PC or hard disk.