One week is pretty good for a replacement. I don't think I've ever had one that fast.
The drives in external units are the same as internal ones so I doubt there is much difference. You were probably just unlucky.
But it might have been the interface in the unit just as much as the HD itself that failed. I've heard of the firmware in external drives corrupting and killing a drive. In such situations external enclosures are useful as you could just take the drive out and directly connect it to the PC to see if the HD itself is still OK.