Hard Drive Brands: which is best?

G'day all

I'm just wondering what is the best in terms of reliability for hard drives?
I'm currently considering a Western Digital; any opinions or bad
experiences?

thx

Dave

feRRets_inc wrote:

G'day all

I'm just wondering what is the best in terms of reliability for hard
drives? I'm currently considering a Western Digital; any opinions or bad
experiences?



WD does have good support and the few drives that I've seen die were easily
RMA'd without question. That said, spend the extra $$ and get the 8 meg
drives that also have a longer warranty. Any drive can die and is probably
the most unreliable part of a computer.

--

Stacey

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 01:10:49 -0500, stacey wrote:

feRRets_inc wrote:

G'day all

I'm just wondering what is the best in terms of reliability for hard
drives? I'm currently considering a Western Digital; any opinions or bad
experiences?



WD does have good support and the few drives that I've seen die were easily
RMA'd without question. That said, spend the extra $$ and get the 8 meg
drives that also have a longer warranty. Any drive can die and is probably
the most unreliable part of a computer.

WD JB (8MB cache) retail series no longer has the 3 year warranty,
only the OEM does.
http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp


Dave

"kony" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 01:10:49 -0500, stacey wrote:

feRRets_inc wrote:

G'day all

I'm just wondering what is the best in terms of reliability for hard
drives? I'm currently considering a Western Digital; any opinions or
bad
experiences?



WD does have good support and the few drives that I've seen die were
easily
RMA'd without question. That said, spend the extra $$ and get the 8 meg
drives that also have a longer warranty. Any drive can die and is
probably
the most unreliable part of a computer.

WD JB (8MB cache) retail series no longer has the 3 year warranty,
only the OEM does.
http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp


Dave

Phew, I've just bought three WD Caviar SE 80Gb 8Mb cache OEMs...
--
Susan

"stacey" wrote in message
...
feRRets_inc wrote:

G'day all

I'm just wondering what is the best in terms of reliability for hard
drives? I'm currently considering a Western Digital; any opinions or bad
experiences?



WD does have good support and the few drives that I've seen die were
easily
RMA'd without question. That said, spend the extra $$ and get the 8 meg
drives that also have a longer warranty. Any drive can die and is probably
the most unreliable part of a computer.


surely nothing is more unreliable than PSUs? I have had two or three fail
but never an HD..... :-))

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 10:12:15 -0000, "S.Boardman"
wrote:


WD JB (8MB cache) retail series no longer has the 3 year warranty,
only the OEM does.
http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp


Dave

Phew, I've just bought three WD Caviar SE 80Gb 8Mb cache OEMs...


I"m not even sure if ALL OEM do have 3 yr.. It seems a bit backwards
to me though, that OEM ought to be 1 yr. and retail 3, but apparently
not. The last retail drive I got a couple weeks ago still had the 3
yr warranty, so there "might" still be a few retail versions on
vendors' shelves with 3 yr.


Dave

Warranty Policy and Limitations


Western Digital Corporation ("WDC") values your business and
always attempts to provide you the very best of service.

No limited warranty is provided by WDC unless your WDC Product
("Product") was purchased from an authorized distributor or authorized
reseller. Distributors may sell Products to resellers who then sell Products
to end users. Please see below for warranty information or obtaining
service. No warranty service is provided unless the Product is returned to
an authorized return center in the region(Americas, Europe-Middle
East-Africa, or Asia Pacific) where the Product was first shipped by WDC.

If your Product was purchased as a component integrated within a
system by a system manufacturer, no limited warranty is provided by WDC.
Please contact the place of purchase or the system manufacturer directly for
warranty service.

Warranty Table of Contents
a.. Warranty Policy
b.. Return Material Authorization (RMA)
c.. Extended Warranty
d.. Warranty Limitations
a.. Limitation of Remedies
b.. Limitation of Damages
c.. No Consequential or Other Damages
d.. Your Use of the Product
e.. Additional Limitations on Warranty




Warranty Policy

Western Digital has adopted a new warranty policy effective
October 1, 2003.
Western Digital Hard Drives
WD Caviar® and WD Protégé® EIDE hard drives carry a Standard
Warranty Period of one (1) year. WD Caviar® SE EIDE, and WD Caviar® SE SATA
hard drives carry a Standard Warranty Period of three (3) years. WD RaptorT
Enterprise SATA hard drives carry a Standard Warranty Period of five (5)
years. Western Digital external hard drives carry a Standard Warranty Period
of one (1) year.

Western Digital-branded Retail Hard Drive Kits
All Western Digital-branded retail hard drive kits, with the
exception of WD Raptor drives, carry a Standard Warranty Period of one (1)
year unless indicated otherwise on the package. Western Digital-branded WD
Raptor retail hard drive kits carry a Standard Warranty Period of five (5)
years.

Bare Drive Retail Kits
Protégé & WD Caviar® 1-year [extend] 1-year [extend]
WD Caviar® SE 3-year 1-year [extend]
WD Raptor 5-year 5-year
External Drives N/A 1-year
*Warranties may vary in regions that belong to European
Union.


Note:
The limited warranty extends only for the period of time set
forth in the Product documentation. The period commences from the date of
manufacture appearing on the Product label of the original Product purchase.
To verify the warranty of your Product, please use our online Warranty
Status Check service. In the United States, some states do not allow
limitations on how long implied warranties last, so the above limitation may
not apply to you.

Please refer to your Product manual for a statement of your
limited warranty. A Product manual can be obtained from your authorized
distributor or reseller or the WDC web site.

There are no warranties which extend beyond the face of the WDC
limited warranty. WDC disclaims all other warranties, express or implied,
regarding the Products, including any implied warranties of merchantability,
fitness for a particular purpose or noninfringement. In the United States,
some laws do not allow the exclusion of the implied warranties.

Return Material Authorization (RMA)

No Product may be returned directly to WDC without first
contacting WDC for a Return Material Authorization ("RMA") number. If it is
determined that the Product may be defective, you will be given an RMA
number and instructions for Product return. An unauthorized return, i.e. one
for which an RMA number has not been issued, will be returned to you at your
expense. Authorized returns are to be shipped prepaid and insured to the
address on the RMA in an approved shipping container. Your original box and
packaging materials should be kept for storing or shipping your Product. To
request an RMA, please click on Warranty information

Extended Warranty

Customers can purchase an extended warranty on internal WD
products with less than a 3-year warranty. The maximum warranty period for
these products, including any warranty extension, cannot be longer than 3
years from the date of manufacture. Extended warranty is currently available
for purchase online.

Warranty Limitations

WDC's limited warranty provides that, subject to the following
limitations, each Product will be free from defects in material and
workmanship and will conform to WDC's specification for the particular
Product.

Limitation of Remedies

Your exclusive remedy for any defective Product is limited
to the repair or replacement of the defective Product.

WDC may elect which remedy or combination of remedies to
provide in its sole discretion. WDC shall have a reasonable time after
determining that a defective Product exists to repair or replace a defective
Product. WDC's replacement Product under its limited warranty will be
manufactured from new and serviceable used parts. WDC's warranty applies to
repaired or replaced Products for the balance of the applicable period of
the original warranty or ninety days from the date of shipment of a repaired
or replaced Product, whichever is longer.

Limitation of Damages

WDC's entire liability for any defective Product shall in
no event exceed the purchase price for the defective Product. This
limitation applies even if WDC cannot or does not repair or replace any
defective Product and your exclusive remedy fails of its essential purpose.

No Consequential or Other Damages

WDC has no liability for general, consequential,
incidental or special damages. These include loss of recorded data, the cost
of recovery of lost data, lost profits and the cost of the installation or
removal of any Products, the installation of replacement Products, and any
inspection, testing, or redesign caused by any defect or by the repair or
replacement of Products arising from a defect in any Product.

In the United States, some states do not allow exclusion
or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the limitations
above may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights,
and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state.

Your Use of the Product

WDC will have no liability for any Product returned if WDC
determines that:

a.. The product was stolen from WDC.
b.. The asserted defect:
1.. is not present,
2.. cannot reasonably be fixed because of damage
occurring when the Product is in the possession of someone other than WDC,
or
3.. is attributable to misuse, improper installation,
alteration (including removing or obliterating labels), accident or
mishandling while in the possession of someone other than WDC.
c.. The Product was not sold to you as new.
Additional Limitations on Warranty

Western Digital's warranty does not cover Products which
have been received improperly packaged, altered, or physically damaged.
Products will be inspected upon receipt. You can view additional examples of
the warranty limitations below by clicking on the available links.

Packaging
a.. Improperly packaged
b.. Non-qualified shipping container
Alterations
a.. Counterfeit label(s)
b.. Customer added jumper wires
c.. Incorrect PCBA/HDA pair
d.. Labels have been switched:
1.. True Western Digital label on non-Western
Digital drive
2.. True Western Digital label on different capacity
Western Digital Drive
e.. Labels exhibit tampering
f.. Label missing standard printing such as UL or
capacity
g.. Missing barcode or top cover label
h.. No tape seal - (non-authorized data recovery
sticker)
i.. Serial number on top cover does not match barcode
on end
j.. Western Digital labels or breather filter holes
obscured by customer applied stickers
Damage
a.. Broken pins on connector
b.. Connector(s) are damaged, cracked, missing or
broken
c.. Cracked components on the circuit board
d.. Dented base casting
e.. Torn or punctured tape seal
f.. Dented top cover
g.. Deep scratch
h.. Loose, damaged, or missing screws
i.. Lifted or punctured servo clock hole (SCSI)
j.. Missing servo clock hole (SCSI)
k.. Missing PCBA (Circuit Board)
l.. Obscured breather filter holes
m.. Punctured at servo writer access port
n.. Punctured inspect pivot seal
o.. Scratch exposing copper trace
p.. Scorched or burned PCBA
q.. Stripped mounting hole threads
If an alphabetic character appears after the Product
date code (example: 05 Apr 99 X), the Product has been re-certified and may
not be subject to the terms of WDC's warranty as it applies only to
products sold as new.





"kony" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 10:12:15 -0000, "S.Boardman"
wrote:


WD JB (8MB cache) retail series no longer has the 3 year warranty,
only the OEM does.
http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp


Dave

Phew, I've just bought three WD Caviar SE 80Gb 8Mb cache OEMs...


I"m not even sure if ALL OEM do have 3 yr.. It seems a bit backwards
to me though, that OEM ought to be 1 yr. and retail 3, but apparently
not. The last retail drive I got a couple weeks ago still had the 3
yr warranty, so there "might" still be a few retail versions on
vendors' shelves with 3 yr.


Dave

I vote with you on PSU's.

"Bryan Henderson" wrote in message
...

"stacey" wrote in message
...
feRRets_inc wrote:

G'day all

I'm just wondering what is the best in terms of reliability for hard
drives? I'm currently considering a Western Digital; any opinions or
bad
experiences?



WD does have good support and the few drives that I've seen die were
easily
RMA'd without question. That said, spend the extra $$ and get the 8 meg
drives that also have a longer warranty. Any drive can die and is
probably
the most unreliable part of a computer.


surely nothing is more unreliable than PSUs? I have had two or three fail
but never an HD..... :-))

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 10:16:19 -0000, "Bryan Henderson"
wrote:

surely nothing is more unreliable than PSUs? I have had two or three fail
but never an HD..... :-))


Depends on the power supply... MUCH greater variability in quality in
a PSU and quite different failure mechanisms... any 3rd world
sweatshop can make power supplies.

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 10:16:19 -0000, "Bryan Henderson"
wrote:



WD does have good support and the few drives that I've seen die were
easily
RMA'd without question. That said, spend the extra $$ and get the 8 meg
drives that also have a longer warranty. Any drive can die and is probably
the most unreliable part of a computer.


surely nothing is more unreliable than PSUs? I have had two or three fail
but never an HD..... :-))

Lucky you! Have had one IBM HD and one WD HD tip up. Never though,
touch wood, a PSU. Trouble with HD's dying is the amount of work and
time involved in getting things back up and running. Even if you do
regular back ups there always seems to be something missing at the end
of the day.

I suppose it says a lot about HD's in general when the warranty period
starts getting shorter....inspires a lot of faith in the quality of
manufacturing processes....NOT!!

regards
Graham