Re: [gentoo-user] Is my hard drive sick?

[Dan Farrell]

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:12:17 -0600
Dale <dalek1967@×××××××××.net> wrote:

> Dan Farrell wrote:
> > On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:46:52 -0600
> > Dale <dalek1967@×××××××××.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> I was looking around on Newegg for a new hard drive.  I found a
> >> 250GB that should work.
> >>
> >
> > You might consider getting a Seagate ES.  Enterprise level seagate
> > drives, although they cost maybe $30 USD more, are spec.'d to spin
> > continuously for 5 years.  A good choice if you're planning to have
> > the host around for a while.  I am very happy with their
> > performance.
>
>
> Ooops, I have IDE and the drive I just sent a email about is a SATA.
> It won't work anyway.  Do they have IDE drives like this?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-)  :-)
perhaps you refer to the following exerpt:
+++++++

Slowed down and died in less than 9 months

    Reviewed By: Jerry Crutcher on 11/5/2007
    Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1Rating + 1 
    Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

    Pros: It's a 320GB SATA II drive with all the specs.
    Cons: I had the drive in my system for about nine months. During
that time the system crashed (BSOD) several times. The drive's
performance also was disappointing, possibly because it was defective.
Seagate's Seatools wasn't even able to test it! To ship you a new drive
before you return the defective one, so I can copy off your data,
Seagate charges almost 25% of what Newegg charges for a new drive.
Granted, they provide shipping and packaging, but this doesn't cost
them over twenty bucks! This fee is just hard drive robbery. In
addition, they won't honor their warranty unless you swear to some sort
of "are you now or have you every been ..." statement. I thought Joe
McCarthy was dead. Other Thoughts: I bought Seagate because I had bad
luck with some other drives, and Seagate had a good reputation. I've
been using PCs for over twenty years, and this is a new record for a
drive going bad on me. Given Seagate's unreasonable charge for honoring
their warranty, their violation of your civil liberties, their policy
of pushing an "upgrade" of a refurbished drive on you (if you include
the value of this drive plus what Seagate wants for the upgrade, the
total cost is about 25% more than what Newegg charges for a new version
of the upgrade drive), and the fact that their tech support and
customer service people are in Asia and do not speak English well, I
plan to stay away from Seagate in the future. 
++++++++++++++++

I have the exact same drive, but I have owned it for only a month.  I
have lots of seagates, and clearly still trust the brand.  

It's natural to an extend that a drive or two slip past quality
control, once in a while, so it's quite possible this fellow simply got
a bad drive.  It also seems possible that he dumped a whole ton of
data, not backed up, to the drive, assuming he could trust it since it
was new, and then it proceeded to die.  ouch.  

nevertheless, of the 130 product reviews 99 have been 5/5 eggs.
furthermore I once did rma a drive and, although the process was not
particularly expedient (the aren't, usually), it cost me nothing but
shipping.  of course, I live in the states.  I actually live right
across the river from the seagate building, but I think interstate
shipping would cost the same.  

before being convinced to buy seagates ("because at least you'll be able
to get them replaced, if you get ones with a warranty", said my local
hardware guru) I purchased a samsung spinpoint ad was perfectly happy
with it.  Before then, I was in college and it was a mismash of
hand-me-downs, and I once did buy an IBM De[ath|sk]Star... oops.  So my
opinion is that samsung and seagate seem to deliver (so far...),
maxtor/wd/others, it's a toss-up, and IBM==bad.  I am happy they're
moving away from the consumer hardware arena, they suck at it IMHO.
Thinkpads rock, but desktops suck.  But I digress.  

the main point about seagate is that you can buy them with 5yr warantee
that you can then use to get a new hard drive if you manage to kill it
in less than 5 years.  This says to me that their quality control is
good enough that they don't have to refurbish too many drives and can
afford to offer the warranty.  I would imagine that any line that
offered a 5 year warranty, this would be true of.  I just know
seagate's rma process has worked for me in the past.  
-- 
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