[Warranty News]: WD Changes Warranty

[Buck]

Western Digital has changed the warranty on some of its products, effective today. All of their products, except for Raptor, will come with a standard 1-year warranty unless otherwise noted (there are some without warranties and some special deals through retailers that have less then 1-year). The foul warranty updates is drifting from over here.

Although I'm not pleased with this reduction in warranty, it does simply their warranty coverage. The only exception now is Raptor. It seems that WD views 8MB cache drives as mainstream and not special anymore.

 

[Buck]

simply=simplify

Western Digital has adopted a new warranty policy effective October 1, 2003. Western Digital WD Raptor hard drives are covered under warranty for a five-year period. All other Western Digital products will be covered under a standard warranty for a period of one year. Products purchased before October 1, 2003 are covered under the product's original warranty, unless otherwise noted on the retail packaging.

 

[Mercutio]

(Insert obligatory anti-WD comment ________here______________)

Just to recap:

WD: ass-all except for Raptor
Hitachi: 3 years on 8MB cache drives
Seagate: ass-all except OEM 8MB cache drives
Maxtor: ass-all, except sometimes when you find a retail box that says 3 year warranty, or if you buy one of the "enterprise" models
Samsung: 3 years all-round.

I think we need to make that into a table or something.

 

[Jan Kivar]

Remember that both Maxtor and Seagate had both only 1yr. warranties when they lowered their warranty periods. Now both have "high-end models" (read: drives with 8MB buffer) which have 3yr. warranty. Perhaps WD will readjust the warranties in the future.

Needless to say that marketshare of Samsung can only grow because of this...

Cheers,

Jan

 

[CityK]

They're all full of crap. Stand by your products you bunch of penny pinching, consumer confusing, cheapskates!!

 

[SteveC]

Our choices are getting fewer and fewer. Does this affect the warranty status of drives already bought?

 

[SteveC]

Does this affect the warranty status of drives already bought?

I didn't read it closely enough. They're not affected.

 

[CougTek]

They're all full of crap.

Wow. Can't believe I agree with an Ontario guy ;-)

Since rumors want that Samsung's latest hard drives are performing ok, they will be my only choice in the future along with the 8MB cache Hitachi drives. All the others can go to Hell as far as I'm concern. Now I only need to find a local retailer for Samsung drives.

The 2 Western Digital WD400JB that currently sit within my two most recent boxes will be the last I buy for a looonnggg while. No more sympathy for them from me.

 

[CityK]

Wow. Can't believe I agree with an Ontario guy ;-)

lol. Don't worry, I'll make a federalist out of you yet Coug :wink:

Now I only need to find a local retailer for Samsung drives.

Indeed, they are pretty sparse to come by. Even IBM/Hitatchi too - I think the whole 75GXP fiasco soured a lot of retailers on stocking IBM.

 

[Buck]

Fortunately, I can get both Hitachi/IBM and Samsung from my distributor. The Samsung SP1614N (160GB 8MB Cache) drive I am selling for $130.00. Not the best price in the pack (Pricewatch has lower prices as usual), but that is my present limit. In contrast, I would need to sell the WD1200JB at the same price. Less capacity, less warranty, a bit more performance. I don't see the value in that.

 

[Tea]

Bastards.

Not that I was buying any anyway.

I can't believe how bad WD's waranty replacement drives are: fair dinkum, we have at least one in three arrive DOA. Last three WD RA replacements we got:

1: 20GB Protege. Makes horrible clacking noise. Passes all tests flawlessly, however, so despite not trusting it, we eventually sold it at 2/3rd of its market value.

2: 60GB 7200. DOA. Won't even format.

3: 30GB 7200. Works perfectly. (So far.)

That's typical. Warranty replacement WDs are ceap, crap, crap. Even refurbished Seagates are better drives - and that's saying quite a lot, as the Seagate franger things fall over if you look at them sideways.

Thank God for Samsung. We have 8MB cache units available here in Oz now, by the way.

 

[SteveC]

They've changed the page again. Here it is, in case they change it yet again:

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 1 year.

WD Caviar SE EIDE, and WD Caviar SE SATA hard drives carry a Standard Warranty Period of 3 years.

WD Raptor Enterprise SATA hard drives carry a Standard Warranty Period of 5 years.

Western Digital external hard drives carry a Standard Warranty Period of 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 1 year unless indicated otherwise on the package.

Western Digital-branded WD Raptor retail hard drive kits carry a Standard Warranty Period of 5 years.

*Warranties may vary in regions that belong to European Union.

WTF is up with these companies putting shorter warranties in retail drives? It's all garbage. I'm going with Samsungs from now on.

 

[e_dawg]

lol. Don't worry, I'll make a federalist out of you yet Coug :wink:

Yeah, you and Trudeau. Amusing how they renamed Dorval Airport Trudeau International, isn't it?

As for Samsung, I have always wanted to know where I could purchase a Samsung drive (I did purchase a PC that came with an OEM 3.2 GB Samsung in it years ago), but I can't for the life of me find a place that sells Samsung drives either locally in the GTA or online anywhere in Canada. Any sources, my fellow Canucks?

Meanwhile, I just bought a co-branded retail box Cicero Maxtor drive for dirt cheap at a national Canadian retailer... opened it up to find that the packaging was woefully inadequate -- bubble wrap with several rows of damaged bubbles, and not enough wrap to prevent the drive from moving around inside the box. I not only find it infuriating to know that my drive could have endured greater shock with the minimal packaging, but I find it ridiculous from a business perspective that Cicero/Future Shop would try to save pennies on bubble wrap, while risking dozens of dollars in servicing/procuring RMA's/exchanges and a potential loss in brand equity.

As for Maxtor's part, I don't think it would be pleased that its good name could be dragged through the mud if Cicero Maxtor users were to suffer relatively higher failure rates from the "minimalist" packaging. (I'm already surprised that Maxtor did not want their name to be hidden like the rest of the Cicero branded peripherals... I haven't seen a manufacturer's name on any Cicero/Future Shop product yet... until Maxtor's hard drives this year)

 

[Jan Kivar]

They've changed the page again. Here it is, in case they change it yet again:

I guessed it right then... :wink:

I think selling retail drives with only 1yr. warranty will make the price more competitive. After all, one can still buy the Extended Warranty for $14.95. I don't know what the pricing is in US, but I think that dropping the warranty could cut the prices.

Plus, there seems to be a rebate of some sort for every retail drive in US.

Cheers,

Jan

 

[CityK]

NCIX has the SP8004H (2MB). They'll probably eventually stock the 8MB sp80's.

A couple of stores in the GTA used to stock the spinpoint 40's (up to about 9 months ago). However, they apparently no longer do so, and I haven't seen any other stores advertise any variety of Samsung drive in the mean time.

CK

 

[CityK]

err, correction edawg, icct still has some 5400 samsung drives listed, but at really, really bad prices (Example: WD40JB $89, 30GB 5400 Samsung $106.....ahhh, yeah ). I suspect that someone has just overlooked them and the price has not been properly adjusted for ages.

CK

 

[SteveC]

I think we need to make that into a table or something.

I did create a quick chart (in PDF format) if anyone wants it. It has the warranty info from the top five manufacturers for drives sold in North America. I didn't include warranty info for the EU or Australia, though.

 

[Clocker]

Maybe WD thinks that the buyer of a 'non-retail' drive actually knows wtf they are doing and has some computer hardware knowledge. In this case, there is less chance a drive will be returned to WD for one reason or another...

I wonder if WD has a higher return rate (as a % of sales) for retail drives rather than 'non-retail' drives...?

C

 

[Mercutio]

I'm interested in that chart.

Most non-retail drives still end up in the hands of ignorant non-computer people. Maybe the initial buyer "knows what he's doing", but I can assure you that 99% of the drives are going to end up in the hands of people who don't.

 

[SteveC]

I'm interested in that chart.

On the way...

 

[Handruin]

I'm interested in the chart also if you wouldn't mind. Can I convert it to HTML and stick it on the site for easy access? (or I can leave it as PDF, either way)

 

[SteveC]

I sent it to you, Doug, but my ISPs mail server seems to be dropping some of my messages today, so just let me know if you get it.

 

[Handruin]

Yup, I got both files, thanks for sending them. I'll try to get the link up in a few minutes.

 

[Santilli]

Do any of these warranty changes affect scsi drives? Seagate Cheetahs in particular?
gs

 

[e_dawg]

I wouldn't think so, Greg. IDE customers are price-sensitive; SCSI customers are not. The SCSI standard is 5 years. Any mfr who tries to drop the warranty to save a few bucks in service costs would immediately lose 5 million units in future sales for next year.

 

[blakerwry]

You can bet this drive comes from a full warranty by the manuf.

http://buy.overstock.com/images/products/3/L932573.jpg

 

[LunarMist]

I think all generic DiamondMax Plus 9 drives have a 1 year warranty. Whether that would be available to the end user is another story. Or is was a DiamondMax Plus 9 Photoshopped for laughs?

 

[blakerwry]

This is onsale now at overstock.com It's a 60GB drive, but by the specs I was assuming it was a DM+8

I don't believe this is photoshopped... it does come with a 90 day warranty from overstock.com

 

[e_dawg]

I don't think the DM+8 is available in a 60 GB capacity. If it's from Maxtor, it has to be the DM+9.

 

[blakerwry]

it certainly looks like a DM+9 to me.

 

[Mercutio]

DM8s are low-profile drives. That's certainly not a DM8. Maxtor has a history of OEMing drives to companies that rebadge them. I have a couple of Staples-brand DM9+ drives at home, too.

 

[sechs]

Looks like the DM9+s that I have.

PS, they have two-year warranties. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! :mrgrn:

 

[blakerwry]

Looks like the DM9+s that I have.

PS, they have two-year warranties. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! :mrgrn:

heh, i got a retail 160GB DM+9 with 8MB cache(retail)... has 1 year minus about a week warranty... I also have a 80GB DM+9 with 2MB cache(OEM)... I believe it came with a 3 year warranty.