[TriLUG] Hard drive advice

[David McDowell]

I've RMA'd Seagate IDE drives before.  One case I recall was a 3 yr
warranty, but I was only 6 months in, I got the replacement *next
day*!  I was shocked, but no complaint.  I put the busted drive in the
box they shipped the new one in, replaced the sticker for shipping and
sent it one its way.  I don't even recall having to give them a CC#,
although it would make sense that I did since they shipped new prior
to receiving the old.  I recall also that Seagate has a way you can
setup your RMA with an online form that using the serial # from your
drive even knows right off that you are warrantied, even if you didn't
register your hardware, based on manufacturer date.  Obviously if you
are outside that time frame, you will want to have your purchase
receipt ready.

David McD


On 9/22/05, Pat Regan <thehead at patshead.com> wrote:
> Cristobal Palmer wrote:
> > I'll echo Joe's comments and give an endorsement to Intrex, especially
> > since they give discounts to TriLUG members. That said, if you don't
> > _mind_ keeping shipping supplies around and are meticulous about
> > keeping records (such as receipts), then you can safely go with an
> > internet bargain that includes a nice (eg. 3-5 yr.) warranty.
>
> Keeping shipping supplies around shouldn't be an issue.  Every time I
> have RMAed an IDE drive I have used "advance RMA," or whatever the
> particular vendor calls it.  You give them your credit card number, they
> ship you a drive.  Swap the drive and put the old drive in the new
> packaging, then send it back.  As long as they get the drive they don't
> charge your card.
>
> As has been said already, any brand of drive has the same chance of
> failing.  Hopefully, though, the drives with a longer warranty passed
> more tests :).
>
> For my purposes, the best reason to choose a manufacturer is their RMA
> policy.  I have recently had to RMA both Maxtor and Western Digital
> drives, both brands connected to my 3ware IDE controller.
>
> My Maxtor drive started throwing errors like crazy.  In order to RMA a
> Maxtor drive you have to run MaxBlast on the drive, which means I had to
> put the drive on an IDE controller.  This wouldn't have been terrible...
>  Except that MaxBlast claimed that it was able to repair my problem.  I
> had to go through this garbage 2 more times before I could get the code
> that would let me get the drive replaced.  I do not ever want to deal
> with that again, so I will never buy a Maxtor drive again.
>
> Western Digital doesn't ask any questions, it seems they will RMA
> anything.
>
> I would like to know what Seagate's policy is, if anyone knows.
>
> Pat
>
>
>
>
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