cdanteek Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 article.... Seagate published an announcement on its web site informing customers that the company will cut the warranty period of select bare (OEM) HDDs on Jan. 3, 2009. Most Seagate OEM HDDs currently have a warranty good for five years, but the number will be slashed down to three years. The following HDDs will be affected by the change: Barracuda 7200, DB35, Diamondmax, LD25 5400, Momentus 5400, Momentus 720, Pipeline HD, and the Pipeline HD Pro. All HDDs purchased prior to Jan. 3, 2009 will still have a valid 5-year warranty, according to the Seagate press release. "We have identified the opportunity to offer our customers warranty terms that we believe are in line with industry standard warranty offerings, and that better align to the requirement of our partners and customers," Seagate said in its statement. The HDD manufacturer said the change has nothing to do with the overall quality of its products, and reports 95% of all returns take place within the first three years after purchase. "Our product quality remains excellent, and, as the worldwide leader in drive storage, Seagate is committed to providing our customers with the most reliable storage solutions available anywhere." As one of the people who purchased Seagate because of the company's 5-year warranty, I wonder how many others may shift away from Seagate now because of the policy change. The news comes at the same time Seagate announced it will slash its financial outlook for the current quarter, while it also urged employees to stay at home during the holiday season. Employees can take vacation time, borrow vacation time, or go on unpaid leave during the holiday company shutdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDWAGON Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Five years to three years---Five years is almost unheard of in the HDD business as far as warranty, so no wonder they are changing !! At least all mine are still five years Frank... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 At least all mine are still five years Frank... At least all mine are Western Digital !! Brendon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vid2man97 Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 I've been lucky in that I've only had two HDs actually die on me before I outgrew them and both were WD. One was the replacement for the first and combined, I got eight months out of them. It took me a long time to trust WD again. I don't really care about warranties...lost data and downtime can never be replaced (I know...unless it's on another drive or DVD). I bought a few Seagates with their 5 year plan and I thought it was amazing that they trusted their products so much that they'd offer that. It sure made me feel warm and cozy. I've got a few computers, this one with a mix of small drives and some like the one I use for Photoshop and so on with strictly one brand so I can't say I'm biased one over the other anymore. But thinking about my personal experience I figure if a drive will get me past the first year, I've got time to use it and I'll be replacing it before it actually dies. dang...I hope I'm not jinxing my drives now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdanteek Posted December 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 I've been lucky in that I've only had two HDs actually die on me First was a 1gb Western Digital, no that isn't a typo, 95/96 somewhere in there. Second a Maxtor 80gb 06/07. Number three a Seagate click here...., just got a refurbished drive back the 10th of this month.... All three were OS Drives, W95, W XP SP2, and W XP SP3! I have a W98SE System with a IBM Desk Star 40gb that's ran everyday since Feb 1999, also in that box a Maxtor 80gb as a slave drive, since 2002.... cd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Dave Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 How does Seagate align themselves with customers by cutting the warranty period? Perhaps they are getting ready to outsource manufacturing and want to cut their exposure. So, maybe lower cost equals lower reliability. If 95% of the failures occur within the first three years then how much are they really saving? I like their HDs but now I question their commitment to the customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_deweywright Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Well, I have to say that the 5 year warranty has certainly influenced my buying choices over the past several years. The couple drives I've had go bad were WD drives, but that was awhile ago now. Oh... I had an IBM Deathsk Star drive go bad at work (when I worked for IBM). Apparently there was a firmware fix for those drives. I guess we'll see what my needs are and what's available at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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