Readers go ballistic over hard drive warranties
Letters For a few mean times before failure more
By The Letterman: Friday 10 December 2004, 10:30
[We are still waiting for additional clarification on hard drive warranties. Don't hold your breath. Ed.]
Seagate five year warranties not all they seem
Hi there,
I was just discussing this with a friend and long-term reader of The Inq. It caused me some buyer's remorse (I just bought a 200GB Seagate SATA drive the other day) and inspired me to do some additional research. This is what I learned.
WDC also starts the warranty from build date, and includes the phrase "If your Product was purchased as a component integrated within a system by a system manufacturer, no limited warranty is provided by WD. Please contact the place of purchase or the system manufacturer directly for warranty service."
http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp
Maxtor, however, starts the warranty from date of purchase. (ungodly URLs on their Web page, otherwise I'd share.) However, this also appears on a separate link: "The limited, non-transferable warranty on products sold through an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is extended only to the OEM that purchases the products directly from Maxtor or Quantum.
Therefore, owners of OEM manufactured equipment containing a Maxtor or Quantum product must contact the OEM or the place of purchase for warranty service." So this is common policy. But starting the warranty from purchase makes Maxtor's warranty just a little tiny bit better. Unless you know you've got a source for fresh drives.
So... it looks like if you want a warranty, you've gotta buy retail boxes. What a drag. Either that, or I guess it's a roll of the dice. Or worth considering consulting the Mystic Smoking Head of "Bob" before purchasing.
http://www.resort.com/~banshee/Misc/8ball/
Thanks for bringing this into the light--warranties should be usable, not worthless marketing tools.
Charlie Fulton
Chico, CA
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