this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2023
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datahoarder

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I admit they were way too cheap for what they are (like 15% cheaper than same-size Ironwolf), so I gambled it haha there were no indications that these drives were OEM or similar.

Back to issue at hand: since I can't personally have the five years warranty on these, only the original purchaser can, and I have no way to know who they are and when they bought them, I should just return them, right? And maybe buy the next ones only from authorized sellers?

edit: also, now that I think about it, and before I make the same mistake twice, there's no way I can get enterprise drives as a normal consumer, can I, at least not brand new? I expect any enterprise drives I can find will have the same issue, i.e. bought by someone else for servers or similar, and then resold, correct?

edit 2: actually WD sells enterprise drives on their website, so my previous assumption about it was wrong

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

They're probably 5 years or older anyway, or do you know the manufacturing date?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

No I don't, ~~I wrote it in the OP haha~~ unless there's a way to know it by looking up the S/N. Have to check.

How can you be so sure they're older? They were sold to me as new and they did come in the usual sealed plastic wrap.

Anyway I don't think saving some money is worth more than a full warranty, so I'm basically set on returning them and get something else

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think you're looking in the wrong places for the info you want You got what are known as OEM drives. These are primarily sold in bulk to system integrators like Dell/HP/etc. they are noticeably cheaper, but do not have a long warranty. Typically they have 90 days, which is enough to cover infant mortality. After that, the OEM basically self-insures - they have to eat the cost of replacement, but that's offset by the lower price.

What you're probably looking for are Retail drives. These have multi-year coverage directly from the manufacturer.

Read the terms of sale carefully- sometimes the seller is the one offering the longer warranty, same as an OEM. Then consider if you trust them to honor that warranty, especially considering that it will be a direct expense to them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Sorry for late reply, app kept saying "this account os being verified" and I coulnd't comment or anything else.

Anyway, yes, the store I bought them from is a legit store and provides warranty, so I decided to keep the drives!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Actually, I found something: "DOM: 07JUN2022". I guess that's "Date of Manufacturing"?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

yep, looks good. should be new then, since they were still in packaging.

You have to decide for yourself if not having to send it back and the reduced price is worth not having a warranty from the manufacturer. does the seller have to provide warranty anyway in your country? I think this would be the case in my country, if the seller is a business, irrelevant what warranty seagate gives you

Some anecdotal evidence, take it or leave it :-) I have a 12x 4 year old Exos 7E8 (the previous generation) and I've not had any failure yet since I bought em. In the past, I had many (many many..) failed seagate drives but never within the warranty span

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Sorry for late reply, app kept saying "this account os being verified" and I coulnd't comment or anything else.

In the end I decided to keep them, considering the store provides warranty! Loving the gigantic storage amount I have now haha