Seagate, the biggest hard drive manufacturer, has announced today that effective January 3, 2009, the company will be making some important changes to its limited warranty terms for selected drives. The warranty period for consumer electronics (Seagate Barracuda 7200 included), notebook (Momentus 7200 and Momentus 5400 included) and personal storage bare drives sold to Seagate Authorized Distributors will be changed from 5 years to 3 years. Seagate believes that the new warranty period and terms better reflect current industry standards. Seagate enterprise class drives and Seagate and Maxtor external retail products that have 5-year warranty periods will not be affected by this change. Please take a look at the Seagate Warranty Matrix for more information.

62 Comments on Seagate Lowers Warranty Period from 5 to 3 Years on Some Desktop Hard Drives

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#1 Tau

malware Seagate, the biggest hard drive manufacturer, has announced today that effective January 3, 2009, the company will be making some important changes to its limited warranty terms for selected drives. The warranty period for consumer electronics (Seagate Barracuda 7200 included), notebook (Momentus 7200 and Momentus 5400 included) and personal storage bare drives sold to Seagate Authorized Distributors will be changed from 5 years to 3 years. Seagate believes that the new warranty period and terms better reflect current industry standards. Seagate enterprise class drives and Seagate and Maxtor external retail products that have 5-year warranty periods will not be affected by this change. Please take a look at the Seagate Warranty Matrix for more information.



Source: Seagate Thats a dissapointment, as that was one of the factors that set them appart.:banghead: Thats a dissapointment, as that was one of the factors that set them appart.:banghead: Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 9:46 Reply

#2 Mussels

Moderprator quite a pity. i liked their warranty. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 10:03 Reply

#3 eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman seems like they are suffering for money aswell so they lowered their warranty, hmm makes me wonder. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 10:13 Reply

#4 qubit

Overclocked quantum bit Another "win" for the customer malware ...will be changed from 5 years to 3 years. Seagate believes that the new warranty period and terms better reflect current industry standards.... Indeed, how comforting. This is a real incentive to buy, innit? <sarcastic> :rolleyes:



EDIT: I have a friend that repairs PC's freelance for a living and bought them exclusively for the 5 year warranty for his customers. Guess he'll be looking at the competition now. Indeed, how comforting. This is aincentive to buy, innit? :rolleyes:EDIT: I have a friend that repairs PC's freelance for a living and bought them exclusively for the 5 year warranty for his customers. Guess he'll be looking at the competition now. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 10:51 Reply

#5 intel igent

does'nt make sense to me to reduce the length of a warranty, might not be a good move for them..... Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 10:53 Reply

#6 Smith_X

I think Seagate maybe face some problem for now. I notice that Seagate had not been release new Barracuda harddisk for a while. (There are only 15k enterprise harddisk and new FreeAgent model out there in 2008.) I still waiting for Seagate ES.3 (which should have anything improve i.e. faster transfer rate, more reliable and consume less energy, etc..) but Seagate still not release it yet. On the other hand, Western Digital launch a lot product line during third quarter recently. i.e. Caviar Black, RE3. WD still offer 5 years warranty. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 11:37 Reply

#7 MrMilli

I saw this coming for a while. Their drives don't have higher reliability but still they offer 5 years warranty. I guess it started to cost them too much money.

But why would you buy a Seagate Barracuda now? They are slower and will have the same 3 year warranty as the rest.

Anyway, you shouldn't use a harddrive longer then 3 years because failure rate rises around this point. Even if i would have 5 years warranty, warranty doesn't replace my data. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 13:00 Reply

#8 WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey Yes they do and Seagate has some terrific drives. Personally I havent ever had to use my warranty, but if they lower the warranty period, they might as well lower the price a bit more. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 13:12 Reply

#9 Bl4ck

my 2x500Gb Barracuda 11 ... both died after 2months of usage, "old" WD3200AKS still works, good thing i didn't pay for the seagate's .For me only WD or Samsung.:nutkick: Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 13:16 Reply

#10 Mussels

Moderprator heres a thought: what if they're thinking "shit, we wont have any mechanical drives left in 5 years, only a pile of SSD's" Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 15:38 Reply

#11 Top Geezer

It's Hitachi all the way for me from now on. They are without doubt the most reliable drives on the planet. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 15:44 Reply

#12 Mussels

Moderprator Top Geezer It's Hitachi all the way for me from now on. They are without doubt the most reliable drives on the planet. i've never owned one. they dont seem to be for sale around here in australia.



How are they for noise and heat? i've never owned one. they dont seem to be for sale around here in australia.How are they for noise and heat? Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 15:48 Reply

#13 EarlZ

The 5 year warranty was the only edge that seagate had with other brands, i guess this pretty much evens them out and people will start getting the cheaper brand ( WD / Samsung ) Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 16:50 Reply

#14 FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~ I havent bought seagate for quite a few years - I bought a few with my first system build back in 2002/03 but 1 of them failed on me within 2 weeks in quite a dramatic manner so it has been me & a great set of reliable maxtors for me back when they were actually 'good' before they got aquired by Seagate & slowly assimilated like the body of a rat thats just been bitten by a small venomus spider/snake - Slowly but surely Dissolving in the Hoi Sin that is Seagate....



Samsung on the other hand has really stepped up its game. its amazing how far theyve come in such a short space of time. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 18:54 Reply

#15 Unregistered

I buy nothing but WD drives which all run 24/7 for many years now. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 19:23 Edit | Reply

#16 Top Geezer

We integrate Hitachi 1Tb SATA all the time in RAID systems (24 Bay) and never have any problems. We tried Samsung but they run far too hot and only last about 4 months. Seagate was OK but not as fast as the Hitachi and also ran hotter. We have a company policy not to buy WD after a number of failures in the field with no response or help from WD to help us sort it out but hey, each to their own my friends. We learned a long time ago that the small savings you make when buying the cheapest Hard drive is lost when you consider the value of the data stored on them (not to mention time, labour and transport costs when returned). Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 20:06 Reply

#17 FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~ Top Geezer We tried Samsung but they run far too hot and only last about 4 months O rly?? when was the last time you used a Samsung HDD?? back in the old days i admit they were a bit naff but their F1 spinpoint drives are one of the best drives around second to WD Raptors. I have NEVER been a keen fan of Hitachi stuff - their rice steamers/cookers pwn but thats about it - their screens are crap, their TV's are crap - anything they make thats NOT a rice cooker is crap. O rly?? when was the last time you used a Samsung HDD?? back in the old days i admit they were a bit naff but their F1 spinpoint drives are one of the best drives around second to WD Raptors. I have NEVER been a keen fan of Hitachi stuff - their rice steamers/cookers pwn but thats about it - their screens are crap, their TV's are crap - anything they make thats NOT a rice cooker is crap. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 21:14 Reply

#18 Necrofire

The 5 year warranty was nice, but it was a little unnecessary for me. The only drives that have failed on my in the past 5 years have been ancient Fireball drives, and about 2 or 3 40GB drives, of different flavors. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 22:02 Reply

#19 FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!" I hope they aren't reducing the warranty on Barracuda ES drives. If they aren't, then that's probably all I'll be buying from here on out. :( Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 22:09 Reply

#20 AsRock

TPU addict intel igent does'nt make sense to me to reduce the length of a warranty, might not be a good move for them..... Maybe it will cut down costs more than loose money lol. I'll stick with WD's with there 5y all though other might follow.



Does make me think that there is a problem. Maybe it will cut down costs more than loose money lol. I'll stick with WD's with there 5y all though other might follow.Does make me think that there is a problem. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 22:18 Reply

#21 niko084

Mussels quite a pity. i liked their warranty. Same here and recently you have needed that warranty... :laugh:



I RMA probably 60% of my 7200.11 drives within 90 days.... I just changed over to ordering the ES2's hopefully they do a better job or I'm going to be talking to my distrib to get me some WD Blacks or even maybe Hitachi Ultrastars depending on price. Same here and recently you have needed that warranty... :laugh:I RMA probably 60% of my 7200.11 drives within 90 days.... I just changed over to ordering the ES2's hopefully they do a better job or I'm going to be talking to my distrib to get me some WD Blacks or even maybe Hitachi Ultrastars depending on price. Posted on Dec 12th 2008, 22:19 Reply

#22 eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman Mussels i've never owned one. they dont seem to be for sale around here in australia.



How are they for noise and heat? They are Pretty Good drives, If you have a IBM Deskstar (if you got lucky to have 1 for that long) and its still under warranty you can send in the Drive to Hitachi and they will replace it with a Hitachi Deskstar, Trust me ive yet to have a Hitachi Drive go bad on me, because the 80GB IBM i had at the time got the Click of Death (Click Click Scratch continuous cycle), which ticked me off that i went with WD at the time, then i tried the Hitachi and the Hitachi was overall Faster at 2MB vs the WD with 8MB. They are Pretty Good drives, If you have a IBM Deskstar (if you got lucky to have 1 for that long) and its still under warranty you can send in the Drive to Hitachi and they will replace it with a Hitachi Deskstar, Trust me ive yet to have a Hitachi Drive go bad on me, because the 80GB IBM i had at the time got the Click of Death (Click Click Scratch continuous cycle), which ticked me off that i went with WD at the time, then i tried the Hitachi and the Hitachi was overall Faster at 2MB vs the WD with 8MB. Posted on Dec 13th 2008, 20:26 Reply

#23 niko084

eidairaman1 They are Pretty Good drives, If you have a IBM Deskstar (if you got lucky to have 1 for that long) and its still under warranty you can send in the Drive to Hitachi and they will replace it with a Hitachi Deskstar, Trust me ive yet to have a Hitachi Drive go bad on me, because the 80GB IBM i had at the time got the Click of Death (Click Click Scratch continuous cycle), which ticked me off that i went with WD at the time, then i tried the Hitachi and the Hitachi was overall Faster at 2MB vs the WD with 8MB. Ya a lot of people never consider Hitachi, but in reality I have had very good luck lifetime wise with their drives, speed wise they are not premier, but the hold up seems to be pretty good.

In the least an underrated company IMO. Ya a lot of people never consider Hitachi, but in reality I have had very good luck lifetime wise with their drives, speed wise they are not premier, but the hold up seems to be pretty good.In the least an underrated company IMO. Posted on Dec 13th 2008, 20:59 Reply

#24 Woody112

I've always used Hitachi for back up drives. Currently have a 500gig as a back up in my rig now. Posted on Dec 13th 2008, 21:18 Reply

#25 FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!" I only had one Hitachi HDD and it died after about two years. Hitachi honored the warranty though and replaced it free of charge.



I have eight Seagate drives right now with no failures (2 x 7200.7, 2 x 7200.9, 4 x 7200.10 ES). Posted on Dec 13th 2008, 21:24 Reply