Why WD sucks

SirKenin · 02-20-2008, 06:34 AM

Well, this week has been an interesting week. I've seen one or two corrupted drives each day, minimum 7 computers to repair a day. Every single one of the toasted drives were Caviar SEs. Every damn one.

I had a lady specifically request a WD SE in an external case. I made the big mistake of providing one as a favor. It lasted 48 hours before it completely died. It's currently in the back seat of my car. A Caviar SE 16 drive. Deader than dead.

I successfully repaired all but one of them. The one today was completely fubar unfortunately.

Complete, total garbage. I had a guy come in tonight who was brought in on contract for the federal government. His very first two tasks... RMA two full cases of WD harddrives. Even he says they're complete crap. He was eager to share the strengths and weaknesses of drives from the last ten years. Awesome convo.

Even he says that WD dropped their warranty to one year for a reason. They've been having qc problems for the past 10 years, and in order to keep the RMA rate under 40% they reduced the warranty. No kidding? As long as the last one day past warranty, WD is off the hook. The only reason they sell is because they retail $2 cheaper than the competition (which is a full hour's wages for half the people here) and wholesale not quite $10 cheaper.

They

Are

CRAP.

Easy way to tell who knows they're stuff and who doesn't.. Listen to who flaunts WD Caviar SEs. Chances are really good they're a hobbyist at best.

If you put those POSes in RAID 0, you're an idiot.

I had a wicked time finding a portable enclosure that would even work with a WD. Many of the more common ones won't even work with the SEs, even limiting the drive to SATA 1.

JUNK!!!!!!!!!! Damn, I knew there was a reason I stopped retailing those scrap piles.

**brian** · 02-20-2008, 06:44 AM

wow, yeah i read somewhere (good idea) when you get a drive use it 24/7 compleatly ware it down make it spin a lot for a week, if it goes bad it is bad if it lasta it will last for years

Scubie67 · 02-20-2008, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirKenin

Well, this week has been an interesting week. I've seen one or two corrupted drives each day, minimum 7 computers to repair a day. Every single one of the toasted drives were Caviar SEs. Every damn one.

I had a lady specifically request a WD SE in an external case. I made the big mistake of providing one as a favor. It lasted 48 hours before it completely died. It's currently in the back seat of my car. A Caviar SE 16 drive. Deader than dead.

I successfully repaired all but one of them. The one today was completely fubar unfortunately.

Complete, total garbage. I had a guy come in tonight who was brought in on contract for the federal government. His very first two tasks... RMA two full cases of WD harddrives. Even he says they're complete crap. He was eager to share the strengths and weaknesses of drives from the last ten years. Awesome convo.

Even he says that WD dropped their warranty to one year for a reason. They've been having qc problems for the past 10 years, and in order to keep the RMA rate under 40% they reduced the warranty. No kidding? As long as the last one day past warranty, WD is off the hook. The only reason they sell is because they retail $2 cheaper than the competition (which is a full hour's wages for half the people here) and wholesale not quite $10 cheaper.

They

Are

CRAP.

Easy way to tell who knows they're stuff and who doesn't.. Listen to who flaunts WD Caviar SEs. Chances are really good they're a hobbyist at best.

If you put those POSes in RAID 0, you're an idiot.

I had a wicked time finding a portable enclosure that would even work with a WD. Many of the more common ones won't even work with the SEs, even limiting the drive to SATA 1.

JUNK!!!!!!!!!! Damn, I knew there was a reason I stopped retailing those scrap piles.

As I will be building a new comp soon and was thinking about the Caviar drives,what is a good brand and model of HDD that has good quality and reliability in your experience that I should buy instead?

Greg

HippieGirl · 02-20-2008, 07:15 AM

Well I must be blessed as I've had mine for 6 months and no problems whatsoever ...

Forgot to add that I have older WD products that haven't even belched ...

Vizy · 02-20-2008, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HippieGirl

Well I must be blessed as I've had mine for 6 months and no problems whatsoever ...

Forgot to add that I have older WD products that haven't even belched ...

good 4u

dznutz · 02-20-2008, 07:15 AM

i have my wd active for 24/7. i'll tell you guys if it dies within 3 years. i'm weary about getting the 1tb green drive now

edit:
make that 1 year. so far it's been 3 months of constant writing/reading with no probs

**Cromewell** · 02-20-2008, 07:19 AM

Cavier REs are fine, I've never had a problem with Seagate either. Samsung makes some good drives as well. That's not so say all drives from a particular manufacturer are all automatically good (or bad for that matter) though.

Some people have used Cavier SEs for years without trouble too. It really depends on how much load you put on your drives.

HippieGirl · 02-20-2008, 07:27 AM

Maybe its just SirKenin's clientele???

dznutz · 02-20-2008, 07:44 AM

perhaps canadians get c grade wd

there was a theory on sony laptops. a grade would go to japan and usa. c grades go to developing countries like china, india, etc. this information was hearsay though

SirKenin · 02-20-2008, 08:21 AM

Yes, Caviar REs are fine, although they don't get along well with certain hotswap backplanes and controllers. WD Raptors are fantastic. Not so much for the speed, but for their durability.

Maxtor makes a lot of good drives, now that they've done away with the Quantum tech. They had three really bad lines from that acquisition, but that was almost ten years ago now. Once they redesigned the structure to take the heat generated from the faster drives they were good to go.

Seagate makes some fine drives too.

02-20-2008, 06:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
SirKenin banned Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 4,711	Why WD sucks Well, this week has been an interesting week. I've seen one or two corrupted drives each day, minimum 7 computers to repair a day. Every single one of the toasted drives were Caviar SEs. Every damn one. I had a lady specifically request a WD SE in an external case. I made the big mistake of providing one as a favor. It lasted 48 hours before it completely died. It's currently in the back seat of my car. A Caviar SE 16 drive. Deader than dead. I successfully repaired all but one of them. The one today was completely fubar unfortunately. Complete, total garbage. I had a guy come in tonight who was brought in on contract for the federal government. His very first two tasks... RMA two full cases of WD harddrives. Even he says they're complete crap. He was eager to share the strengths and weaknesses of drives from the last ten years. Awesome convo. Even he says that WD dropped their warranty to one year for a reason. They've been having qc problems for the past 10 years, and in order to keep the RMA rate under 40% they reduced the warranty. No kidding? As long as the last one day past warranty, WD is off the hook. The only reason they sell is because they retail $2 cheaper than the competition (which is a full hour's wages for half the people here) and wholesale not quite $10 cheaper. They Are CRAP. Easy way to tell who knows they're stuff and who doesn't.. Listen to who flaunts WD Caviar SEs. Chances are really good they're a hobbyist at best. If you put those POSes in RAID 0, you're an idiot. I had a wicked time finding a portable enclosure that would even work with a WD. Many of the more common ones won't even work with the SEs, even limiting the drive to SATA 1. JUNK!!!!!!!!!! Damn, I knew there was a reason I stopped retailing those scrap piles. Last edited by SirKenin; 02-20-2008 at 06:37 AM.

02-20-2008, 06:44 AM	#2 (permalink)
brian Moderator Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: California Age: 17 Posts: 4,958	wow, yeah i read somewhere (good idea) when you get a drive use it 24/7 compleatly ware it down make it spin a lot for a week, if it goes bad it is bad if it lasta it will last for years __________________ Nauru our homeland, the land we dearly love

02-20-2008, 07:15 AM	#4 (permalink)
HippieGirl Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Purgatory - really! Posts: 70	Well I must be blessed as I've had mine for 6 months and no problems whatsoever ... Forgot to add that I have older WD products that haven't even belched ... Last edited by HippieGirl; 02-20-2008 at 07:17 AM.

02-20-2008, 07:15 AM	#6 (permalink)
dznutz Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: california Age: 29 Posts: 741	i have my wd active for 24/7. i'll tell you guys if it dies within 3 years. i'm weary about getting the 1tb green drive now edit: make that 1 year. so far it's been 3 months of constant writing/reading with no probs __________________ ANTEC 900 OCZ STEALTHXTREAM 500W GIGABYTE EP45 UD3R INTEL E5200 ASUS ATI HD3450 2gb OCZ SLI RAM SAMSUNG SH-203N SATA SEAGATE BARRACUDA 1Tb and 1.5 tb SATA AIRLINK 101 300n pci XP PRO 32 bit Last edited by dznutz; 02-20-2008 at 08:19 AM.

02-20-2008, 07:19 AM	#7 (permalink)
Cromewell Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canada Age: 26 Posts: 11,804	Cavier REs are fine, I've never had a problem with Seagate either. Samsung makes some good drives as well. That's not so say all drives from a particular manufacturer are all automatically good (or bad for that matter) though. Some people have used Cavier SEs for years without trouble too. It really depends on how much load you put on your drives. __________________ You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in command here. www.userfriendly.org

02-20-2008, 07:27 AM	#8 (permalink)
HippieGirl Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Purgatory - really! Posts: 70	Maybe its just SirKenin's clientele???

02-20-2008, 07:44 AM	#9 (permalink)
dznutz Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: california Age: 29 Posts: 741	perhaps canadians get c grade wd there was a theory on sony laptops. a grade would go to japan and usa. c grades go to developing countries like china, india, etc. this information was hearsay though __________________ ANTEC 900 OCZ STEALTHXTREAM 500W GIGABYTE EP45 UD3R INTEL E5200 ASUS ATI HD3450 2gb OCZ SLI RAM SAMSUNG SH-203N SATA SEAGATE BARRACUDA 1Tb and 1.5 tb SATA AIRLINK 101 300n pci XP PRO 32 bit

02-20-2008, 08:21 AM	#10 (permalink)
SirKenin banned Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 4,711	Yes, Caviar REs are fine, although they don't get along well with certain hotswap backplanes and controllers. WD Raptors are fantastic. Not so much for the speed, but for their durability. Maxtor makes a lot of good drives, now that they've done away with the Quantum tech. They had three really bad lines from that acquisition, but that was almost ten years ago now. Once they redesigned the structure to take the heat generated from the faster drives they were good to go. Seagate makes some fine drives too.

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