How to know whether Harddrive is refurbished or new

[slyphnier]

Hello everyone

is there anyway we could know whether the Harddrive is refurbished or not ?
especially for WD harddrive

if i RMA WesternDigital drive, is replacement unit from WD is refurbished ?
then how the warranty will work ?
when we register new drive on the wd site it will give warranty from the manufacture date, but after RMA how the warranty process change ?
because the new drive should have new serial number right?

thank in advance

 

[Phynaz]

No way for you to tell.

Just assume that a replacement is a refurb.

 

[bryanl]

Manufacturers even erase the SMART data for the number of hours of use, on/off cycles, reallocated sectors, and errors.

The terms of the original warranty apply to any replacement HD.

 

[Nothinman]

With the reliability of even new drives being as low as it is today, I would say it doesn't matter at all. You have about the same chance of a refurb drive dying on you as you do a new one.

 

[rsutoratosu]

With the reliability of even new drives being as low as it is today, I would say it doesn't matter at all. You have about the same chance of a refurb drive dying on you as you do a new one.

So true.. I think also the term of warranty is that they always give you a refurb drive

 

[slyphnier]

thanks for the info everyone!

indeed nowdays harddrive don't have long lifetime like old drives do
maybe we should just replace after 2 years of usage (around 16K hours?)

wondering if refurb harddrive have even lower reliability rate

i read somewhere on net that
hdd manufacture staff saying that refurb hdd usually got all parts changes except the shell, if that case maybe its not so bad

IF refurb hdd dont have any mark then
BAD people can sell refurb hdd as new hdd then ?
and we don't know nothing ?
i know maybe for some people it not bigdeal as long the drive works why not, but for some other, i think they want to get what they pay for

 

[corkyg]

I have no problem with refurbs. They undergo 100% testing. Un-refurbs usually undergo lot testing - not 100% per drive. Sometimes a refurb involves only a firmware chage - or a minor board change. It all depends on the initial testing to determine M/H of labor involved. At a certain price threshhold, it may just be junked rather than refurbished.

 

[Jeff7181]

With the reliability of even new drives being as low as it is today, I would say it doesn't matter at all. You have about the same chance of a refurb drive dying on you as you do a new one.

This is just speculation, but refurb drives may have a lesser chance of failure than a new drive. Refurbs are tested to meet all specifications of a new drive, but I doubt all new drives are tested individually. More likely than not, they take a sample and test only a percentage of drives that come off the production line. So there is a greater chance for an out of box failure with a new drive than a refurb.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Half of the time, all they do is LLF the refurb drive, and put it back out on the market as a refurb. There's a reason that refurb drives only have 90 or 180 days of warranty.

I would NEVER use a refurb HD to store my data.

 

[Elixer]

Half of the time, all they do is LLF the refurb drive, and put it back out on the market as a refurb. There's a reason that refurb drives only have 90 or 180 days of warranty.

I would NEVER use a refurb HD to store my data.

I just got done sending in a Seagate, and they shipped backed a 'recertified' drive, with a green label.

Funny thing is, the box they sent the drive back with, had 2" of thick foam all the way around the HD. That means, it had MORE protection than drives that are shipped by the egg, with their layer of bubble wrap 'protecting' the HD.

 

[C1]

Reburs dont seem to have significantly lower user reviews than supposedly new ones:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rive&x=18&y=24

 

[Jeff7181]

Half of the time, all they do is LLF the refurb drive, and put it back out on the market as a refurb. There's a reason that refurb drives only have 90 or 180 days of warranty.

I would NEVER use a refurb HD to store my data.

Shouldn't really matter anyway since you should be backing up data you can't afford to lose.

 

[fuzzymath10]

The notorious 1.5TB 7200.11 I got from newegg at the end of 2008 was DOA, but I got a refurb replacement that kept the original 5 year warranty, and it's been running great since then (almost 2.5 years). I don't think it's fair to say that drives are doomed after 2 years. Other than this drive, I had only one other drive (a 1GB Seagate from 1996) die after awhile. I even have Maxtors that still work.

 

[slyphnier]

reading from all comment, so the conclusions
1. refurbs equally to new drive, with the downside on warranty (if you buy new-refurb otherwise warranty continue the original warranty)

'till now i always think refurb HDD = NG (No Good) lol ^^;

2. After looking and reading from google search, Manufacture seems put mark on refurb drive, either it easy to indentified or not
This might relieve some people that still have bad image with refurb product

And yes, We always need backup and backup our data!
its not rare people do multiple back-up, backup the backup

@fuzzymath10
oh yes, i am not saying drive will go bad after 2 years of usage
it just purely my personal thought from what i read, from google hdd reliability report drive after 2 year of usage fail% rise chance quite high compared to 1-2years usage
and also considering from today hdd price, i think 2 years of usage (around 16k-18k hours) is "sweet spot" to maintain reliability except bad-luck happen (dead hdd after couple months of usage or fail/broken RAID array)
Note: this only for Desktop hdd, not Enterprise class or SAS hdd

 

[bryanl]

i read somewhere on net that
hdd manufacture staff saying that refurb hdd usually got all parts changes except the shell, if that case maybe its not so bad

That was in the old days, when the factory burn-in test took 3 days and that shell even had its nonstick anti-dust coating stripped and reapplied. But now, thanks to every drive containing a digital signal processor that can analyze the head signals in great detail so that even bearing wear can be determined, the burn-in is just 30 minutes, and refurbishment has largely been replaced by recertification.

 

[Elixer]

I have no problem with refurbs. They undergo 100% testing. Un-refurbs usually undergo lot testing - not 100% per drive. Sometimes a refurb involves only a firmware chage - or a minor board change. It all depends on the initial testing to determine M/H of labor involved. At a certain price threshhold, it may just be junked rather than refurbished.

I am not sure where you come up with the 100% testing, since I just got back a re-certified Seagate, and it just failed.
Power on hours was 7.

It looks like all they do is a very basic check to see if the HD powers on, and not much else before shoving it out the door.

 

[Seven]

Hello everyone

is there anyway we could know whether the Harddrive is refurbished or not ?
especially for WD harddrive

if i RMA WesternDigital drive, is replacement unit from WD is refurbished ?
then how the warranty will work ?
when we register new drive on the wd site it will give warranty from the manufacture date, but after RMA how the warranty process change ?
because the new drive should have new serial number right?

thank in advance

Refurbs/Recertified drives have a sticker on it.

 

[Seven]

I am not sure where you come up with the 100% testing, since I just got back a re-certified Seagate, and it just failed.
Power on hours was 7.

It looks like all they do is a very basic check to see if the HD powers on, and not much else before shoving it out the door.

Well, generally the refurbs are risky. They don't get a special care as new disks. Lots of things might go wrong fixing the disk.