Obatining Better Data on Drive Reliability than Newegg ...

[wwswimming]

i need more drive space. i have had Samsung, IBM,
Micropolis, Quantum, Seagate, WestDig, Maxtor ...
and my brain is getting tired trying to make a complete
list.

i like all of them, sometimes for the cool sound they
make. i had a 40 MB WestDig in about 1992 that made
a really cool "scratchy" sound, kind of like the DJ scratchy
sound.

add a 47 GB 5 1/4" monster (kind of a bass sound) and
there's kind of some instruments for an ensemble. (that
one is Seagate.)

hard drive crashes do not set well with me, so perhaps
i get kind of obsessive about reliability.

this impresses me
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822148140
1700+ mostly raving reviews about the 320 GB SATA Seagate drive.

there's got to be a MORE SCIENTIFIC WAY.

i don't know how you would do it. create an on-line database at
Anandtech, set up in such a way that it dis-allows spoofing.

reading Newegg reviews seems kind of informal, partially given that
it's --> 2007 <--

are there some independent hard drive surveys, available online ?

 

[hardbench]

I guess http://www.Storagereview.com may have something on reliability, but it will be hard to get any real failure rates, other than reported ones on the net. Just steer clear of that model and brand drive. It will take some googling!

 

[iluvdeal]

Who uses more hard drives than Google? They did study on drive reliability which can you can find a link to in this article:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/0...ery-interesting-thing/

EDIT: Unfortunately they leave out which manufacturer has the most failure prone drives. Doh! Summary of the main Google study findings can be found here: http://storagemojo.com/?p=378

 

[dandragonrage]

You can't trust Newegg reviews. They usually filter out the bad ones, leaving the 5 star reviews from the person who has had the product for an hour or has merely used another product from the same brand...

 

[soonerproud]

Toms Hardware has a interactive hard drive guide that helps when determining best performance. I wish it included a reliability guide also. Seagate does have a 5 year warranty verses a 3 year warranty for a WD drive.

 

[bobber205]

Originally posted by: dandragonrage
You can't trust Newegg reviews. They usually filter out the bad ones, leaving the 5 star reviews from the person who has had the product for an hour or has merely used another product from the same brand...

They're somewhat more trustworthy than that. While yes the reviews that pop up first at always the most favorable ones, if you go to "all reviews" and then filter by lowest rating, the bad ones are there.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: dandragonrage
You can't trust Newegg reviews. .

I think that NewEgg Reviews should not be related to as a Reviews thus there is No trust issue. It should looked at as a source of Info., some comments are totaly useless but others can give one useful information that direct what to look for in a product, and what to avoid according to your own need.

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Originally posted by: dandragonrage
You can't trust Newegg reviews. .

I think that NewEgg Reviews should not be related to as a Reviews thus there is No trust issue. It should looked at as a source of Info., some comments are totaly useless but others can give one useful information that direct what to look for in a product, and what to avoid according to your own need.

And you gotta admit, some of 'um are downright humorous.

 

[wwswimming]

i remember in about 2004, the initial block of postings i guess about
the 37 GB Westdig Raptor. about 1500 postings, like the second coming of
JC or a 10 foot swell arriving in Huntington Beach, seriously
enthusiastic raving. though, actually, mostly about performance,
not reliability.

sort of a flashback to that -
Raptor, 74 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136033

one of the ones that won Customer Choice awards. i finally got one of those
when Best Buy had their $119 deal on the 74 GB Raptor.

 

[JackMDS]

Reliability is Not an issue that can be really judged by a single user.

If 10000 units are sold and 3 fails then the two people that have them would claim that it is Not reliable, but statistically 2 out of 10000 is not a reliability problem.

If 10000 sold and 500 fails then the product is Not reliable, but for the 9500 that it did not fail and to them it is Reliable.

Brand name is Not a sign of Reliability either, during the years each one of them came out with models or went trough a periods of Reliability problems.

Because basic computer components became an inexpensive commodity, the reliability issue was sidetracked. Industries that need high reliability do not buy from Newegg (or any other regular vendors) they have special deals and go-betweens agents that get them more reliable items. The price is usually significantly higher, and thus these deals are of No interest to the End Users consumer market.

Knowing most people here if Reliable Hard Drive cost 3 times more there will not be many takers.

 

[RebateMonger]

Most hard drives that "normal folks" will be purchasing are very similar in design and materials. As a consequence, "properly manufactured" drives will likely have similar lives.

Are there "bad drives"? Yes, but by the time that's discovered, the manufacturer has usually fixed that particular problem. You can buy the latest-and-greatest new design, but nobody will know of a latent manufacturing or design defect until a year or two has passed.

If high reliability and prevention of data loss are required, the best solution is redundant drives, combined with separate backups. ALL HARD DRIVES FAIL eventually. The life you will get from a drive is FAR from being guaranteed, even if you choose the one that has, "on average", the longest life.

All of us using hard drives for many years have been burned by one or more brands. I've seen a lot of bad Quantums and Maxtors and Seagates. But all of these are models that aren't even made anymore and I couldn't say that the CURRENT drives by those manufacturers are either good or bad based upon some bad past models.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: dandragonrage
You can't trust Newegg reviews. They usually filter out the bad ones, leaving the 5 star reviews from the person who has had the product for an hour or has merely used another product from the same brand...

Newegg only filters out negative reviews that are not at least semi-intelligently worded, use inflammatory language, or offer more of a personal rant. That said, these are end-user ratings (many of whom rate themselves as advanced users when their comments prove otherwise) and as such have little value.

The only way to get good data on drive reliability is a [very] big reliability and failure study involving tens of thousands (preferrably hundreds of thousands) of drives over many years. e.g. http://www.usenix.org/events/fast07/tech/schroeder.html

In lieu of that, go with the company that is confident enough in their product to offer the best warranty. e.g. As the rest of the industry was following Maxtor's move to one year warranties, Seagate bucked that trend by announcing a five year warranty.

Obviously, this was a good marketing decision by Seagate, but it was not without risk of increased costs/losses due to replacing drives it otherwise wouldn't have to. Seagate was confident enough in its products to go the exact opposite direction that everyone else was, which is why I mostly buy Seagate these days (not exclusively, but mostly).

Maybe Seagate isn't any more reliable, but that is kind of beside the point. I wanted to support a company who was announcing a five year warranty when everyone else was defending the move to a one year warranty.

 

[Old Hippie]

I wanted to support a company who was announcing a five year warranty when everyone else was defending the move to a one year warranty.

QFT

 

[tcsenter]

Misinterpreted slang/jargon, my bad.