Seagate 1.0TB drives: chance of getting a brick?

[NTB]

Just curious. Best Buy has the drives on sale this week, and I thought I might pick one up - then I remembered the story (here on AT and elsewhere) about the bad firmware. So, what are my chances of getting a good drive vs. getting a good paperweight? 😛

Nathan

 

[Blain]

Are you looking for a percentage number, like 50/50 or 80/20?

 

[JTP709]

I've heard about the bad lot of Seagate's with bad firmware from a lot of my friends, and recently I've read online on some forums that this issue has been fixed with the latest batch of drives. I'm sorry I don't have any hard facts or evidence but gossip. However I'm curious as to if this issue has been resolved also because I have the chance to pick up some new Seagate drives too.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Blain
Are you looking for a percentage number, like 50/50 or 80/20?

If you've got 'em, sure 😛

Actually I was just wondering (if anybody has any idea) if the bad drives have cleared the retail channel yet, or if I still stand a good chance of picking one up. If so, I might wait and get something another time.

Nathan

 

[JTP709]

Just curious but how much is Best Buy sellin em for? I just checked their website and you can still get Seagate or Western Digital HD much much cheaper off of Newegg.com

 

[RebateMonger]

Opinion only, since Seagate hasn't shared its failure numbers with the public:

From my reading (Seagate's Forums as well as other web sites), I believe there are two separate issues with the 7200.11 Seagate drives:

1) Some "bad" firmware that caused the drives to lock up. This was repairable and drives made in 2009 shouldn't have this problem

2) Mechanical or electrical failure of the drives (regardless of the firmware). Seagate's early-life failure rates with the 7200.11 drives appears to be on the high side. ALL of the latest high-capacity (500 GB and larger) drives (including Seagate, WD, and Hitachi drives) seem to be having higher DOA and early failure rates than we've been used to in recent years. But Seagate seems to be having more problems than the others. It's too early to know how the 7200.12 drives will fare.

 

[somethingsketchy]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Opinion only, since Seagate hasn't shared its failure numbers with the public:

From my reading (Seagate's Forums as well as other web sites), I believe there are two separate issues with the 7200.11 Seagate drives:

1) Some "bad" firmware that caused the drives to lock up. This was repairable and drives made in 2009 shouldn't have this problem

+1

I too have heard the latest batch of Seagate drives no longer have the bad firmware. However it will be a matter of which drives in stock (for many electronic sellers) are the "good" drives and which are the bad drives from last year.

I wonder if they released any identifying information of which ones are which.

 

[JTP709]

Considering the risk of getting a bad Seagate drive, I think I'll just spend a little extra for a Western Digital 1tb drive for $30 more, something I know will be more reliable. Hopefully Seagate will put out some answers and or release better drives next time around.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: somethingsketchy

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Opinion only, since Seagate hasn't shared its failure numbers with the public:

From my reading (Seagate's Forums as well as other web sites), I believe there are two separate issues with the 7200.11 Seagate drives:

1) Some "bad" firmware that caused the drives to lock up. This was repairable and drives made in 2009 shouldn't have this problem

+1

I too have heard the latest batch of Seagate drives no longer have the bad firmware. However it will be a matter of which drives in stock (for many electronic sellers) are the "good" drives and which are the bad drives from last year.

I wonder if they released any identifying information of which ones are which.

well, they have

http://seagate.custkb.com/seag...earch.jsp?DocId=207931

but it's not a table that tells you which serial numbers to avoid. if the S/N is printed on the box & you can use the I'net access at the store, you can do a look-up.

i had to do the look-up on 2 Seagate 7200.11 drives i have and the thing said they were "not in the affected group."

 

[zerogear]

Originally posted by: NTB
Just curious. Best Buy has the drives on sale this week, and I thought I might pick one up - then I remembered the story (here on AT and elsewhere) about the bad firmware. So, what are my chances of getting a good drive vs. getting a good paperweight? 😛

Nathan

I would say look for a 7200.12 instead of a 7200.11 line just to be safe.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: NTB
Just curious. Best Buy has the drives on sale this week, and I thought I might pick one up - then I remembered the story (here on AT and elsewhere) about the bad firmware. So, what are my chances of getting a good drive vs. getting a good paperweight? 😛

Nathan

I would say look for a 7200.12 instead of a 7200.11 line just to be safe.

I would say look for a Western Digital, but that's just my opinion.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: NTB
Just curious. Best Buy has the drives on sale this week, and I thought I might pick one up - then I remembered the story (here on AT and elsewhere) about the bad firmware. So, what are my chances of getting a good drive vs. getting a good paperweight? 😛

Nathan

I would say look for a 7200.12 instead of a 7200.11 line just to be safe.

Ding! Ding! Ding! 😛 Figured I'd get one and see what happened, and this is what I found in the box: a 7200.12 drive, manufactured just a month or so ago. The date code on the drive translated to March '09.