Why is a PNY USB flash drive warranty so short?

[TheDarkKnight]

I've just bought an 8GB PNY USB 2.0 compact attache flash drive for $9.99 which is a good price. I also like the small size of the flash drive as well. But I am very disappointed with the length of the warranty period. Its only 1-year. I went browsing on NewEgg and found that Kingston offers 5-year warranties on all(or most) of their USB flash drives. And Corsair offers 5, 7, and even an incredible 10-year warranty on some of their older USB 2.0 flash drives.

I hate the looks for Corsair flash drives and I hate the warranty period of PNY flash drives. Why only 1-year? Is that because their product quality isn't very good or are they just trying to stick it to everybody since they see the mechanical hard disk manufacturers getting away with higher prices and slashed warranties and now they want a piece of the pie?

I bought this locally so I am seriously thinking of returning my PNY flash drive.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hard to say. I have some older 4GB PNY Attache flash drives, and they've held up pretty well.

I bought some 32GB of the Attache style (with the sliding protection piece), and one out of four tested bad on vconsole.com 's USB flash drive tester, so I returned it.

I would test yours out, and if it passes, then it's probably fine.

 

[corkyg]

It's just another way of making them more price competitive. Adding warranty requires a higher price - maybe only a few cents, but in the world of millions of units, it adds up.

 

[Zap]

In this particular case I would not even worry about it. Why? Flash prices keep going down and postage prices keep going up. If your PNY 8GB flash drive dies in 5 years, just buy a higher capacity one for less money than the cost of postage to RMA this one.

 

[Emulex]

RMA costs $50+ in human time and shipping costs etc.

PNY makes low end and high end quality gear (or used to). The good stuff costs a bit more and generally has a better warranty. The B-stock gets sold with a carpy warranty.

This is how all IT gear works. Intel 520 "B-grade or bad encyrption" => intel 330 .

Sometimes they even take intel 520's and sell them as 330's to sell at both price points.

PNY does the same. Warranty and support are the most expensive portion and when you are selling for tiny margin, it's just not worth it.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

In this particular case I would not even worry about it. Why? Flash prices keep going down and postage prices keep going up. If your PNY 8GB flash drive dies in 5 years, just buy a higher capacity one for less money than the cost of postage to RMA this one.

If my PNY 8GB dies in 5 years thats fine. If it dies "after" a year its not fine.

 

[Coup27]

Seriously, it's $9.99.

 

[corkyg]

LOL! $9.99 for one year is less than 3 cents a day. Flash memory is really only a replacement for floppy disks! $9.99 makes it expendable.

 

[HarryLui]

If my PNY 8GB dies in 5 years thats fine. If it dies "after" a year its not fine.

Then spend $30 to get higher quality stuff.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Lexar are top-tier USB flash drives. PNY, unsure if they are in the middle or the bottom. Kingston can be top-tier, but also mid-tier. Memorex is apparently bottom-tier.

Any unknown far-east mfg is probably bottom-tier, and most flash memory sold over ebay is likely an outright fake.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

Seriously, it's $9.99.

Along with CorkyG. It's not about how many finite dollars a PNY 8GB flash drive and the absolute length of the warranty.

It's about how much a PNY 8GB flash drive cost and the length of it's warranty "relative" to other companies.

Corsair offers a 10-year warranty on some of their older USB flash drives. Making PNY's warranty-period look pretty pathetic and shameful.

"Oh, and it makes me wonder...."

Btw, I actually own an 8GB PNY flash drive that is going on probably about 3 years old now and still works just fine. In fact, I think the warranty period for older PNY flash drives was longer also, much as it was with hard disk manufacturers who have slashed their warranties to shameful lows as well. Why all the warranty slashing? So manufacturers can get away with making cheaper products that fail quicker while charging the same amount of money(or even more in the case of HDD).

 

[StrangerGuy]

It's just another way of making them more price competitive. Adding warranty requires a higher price - maybe only a few cents, but in the world of millions of units, it adds up.

Flash drives pricing have already dipped into disposable territory, and the average user is going to worry a lot more about having them go missing or accidentally putting one in a washing machine etc to than caring about the warranty.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

Flash drives pricing have already dipped into disposable territory, and the average user is going to worry a lot more about having them go missing or accidentally putting one in a washing machine etc to than caring about the warranty.

Wow, some of you guys would make great salesman for PNY. But you guys are starting to make me a believer. In fact, I now think that a 1-year warranty period is too long because I'll probably lose it before then. So lets all sign a petition asking PNY to drop their warranties down to 6-months. Or maybe even just 90 days. Who is with me?

 

[Emulex]

don't forget if its fake. google fake flash

 

[StrangerGuy]

Wow, some of you guys would make great salesman for PNY. But you guys are starting to make me a believer. In fact, I now think that a 1-year warranty period is too long because I'll probably lose it before then. So lets all sign a petition asking PNY to drop their warranties down to 6-months. Or maybe even just 90 days. Who is with me?

Are we supposed to get pissed by a 99c nail clipper without a multi year warranty too?