Hitachi 180GB & Warranties - it's gotta three-year

[n/a]

So the warranty for my Hitachi 180GB HDD is three years. I hear the WDs
and Maxtors are all much less -- what gives? Are the Hitachi Deskstars
necessarily better quality/craftmanship (craftmachineship)?

 

[Rod Speed]

So the warranty for my Hitachi 180GB HDD is three years.
I hear the WDs and Maxtors are all much less

Nope, both of those have 3 year warrantys on some of their drives.

Samsung has 3 year warrantys on all their drives, unlike Hitachi.

-- what gives?

Basically a longer warranty costs money and most of
the hard drive manufacturers have chosen to have 1 year
warrantys on their cheapest drives, so the price can be lower.

Are the Hitachi Deskstars necessarily better
quality/craftmanship (craftmachineship)?

Nope.

 

[J.Clarke]

So the warranty for my Hitachi 180GB HDD is three years. I hear the
WDs and Maxtors are all much less -- what gives? Are the Hitachi
Deskstars necessarily better quality/craftmanship (craftmachineship)?

This is a common question and the answer is that the length of the
warranty has little to do with durability and much to do with marketing.

 

[JM]

This is a common question and the answer is that the length of the
warranty has little to do with durability and much to do with marketing.

As far as I'm concerned it's a no brainer to interpret as a consumer.. if
you make a decent product that lasts then it's percieved from the customer
to cost nothing to give it a decent duration of warranty (even though it may
in reality) ie you stand by the product you sell and don't distance yourself
from it the moment it's sold and out the door. The reduction in warranty
duration has been seen from the consumers angle as a reduction of faith the
companies involved have in their own product line as evidenced by these type
of questions the OP and others post, and it can also be seen as an
underhanded way the companies have chosen to steer customers towards buying
more expensive models. Samsung must be laughing all the way to the bank with
their decision not to jump on the bandwagon and conspire with the rest of
the market leaders to screw the consumer.

 

[Rod Speed]

As far as I'm concerned it's a no brainer to interpret as a consumer..
if you make a decent product that lasts then it's percieved from the
customer to cost nothing to give it a decent duration of warranty
(even though it may in reality)

There will always be some warranty claims in years 2 and 3,
even if they're just user stupidity that cant be proven to be
user stupidity so you can just knock back the warranty claim.

Those claims will cost money and so has to be allowed
for in the price to produce the same level of profit.

ie you stand by the product you sell and don't distance
yourself from it the moment it's sold and out the door.

That approach is only feasible when the price of the drive
hasnt been peared to the bone. That hasnt been the real
world with the mass market commodity drives for years now.

Essentially the price you pay for very aggressively
priced drives is a reduction in that sort of behaviour.

When failures in years 2 and 3 are so low, I'd
much rather have the lower priced drives myself.

Corse I'll also buy Samsung drives which still have the
full 3 year warranty on all their drives while ever they
offer that and the drives are what I'd buy anyway, and while
Samsung appears to be using that to attract customers.

The reduction in warranty duration has been seen from
the consumers angle as a reduction of faith the companies
involved have in their own product line as evidenced by
these type of questions the OP and others post,

Its just another example of the pig ignorance
of the basics so many consumers have.

and it can also be seen as an underhanded way the companies have
chosen to steer customers towards buying more expensive models.

Nothing underhand about charging more for more.

WD at one time even priced the warranty for years 2&3
separately so you could decide if you wanted it or not.

Samsung must be laughing all the way to the bank

Fraid not. They in fact ship the lowest volume of drives for various reasons.

with their decision not to jump on the bandwagon and conspire
with the rest of the market leaders to screw the consumer.

Yet another utterly mindless conspiracy theory.