[SOLVED] HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 - manufacturing date 2019?

[pumukly]

Hi,
planning to buy a new cheap HDD, I came across a Hitachi HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 (model: HUS724040ALE641) - with a label October 2019. Asking the seller he said "it is new, produced in 2019", but I have my doubts as production possibly stopped couple years back. There is a sticker with a date "Oct-2019" on the picture with this HDD - does it mean it it:
a) used and returned but fixed = refurbished (?)
b) not used just re-badged with 2019 date to promote to sell it
c) something else?
Checking the data sheet, these discs have twice MTBF than WD Blue (and even red!), twice the load/unload cycles than both of these. Yet the price I can get for this one is 25% less than WD Blue and 40% less than WD Red.
What do you guys think?
Usage if that matters: I do not game, I use it for regular storage of files, photos etc...very light on gaming. I have SSD as a system one, WD Green for backup and need one more. Reliability here is the key factor, not the speed for heavy gaming.

 

[helpstar]

Check the warranty by the serial number
https://www2.hgst.com/portal/site/en/support/warranty/

eventually the HDD is an OEM drive, which wasnt´t used but has limited warranty

 

[pumukly]

I can't get it work - none of the numbers work...there are couple of numbers, one of which is S/N.........I tried some country combination but no luck...

 

[fzabkar]

Notice the date code stencilled at the bottom RHS of the PCB (1203). That's week 03 of 2012. The ICs have similar date codes, eg "201" on the Samsung SDRAM (week 01 of 2012). Of course this doesn't help you screen your purchases.