New Seagate Barracuda 2TB or Used WD Black

[IMNerdinator]

Hi folks,

Having a hard time deciding between a new Seagate Barracuda 2TB (ST2000DM006) and used WD Black 2TB. Obviously, new Seagate will come with a 2-year warranty, while WD Black has no warranty, both have a similar price, WD Black $4 costlier. I will not be using it as my main drive as I have SSD for that.
Seagate should be an obvious choice, but I've read some bad things about Seagate, so should I get the new Seagate or used WD Black?

Used WD Black benchmark results: https://i.imgur.com/42uKFdR.png

Thanks!

 

[JaredDM]

Seagate drives, especially any with the letters "DM" in the middle of the model like that, are ticking time bombs. The 3Tb version had such a high failure rate they're in a class action suit.

That having been said, while WD Black drives are much better, I'd be very leary of buying any used hard drive. Often they are being sold because they already developed bad sectors and were decommissioned, then somebody spoofed the S.M.A.R.T. data to mask the problem and sells it as a "refurbished" drive.

As a third option, try looking at new HGST drives. They're typically a lot less costly than WD Black and are more reliable than either of the other two brands. Even WD knows this which is why they purchased HGST and are now selling them re-branded as WD Enterprise drives.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Seagate drives, especially any with the letters "DM" in the middle of the model like that, are ticking time bombs. The 3Tb version had such a high failure rate they're in a class action suit.

That having been said, while WD Black drives are much better, I'd be very leary of buying any used hard drive. Often they are being sold because they already developed bad sectors and were decommissioned, then somebody spoofed the S.M.A.R.T. data to mask the problem and sells it as a "refurbished" drive.

As a third option, try looking at new HGST drives. They're typically a lot less costly than WD Black and are more reliable than either of the other two brands. Even WD knows this which is why they purchased HGST and are now selling them re-branded as WD Enterprise drives.

What are you using for your data? Old Backblaze data?

Just checked the Q2 2018 and some HGST 4TB drives had higher failures than Seagate 4TB drives. I have 2 2TB Seagates that are 7 years old now (had them since my 2011 build) and are still going strong.

The 3TBs did have issues but that doesn't mean every single drive has the same issues.

I would personally go for a new Seagate, my preference, over any used HDD. Or better yet spend more and make it a 2TB SSD.

 

[IMNerdinator]

How would you rate WD Blue? 5400 vs 7200 RPM, is there going to be a significant difference?

 

[JaredDM]

What are you using for your data? Old Backblaze data?

Just checked the Q2 2018 and some HGST 4TB drives had higher failures than Seagate 4TB drives. I have 2 2TB Seagates that are 7 years old now (had them since my 2011 build) and are still going strong.

The 3TBs did have issues but that doesn't mean every single drive has the same issues.

I work in professional data recovery and see the trends in hundreds of drives showing up.

I know Seagate is a sponsor here, so it's your job to defend them. I understand. But, they're not paying me, so I speak the truth.

 

[jimmysmitty]

How would you rate WD Blue? 5400 vs 7200 RPM, is there going to be a significant difference?

7200RPM will have better performance as the disk spins faster. WD Blues are OK drives good for normal use but always try for a 7200RPM drive.

What are you using for your data? Old Backblaze data?

Just checked the Q2 2018 and some HGST 4TB drives had higher failures than Seagate 4TB drives. I have 2 2TB Seagates that are 7 years old now (had them since my 2011 build) and are still going strong.

The 3TBs did have issues but that doesn't mean every single drive has the same issues.

I work in professional data recovery and see the trends in hundreds of drives showing up. Blackblaze's current Seagate data is irrelevant because they stopped purchasing Seagate drives and have only a few in their pool now.

I know Seagate is a sponsor here, so it's your job to defend them. I understand. But, they're not paying me, so I speak the truth.

So you use anecdotal evidence? Your experience does not equate the world. I have worked in repair and data recovery as well and I can tell you that I have not found one brand that fails any more or less than the others.

Also you are not 100% correct

Over half their current drives are Seagates. They might not be purchasing them as it looks like the 14TB Toshibas are their current ones to go for but with over 4 million their data can be more trusted than yours or my experiences. And while I don't support Backblazes data 100%, as its not a 100% proven methodology for testing, its still more reliable than anecdotal evidence.

PS I am a FREE moderator. I am not paid by TH. I could care less if Seagate sponsors them. I just hate misinformation and the statement you made is just misinformation.

 

[JaredDM]

You're talking about 4 to 12TB drives, the OP is talking about 2Tb which is what I'm referring to (sorry if my post didn't clarify that, I was actually editing it when you replied). We see a lot (like 5 to 6 times) more ST2000DM... drives show up compared to any other models in the same capacity.

Blackblaze's usage is hardly typical, so not the best benchmark anyway. I just know that these things fail in droves and show up here at the lab.

I don't work at a mom and pop computer shop doing laptop repairs and virus removals like you're referring to. I work in a dedicated data recovery lab that handles cases even the big companies say are unrecoverable. So we're well aware of the crappy design flaws in these drives.

@IMNerdinator -take my advice for what it's worth. I'm done arguing with mods who are paid to promote products here.

 

[Rogue Leader]

@IMNerdinator -take my advice for what it's worth. I'm done arguing with mods who are paid to promote products here.

Lets get one thing very clear here. Seagate has a representative who offers support here, its not part of any sponsorship type of relationship, and we have official reps here from many of the major manufacturers out there as this is the largest tech site on the net. WD had one here as well up until a few months ago when they cut that program.

All the moderators here are unpaid volunteers, we are not paid one cent for anything we do here. This is not the first time you have insinuated this, but it will be the last. Feel free to disagree about products and so on but if you continue down this path of attacking site management or official representatives you will no longer be welcome here.

 

[Onus]

Whoa. Just WHOA. Moderators are unpaid volunteers. We never get money, and only on the rarest occasions might one of us luck into a product sample that was tested (which has never included anyone's HDD as far as I remember). Being accused of Willful Wrongdoing tends to be something we find extremely inappropriate and irritating, and Community doesn't care for it either, to the point they have banned people before the Moderators did so. Feel free to cite evidence and reasoning in your arguments, but do not insult your "opponents" or impugn their character. Done.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Back to the OP, sorry your thread got slightly highjacked. Do you have a certain budget? We can look at what drives are available for the same price.

 

[IMNerdinator]

Back to the OP, sorry your thread got slightly highjacked. Do you have a certain budget? We can look at what drives are available for the same price.

$60-80. Only Seagate and WD are available in my country. As I mentioned earlier, I'm only left with an option to either go for a new Seagate Barracuda 2TB [ST2000DM006] or a used (no warranty) WD Black [WD2003FZEX] (benchmark results attached above).
What would you prefer considering that S.M.A.R.T data hasn't been spoofed?

 

[jimmysmitty]

Back to the OP, sorry your thread got slightly highjacked. Do you have a certain budget? We can look at what drives are available for the same price.

$60-80. Only Seagate and WD are available in my country. As I mentioned earlier, I'm only left with an option to either go for a new Seagate Barracuda 2TB [ST2000DM006] or a used (no warranty) WD Black [WD2003FZEX] (benchmark results attached above).
What would you prefer considering that S.M.A.R.T data hasn't been spoofed?

The issue is trusting that person and if its a lie can it be returned. I have a WD Black 1TB that I have had for years that was used before and its still working great but I got it under very different circumstances. I would never recommend a used HDD though just because a warranty is better to have than not. It could show as fine then the next day die. Or it could run for another 10 years. There is no telling. But at least with a new drive you have a warranty if it does fail.

No matter which you end up going for always have a backup plan. I would however go with the Seagate. As I said I have 2 of the 2TBs that are 7 years old and have been used all that time and they are running perfectly fine.

 

[popatim]

The WD Black is a good drive and if they have a picture of the label, check the manufacture date, it might still be under warranty. They have a 5 yr warranty and you don't need a receipt as long as the drive is still under warranty via that Date. If it's out of warranty, I would pass on it. Its too old.

 

[AvidComp]

Hi folks,

Having a hard time deciding between a new Seagate Barracuda 2TB (ST2000DM006) and used WD Black 2TB. Obviously, new Seagate will come with a 2-year warranty, while WD Black has no warranty, both have a similar price, WD Black $4 costlier. I will not be using it as my main drive as I have SSD for that.
Seagate should be an obvious choice, but I've read some bad things about Seagate, so should I get the new Seagate or used WD Black?

Used WD Black benchmark results:

https://imgur.com/42uKFdR

View: https://i.imgur.com/42uKFdR.png


Thanks!

Western Digital drives have a better reputation. However, I would never suggest buying a hard drive used. With a used drive, you never know the wear and tear put on it by the prior owner. Is there a reason why you are considering only a used WD Drive?

I would suggest a new WD Black drive if the budget allows. The WD Black series is a top of the line standard HDD drive. If you are going to using this drive only for basic computing, a WD Blue drive may also work. The WD Blue drive is probably comparable to the Seagate. I would pick the WD Blue before taking a gamble with a used drive.

Source: WD Blue vs Black vs Others

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I would go with the new drive every time. I have not had hardly any troubles with WD or SeaGate in my time. Every drive eventually fails.

 

[USAFRet]

The new drive, no question.