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Is there a way for normal PC users without bajillion dollars equipment to check whether the drives we have are counterfeit?

I picked up a couple of Seagate HDDs on the cheap the other day, and while I haven't used them, I'm quite worried. I'm talking about 110 AUD for 4TB ones..
 
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Exploding PSU said:
Is there a way for normal PC users without bajillion dollars equipment to check whether the drives we have are counterfeit?

I picked up a couple of Seagate HDDs on the cheap the other day, and while I haven't used them, I'm quite worried. I'm talking about 110 AUD for 4TB ones..
Click to expand...
Yes. Buy from reputable companies and stop trying to find that basement bargain price, which is coming from someone’s basement.
 
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Exploding PSU said:
Is there a way for normal PC users without bajillion dollars equipment to check whether the drives we have are counterfeit?

I picked up a couple of Seagate HDDs on the cheap the other day, and while I haven't used them, I'm quite worried. I'm talking about 110 AUD for 4TB ones..
Click to expand...
TBF the best way should be buy from the expensive official dealers with a shop, something like microcenter... the counterfeit are quite often so similar to the real one that looking at one copy alone will be difficult to identify, worse still, even if you spot it the seller would likely refuse to accept any responibility and may just outright disappear.

For HDDs which the performance have stagnated for a long time and usually can serve well over a decade, just not point to buy the cheap unverified sellers.
 
Exploding PSU said:
I picked up a couple of Seagate HDDs on the cheap the other day, and while I haven't used them, I'm quite worried. I'm talking about 110 AUD for 4TB ones..
Click to expand...
What is the theoretical warranty situation?

You can go directly to Seagate and check the serial number of your devices.
www.seagate.com

Warranty & Replacements | Seagate US

Seagate Warranty & Returns - Policy, FAQ's, Warranty Status & More.
www.seagate.com
 
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Last years got lots of HDD with the smart clean... HDD's like new a normal consumer never willl detect it as a counterfeit. Only way to tell if the HDD is new if you have the experience to listen the disc when power up or power down...

Some times i give a little shake on disk if clicks It's bad.

Buy cheap HDD it's aways poor choice :)
 
FWIW, wd.com had a 10% discount on 8 TB and 14 TB Gold drives, a few months ago. I wanted to stock up on replacement drives for my fileserver, since the old drives are already beyond their 5 year warranty period (although they spend most of their time powered down). Not only were they cheaper than the new price via Amazon and Newegg, but they came direct from Western Digital.

I once ran a set of 5 Western Digital Black drives for 11 years. Again, most of their time was powered down, but none of them ever reported even a single unrecoverable read error. I doubt this is possible with modern drives (those were 1TB).
 
Amdlova said:
@bit_user New stuff don't last like after the thailand floods in 2011
Click to expand...
I replaced those old 1 TB drives with 4 TB models. They were indeed junk, with one of them experiencing an unrecoverable sector during the very first scan after I populated the array. These are WD Gold drives, no less.

However, I replaced it with a model that was also sold as WD Gold, but designed by HGST. That one was way better. Faster, ran cooler, and had zero errors of any kind.

What I think happened is that WD's legacy design team was suffering from lack of investment, since they were just waiting on regulatory approval to complete the HGST acquisition, at which point I assume the HGST team would take over.

I haven't yet put the new drives into service, but hopefully they'll be more like that HGST model.
 
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Rob1C said:
"Clearance" is only available in 3 sizes, and only the smallest is cheaper.

14 TB $299.99 vs $319.99
20 TB $379.99 vs $379.99
24 TB $499.99 vs $499.99

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/outlet/internal-drives/wd-gold-sata-hdd?sku=WD241KRYZ

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-gold-sata-hdd?sku=WD242KRYZ
Click to expand...
When I click on the first link, it says the 14 TB Gold drive is only $229! Applies only to model WD141KRYZ, limited 10 units per customer, and expires Aug 31. Coupon code: WDGOLD

The second link brings up a claim that the drive includes 1 year of additional limited warranty.

Note that the first link goes to their outlet store. Be careful to note whether you're buying a new vs. refurb drive. Personally, I stay away from everything but brand new drives, although I don't see any indication that these aren't new.
 
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bit_user said:
I replaced those old 1 TB drives with 4 TB models. They were indeed junk, with one of them experiencing an unrecoverable sector during the very first scan after I populated the array. These are WD Gold drives, no less.

However, I replaced it with a model that was also sold as WD Gold, but designed by HGST. That one was way better. Faster, ran cooler, and had zero errors of any kind.

What I think happened is that WD's legacy design team was suffering from lack of investment, since they were just waiting on regulatory approval to complete the HGST acquisition, at which point I assume the HGST team would take over.

I haven't yet put the new drives into service, but hopefully they'll be more like that HGST model.
Click to expand...
I had 2 4TB WD Red in 2018 where I setup my first personal NAS (DS218j) that did survived till now I upgrade to 4x12TB synology drives for the new 425+, old WD used to really last, (My WD black 1TB died after like some... 15 years of service? when HDD was still the only way to store any meaningful data and software and SSDs wer elike 128GB)
 
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dmitche31958 said:
Yes. Buy from reputable companies and stop trying to find that basement bargain price, which is coming from someone’s basement.
Click to expand...

Fair, fair... I must say I'm a sucker for cheap drives.. I'll be the first to admit that I still have that problem..

YSCCC said:
TBF the best way should be buy from the expensive official dealers with a shop, something like microcenter... the counterfeit are quite often so similar to the real one that looking at one copy alone will be difficult to identify, worse still, even if you spot it the seller would likely refuse to accept any responibility and may just outright disappear.

For HDDs which the performance have stagnated for a long time and usually can serve well over a decade, just not point to buy the cheap unverified sellers.
Click to expand...

USAFRet said:
What is the theoretical warranty situation?

You can go directly to Seagate and check the serial number of your devices.
www.seagate.com

Warranty & Replacements | Seagate US

Seagate Warranty & Returns - Policy, FAQ's, Warranty Status & More.
www.seagate.com
Click to expand...

I bought it off of one of those garage sale / mom and pop / bricks and mortal kind of shops, so warranty stuff wasn't even on the table. But I'll give it a check once I got back from work.. Thanks, really..
 
Exploding PSU said:
Fair, fair... I must say I'm a sucker for cheap drives.. I'll be the first to admit that I still have that problem..
Click to expand...
I was in the same boat when I was a student, but back then ppl are more honest (or say, the scammers don't have the skills yet), so second hand is still pretty safe bet, but nowadays everything can happen and I either don't upgrade or buy from reputable companies
 
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