Fatal Hardware Error... on a Brand New Hard Drive
 

A few weeks back, I bought and installed a brand-spanking new Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 7200rpm hard drive in my Mac Mini. I figured 80gb at 5400rmp stock wasn't doing the job and the Scorpio enjoys a good reputation in laptops. (the Mac mini can only fit a 2.5" drive, fyi)

It worked okay for about 3 days when it had a bit of trouble for a second. I dismissed it, I was using indesign and photoshop and watching a movie so I figured it was just a bit much. It happened again today, so I opened Disk Utility. Guess what?

"This drive has reported a fatal hardware error to Disk Utility" Frak.

Now I'm scrambling to back everything up with Time Machine onto my new external hard drive, and I'm about to head back to Fry's to pick up a replacement that I will test as soon as I get into my computer.

Who here has been the victim of a bad drive right out of the box? Did you catch it right away?

I had a WD disk that would severely overheat. I mean, temps in the 80-90 degree Celsius range. I used their advanced RMA system, where they send you a new drive ahead of time, and then after you get it you send yours back to them.

Interesting. I was going to take it back to Fry's and try desperately to deal with them, but the advanced RMA seems a better option. How well did it work? Were there any problems?

Happens all the time unfortunately...with other types of hardware as well.

The two above average hard drive experiences I've had are:

1. I ordered a 40 GB HDD for a relative from NewEgg about 5 years ago. In the box came a 40 GB and a 120 GB. The 120 GB wasn't on the invoice and I didn't pay for it. I used it for about 3 years!

2. A couple of years ago I went to best buy to replace that 120 GB hard drive that failed after moving it to another PC. At Best Buy they had a 74 GB 10,000 RPM Raptor there for $115, not on sale. I checked NewEgg at their store and on NewEgg they were still $150. I snatched it up and am still using it. :thumbsup:

Although I have never had to deal with this type of problem, at least not yet, WD does seem to have a very good RMA service. I've had friends return drives that were a year or two old and they received free replacements, with advance shipping. That, and other reasons, is why I stick with WD. If you make a million hard drives, a few bad apples are bound to be created. WD knows this and takes care of it.

The entire process was very smooth and easy. Started the claim online, gave them my CC number (they only charge you if they dont receive your defective drive back), a few days later I received the new drive. With that new drive came a box to put the old one in and ship back.

I've been lucky and gotten good HDDs, and only one that's self destructed before I could back stuff up. I notice lemons more on the other types of hardware. Monitors and video cards for some reason.