Seagate 7200.10 - different motors for same product? (7200.10 owners plz read)

[RPGWiZaRD]

Already posted email to Seagate a while ago and of course as expected I would get no comment on what I actually wanted to know.

Should reply and ask again same question again and post links to the different pictures. I think this is pretty serious issue, they are fooling people (even a lawsuit could be possible cuz of this issue I think). So far I don't know of any other brand that I can for sure find similiar pics or proof that shows they use different parts for the same products. All products of the same model should have same parts, simple as that otherwise it's not the same product! People shouldn't need to pay same price for a drive that is remarkably louder than their friends'. Worst case scenario would be in case these "louder" parts (who knows maybe even less durable too) are much cheaper to produce, which would give Seagate a small profit bonus on the expense of fooling some people instead. It's not really great marketing which I hope Seagate doesn't get away with.

epion2985> The problem is that all the drives with the non-silent spindle motor are loud, it's not a defect drive but Seagate using worse parts in some of them and these are the loud ones.

[amrgb]

The problem is that Seagate, due to patents, cannot use AAM (they could pay the royalties, but seems that they are not interested).

But this does not mean that they do not have the ability to control the seek noise. They just can't sell drives with the ability to change it.

Basically what they do is to set different setting in the factory. Indeed it seems that ATA drives are generally quieter than their SATA counterparts. Obviously, there are exceptions.

Why don't they ship all drives with the quiet setting? It makes the seek slower (that's why I always set AAM for performance).

But the heterogeneity of Seagate products do not end here. Some 320GB drives are 400 or 500GB (can't remember, but probably both) with the inner part of the platter area disabled. Since the 400 or 500 (can't remember) drives have higher platter density the 320 based have faster sequential read/write. Moreover, since the slowest part of the platter is disabled, this increases seek times, since the heads have to cover less area.

My advice: make sure you feel lucky when you buy a Seagate

[epion2985]

epion2985> The problem is that all the drives with the non-silent spindle motor are loud, it's not a defect drive but Seagate using worse parts in some of them and these are the loud ones.

Thant's no news. Dell has been putting good panels in their monitors for good reviews then swapping for worser once later on to save money. They do this crap all the time. And they have the lawyers and engineers that find loop holes to make it hard to fight.

If he's in Germany his return offers are quite a bit different from what we here can RMA to newegg for 15% off.

Agreed on Maxtor.

15% ? I RMA for free, if the item is defective they used to RMA for free. Is this new or something?

I guess Germany sucks. Glad my family didn't settle down there while we lived there back in my youth.

[Bergo]

the 15% would be a restocking fee if you return a hard drive that would likely pass a full read test of seatools or something. RMA is always free, unless the company is shady as hell.
I have two of the Seagate 320gb SATA II HDD's in question in my server, both are excellent drives and barely audible, but they are the "good" version that you've posted pictures of.
I work for a smaller retailer here in Canada as a technician and all of the 320gb Seagate drives that I've seen pass through here (a couple hundred in the last couple months, all OEM drives) have all been the same version that I have purchased. I think I've gone through about 4 or five of them now, but my hardware turnover is pretty high. I've never had trouble with any that I've purchased, and of the maybe 500 or so we've sold, I've RMA'd probably 10-15 drives. (which to me seems pretty low, because I would guess that some of those were user error)

IMHO, Seagate is still my favorite HDD manufacturer, but in my main box I do use WD Raptors, just for the 10k RPM goodness

[uOpt]

15% ? I RMA for free, if the item is defective they used to RMA for free. Is this new or something?

I guess Germany sucks. Glad my family didn't settle down there while we lived there back in my youth.

If you want to return it because of a too loud motor you'll have to pay 15% to Newegg, unless you want to spend quite a bit of time on the phone. It's not a defect.

Germany generally doesn't give you any return right at any restocking fee after you opened the shrinkwrap, unless it is defective.

Germany doesn't suck, though, just for starters they have much better warranty laws. So Germany is better if you get broken stuff, U.S. is better if you just don't like what you got.

[Cappie]

If you want to return it because of a too loud motor you'll have to pay 15% to Newegg, unless you want to spend quite a bit of time on the phone. It's not a defect.

Germany generally doesn't give you any return right at any restocking fee after you opened the shrinkwrap, unless it is defective.

Germany doesn't suck, though, just for starters they have much better warranty laws. So Germany is better if you get broken stuff, U.S. is better if you just don't like what you got.

In belgium we have a law that says you can return any product within 7 days, regardless of whether its been used or not(if its consumergoods this don't apply ofcourse). But for stuff like CPU's, GPU's, harddrives, other hardware this all holds up. You just open the package, test the product and if its not to your liking the store has to take it back and give you a full refund no questions asked. You don't even have to come up with some lame excuse, failure to do so will have the law on their heads and you will win that every time. Even stores that don't advertise the 7-day money back guarentee are lying to you because in Belgium this is a universal law. Sometimes its even fun to mock stores like that by rubbing their noses in this and return the product 1 day before the 7day period ends heheheh

As for the Seagates, I currently have 2 of these running in RAID0 in my comp and they are so silent its as if both drives are dead, even under heavy file copying I do not get a sound from them.

Modelnumbers of mine are ST3250620AS, one uses the 3.AAE and other uses the 3.AAD firmware, haven't checked what the motors look like though. Will check later today as my third perp drive will then come in Lets hope third time is indeed a charm, else I will have to claim my rights as a consumer hehehe.

EDIT : Just checked bottoms of my seagates and both of them sport this type of motor,



this is considered to be the loud motor, but like I said its deadly silent So your theory doesn't hold up, even laying my ear to these drives while moving files and I cannot hear them, no ticks, no buzzing, no nothing.

[generics_user]

i have both versions with the "loud" motor but they are very quiet, there also seems to be absolutely no difference between the large and the small PCB (both drives i have use the same firmware AND give the absolutely same performance. in addition they make use of the same chips

/OT

Germany generally doesn't give you any return right at any restocking fee after you opened the shrinkwrap, unless it is defective.

software only, i used to buy things in munich when i lived in tyrol (only 1 hour away) and they always take opened things back and don´t want to have any oney for it (you have 7 days to do this), same here in austria.

quote of ww.alternate.eu (german store):

Notice of right of withdrawal

Consumers within the meaning of §13 of the German Civil Code (BGB) may, in cases where the agreement was concluded by means of distance selling, withdraw from the agreement within two weeks without having to give reasons. Such withdrawal can be effected in writing or through return of the goods. The time pe

Consequences of withdrawal:

In case of an effective withdrawal the benefits received or by either side (including through usage of the goods) must be returned or compensated for. Where the consumer can only return the benefit only partially or in a deteriorated state he must insofar provide compensation as the case may be. This does not apply where the deterioration of the goods was solely caused by testing of the goods, as it would have been possible in the shop. The consumer can avoid any compensation obligation by not putting the goods into use, by having the installation of components carried out only by qualified and authorised tec

as far as i know this is common eu-law OT\