Hitachi warranty starts on date of manufacture??

[snowbound]

Puchased a Hitachi 7K1000.C internal hard drive and idling with no partitions on it and no other actvity on the computer there is a noticable noise coming from the drive. One can also feel the drive apparently seeking / vibrating. I have never seen a hard drive like this one which is quieter when it is doing a full drive test than when it is at idle. I can hear the thing 4' away when the drive is idling.

Since the drive is new I can return it to the online reseller (with a 15% restocking fee probably) or RMA it to Hitachi. The DoM (date of manufacture) is Feb 2010 10 mths ago. Hitachi online support system shows the warranty start date as Feb 2010. A post in another forum indicates Hitachi's warranty begins at DoM and Hitachi does not extend the warranty if one provides an invoice showing date of purchase. Is this indeed the case with Hitachi warranty? If it is I will be returning the drive to place of purchase and never buy Hitachi hard drives again.

On the Hitachi warranty terms page the only time a proof of purchase is mentioned to modify a warranty period is under

"The Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Warranty for Machines"

This would not cover hard drives but rather computers such as laptops. My interpretation is that if a extension of the warranty for a hard drive is not not mentioned in the terms of the warrant then its not applicable

If Hitachi doesn't then I have lost 10 months of warranty on this hard drive by it sitting on a distributor's shelf in a warehouse.

[Perineum]

It's the same idea for Gigabyte motherboards.... the warranty starts the day of manufacture. The bonus to that kind of warranty is that they shouldn't (or don't in the case of gigabyte) harass you for proof of purchase.

Also, a second hand owner should be able to RMA their own board without issue.

[snowbound]

I don't find it a bonus at all or rather a reason not to buy the product. If a product is advertised with a 3 year warranty it should apply to date of purchase. This drive for example winds up having a 25 mth warranty. If I knew that up front I would never of bought it. One thing for sure I won't in the future!

After all a new car warranty does not start once it rolls off the factory floor.

[_dangtx_]

wd does the same, although if you provide proof of purchase they'll extend it. will you keep the drive that long? probably not

[snowbound]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

wd does the same, although if you provide proof of purchase they'll extend it. will you keep the drive that long? probably not

I have returned drives with a proof of purchase to and the drive was replaced where otherwise it would not of. Why wouldn't I keep the drive that long? I have drives that old and still in use! If I purchase a product that advertise with a 3 yr warranty I expect for it to have a 3 yr warranty.

[kruzn4evr]

Bottom line here is do your homework before buying. Different manufacturer's have different warranty programs for whatever reason, I'm certainly not saying I don't agree with you, however it is up to the consumer to read the warranty info in order to make a decision as to whether it is right for you. The old saying "you get what you pay for" could apply here, thats why Hitachi drives are generally cheaper than WD or Seagate.

[snowbound]

Originally Posted by kruzn4evr

Bottom line here is do your homework before buying. Different manufacturer's have different warranty programs for whatever reason, I'm certainly not saying I don't agree with you, however it is up to the consumer to read the warranty info in order to make a decision as to whether it is right for you. The old saying "you get what you pay for" could apply here, thats why Hitachi drives are generally cheaper than WD or Seagate.

I read the Hitachi warranty page and neither it nor any merchant website indicating that the warranty begins with date of manufacture and can not be extended with proof of purchase.

[_dangtx_]

interesting.

either or, i usually sell of 500 gigers to go 1tb's, 1tb's to go 2tb's, you get the idea :)

[kruzn4evr]

Originally Posted by snowbound

If Hitachi doesn't then I have lost 10 months of warranty on this hard drive by it sitting on a distributor's shelf in a warehouse.

Yup, thats pretty much correct, same would be true with WD, I guess the difference could be the Hitachi's don't sell as well therefore sit longer?, the WD's I've ever purchased all were dated within a mth or less from DoM to purchase date. I always buy my drives from NCIX, Canada Computers etc, I never buy them from a mom & pop shop for that very reason, who knows how long they've had them in inventory. I also always check the date when buying in person just to be sure, of course you don't have that option when buying online.

[snowbound]

UPDATE

I phoned Hitachi support and talked to Patrick and they will change the start period to date of purchase if one provides an invoice.

Regarding this drive I could RMA back to Hitachi but therer is no guarantee that after a 3 week wait, that I will not wind up with a replacement drive that does the same thing. The noise coming from the drive is not a consisten noise but changes pitch as if the read arm is moving. Think I will RMA it back to DirectCanada and absorb a possible 15% restocking fee as a lesson to buy hard drives locally.