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View Full Version : Are OEM Hard Drives Safe?

Suprnova04
06-08-2005, 01:30 PM
I'm looking for a nice 200GB or so hard drive, and I was wondering if the general consensus is that buying OEM drives is safe. What do you all think?

Thanks
DougLite
06-08-2005, 01:34 PM
Generally, OEM is actually better than Retail. WD and Maxtor think so - they offer longer warranties on their OEM drives than they do on equivalent retail kits, for a variety of reasons.

I have over a dozen OEM drives. No problems.
Suprnova04
06-08-2005, 01:35 PM
Awesome.. thanks!

Also.. is SATA better than ATA133?
Nobody
06-08-2005, 01:36 PM
Are you using OEM to refer to bare drives versus retail? OR OEM as in going to say Dell and buying a Drive?

IF you are thinking of a bare Drive ... then I have never had a problem, but I only buy from known manufacturers and established suppliers for them.
Suprnova04
06-08-2005, 01:37 PM
yeah i'm talking about an OEM drive from newegg.
hulksterjoe
06-08-2005, 01:39 PM
Safe.
Nobody
06-08-2005, 01:40 PM
Then you will be fine as all the above posters have stated .... if you are looking for references ... WD or Samsung are my preferences.
Suprnova04
06-08-2005, 01:44 PM
ok, i'll look into those brands along with some others.
Vertigo Acid
06-08-2005, 02:25 PM
ZZF is reputed to have better drive packaging than newegg, who is known for having poorly packaged bare drives. Something to consider...
Suprnova04
06-08-2005, 02:26 PM
*poof* and I'm there.
Eric1285
06-08-2005, 10:11 PM
I ordered an OEM 250GB Maxtor Diamondmax 10 drive from zipzoomfly...it was packaged very well, and the drive has a 3 year warranty. It's super fast compared to my old IDE Maxtor drives (both of which have failed on me, although one is still under warranty thankfully).
enuro12
06-08-2005, 11:39 PM
i've killed over a dozen of those crappy 40GB Maxtor (the super slim ones)
lcboyee1123
06-09-2005, 12:02 AM
i dont think there are any real life differences between SATA and PATA (that u can notice) but SATA uses a thinner cable makin it easier to organize...
EnderW
06-09-2005, 12:16 AM
ZZF is reputed to have better drive packaging than newegg, who is known for having poorly packaged bare drives. Something to consider...
A very good point. All the drives I've bought from ZZF have come in this awesome foam container, compared to the ones from newegg with a small strip of bubble wrap taped around the drive.
Suprnova04
06-09-2005, 07:39 AM
ZZF's website pisses me off... their searching tool (or lack thereof) makes me lean toward newegg. I guess i could find the drives i want on newegg and then when i have the exact one it shouldn't be hard to find on ZZF.
mike_6289
06-09-2005, 03:19 PM
Every harddrive that I've ever owned has been an OEM drive. No problems, except once when one of my SCSI drives in my RAID 0 arrray went offline. 30 seconds later I brought it back online and everything was fine. Go with OEM, they are cheaper with longer warranties. If you want to get an extra year of warranty, get a Visa Classic II card. It doubles the warranty on everything you buy, up to one year.

eg. 6 month warranty >>>>>>>>>>>>1 year warranty

eg 1 year warranty >>>>>>>>>>>>>>2 year warranty

eg 5 year warranty>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>6 year warranty

and you dont have to pay for these benefits :cool:
Zepher
06-09-2005, 06:24 PM
I won't normally buy a retail drive since they normally only have a 1 year warranty and cost too much, while the OEM version of the same drive is either 3 or 5 years depending on brand.
burningrave101
06-10-2005, 12:29 PM
I would say that OEM drives are taken better care of in shipping then retail drives are that go to local B&M's and of course OEM drives usually have better warrantys then retail drives. I just ordered a new WD2500JD from ZZF the other day and they packaged it very well it a little styrofoam container. The only thing that surprised me though was my hard drive had a black top on it instead of the normal bare metal look.
DougLite
06-10-2005, 01:38 PM
Black top WD = Good news for you. It means you got a drive with Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) Motors. It will run much quieter and cooler than the WD drives you have had in the past, and should be faster too.
burningrave101
06-10-2005, 03:18 PM
Black top WD = Good news for you. It means you got a drive with Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) Motors. It will run much quieter and cooler than the WD drives you have had in the past, and should be faster too.

Well thats cool. I just thought Western Digital might of started using black tops to be more stylish or something :p.
EnderW
06-10-2005, 09:18 PM
Black top WD = Good news for you. It means you got a drive with Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) Motors. It will run much quieter and cooler than the WD drives you have had in the past, and should be faster too.
Yep, here is a comparison between the old and new versions:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200407/20040729revisit_1.html

Nice drive - I've got 4 and they are very quiet.
scottmso
06-10-2005, 09:24 PM
Black top WD = Good news for you. It means you got a drive with Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) Motors. It will run much quieter and cooler than the WD drives you have had in the past, and should be faster too.

I have a silver top WD800JB that I bought at retail, and I noticed that my friend's WD800JB that he bought online OEM (Newegg) has a black top. Does this mean mine doesn't have a FDB motor?
DougLite
06-11-2005, 12:04 AM
Most likely, your silver topped drive is ball or ceramic bearing. If you've never had a FDB drive, you don't know what you're missing. Pick one up as soon as you can - it is bascially impossible to get a drive that doesn't have FDB motors nowadays, and they do make a world of difference in terms of idle noise.