Why don't hdd makers make pre-modded hdd's???

[Metallica_Band]

Hey there...I would think that companies like Western Digital, Maxtor, and SeaGate would make a lot of money by making pre-modded hdd's...I mean they coud maybe put a window on it...windowed hdd's are pretty damn cool ...the only reason ppl don't do it or only do it to cheapo hdd's is because it's damn risky and voids your warranty and can cause hdd's loss...

They could maybe even come out with a variety of lighted and windowed hdd's...or even better: Custom hdd's...they could charge quite a bit more and a lot of ppl would do it if they still had the same warranty and they did a good enuff job...I'd pay for them to do it to my 200GB hdd's...

So any reason why they wouldn't do this??? It has potential to be a big money maker for the modders who are too afraid to do it to their big hdd's...THANX
C'YA

 

[starhawk]

main reason is a lack of demand.

how many 80mb hdd's do you order in a month? i should hope you don't order even one a year, else you're getting some reeeeeeeeeeeally bad hdd's.

now, how many of those same hdd's does dell order in a month? probably somewhere in the 100,000's.

and who is going to order more of those hdd's with nice plexi windows? you. dell doesn't do windows on anything (unfortunately... )

see my point?

 

[CrimandEvil]

Something to do with platter size and increased chance of failing or atleast that's the problem with modders doing HD's over 30gigs or so.

Personally I have my system setup outside of a case right now though I really don't feel the need to have a modded HD still. Extra cost as well as the fact that it's going to be hidden inside of a case would probaly be reasons why.

 

[waddles]

Modding modern HDD's is all but impossible nowadays, unless you work for an HDD company and have access to all their tools and clean rooms and stuff. The platters get thrown out of whack way too easily.

 

[kuyaglen]

I always thought that larger hard drives were harder to mod was because they have much
more tighter tolerances to the point that the small amount of dust/lint/airborn particles that
will enter the platter cavity will eventually cause premature failure (I think they're vacume sealed)

Besides, most likely the cost of such a drive would be so much more than a non modded
drive. Just take a look at the Falcon & Voodoo desktop paint options.

 

[Qtip42]

because nobody gives a shit for a stupid window.

 

[altec]

ya i love window hd's but same no one really wants them so tell people start getting in to making there case cooler there not goin make om. and i have done like 3 old hd's and none work after that

 

[Deadlierchair]

Even if the demand was there introducing something like a window would be very difficult to do. Hard drives are pretty fragile as it is and a window just introduces the possibility of more debris getting in there which no one wants.

 

[Metallica_Band]

The only reason that hdd's screw up when you ppl do it is because you expose everything to the open air...plus it's not air tight...but if these rich ass companies put some research into it and came up with a way to make a window on it and maybe lights and still have it work 100% then I think it'd sell pretty well if they put a decent price on it...

I mean come on...what did ppl think about putting a window on a PC case back in the DOS and Win95 days??? They said the same thing you ppl are saying about the demand and stuff...but ppl started doing it and companies started putting research on that new trend and came out with a few more "professional" cases with windows on them...I'd give it a chance and buy one if one ever came out...

 

[jpmkm]

I don't think you buying one hard drive is enough to offset the r&d costs. I don't think everyone on this forum buying a hard drive is enough to offset the r&d costs. If they thought they could make money doing this then they certainly would be.

 

[Deadlierchair]

I mean come on...what did ppl think about putting a window on a PC case back in the DOS and Win95 days??? They said the same thing you ppl are saying about the demand and stuff...but ppl started doing it and companies started putting research on that new trend and came out with a few more "professional" cases with windows on them...I'd give it a chance and buy one if one ever came out...

That's definitely a good point, things have changed quite a bit and what seemed ridiculuous 5 years ago is now everywhere. But think about it...we went from beige PCs to colors, are platters gonna start being flourescent pink and stuff?

 

[CrimandEvil]

You do realize the yields ($$) for HD's is rather thin right? Hardly "rich-ass."

 

[Robert Flav]

My local Fry's has a bunch of hard drives that are pre-modded. I think they are Maxtor.

 

[Metallica_Band]

That's definitely a good point, things have changed quite a bit and what seemed ridiculuous 5 years ago is now everywhere. But think about it...we went from beige PCs to colors, are platters gonna start being flourescent pink and stuff?

That's like saying, back in the day, "are cases gonna start having colored screws and stuff?" Think about it...now colored platters prolly not but I wouldn't rule out windowed hdd's with ccfl's in them...

The only thing is will big companies like Western Digital and Maxtor and SeaGate have the gonads to risk an operation like this??? Would they be willing to start making hdd's for the modders out there??? If they do and if they're sucessful then they could make a big profit out of it...

Another thing is it could put some of the crap hdd makers out of business...if they attempt to do what the 3 big hdd companies are doing (if they are sucessful) then they will not only be making cheapo hdd's BUT they prolly won't have the $$$ and the expertise that the 3 big companies would be coming up with...the cheapo hdd companies would start to fail even more and then we could be rid of the cheapass hdd's floating around...just a possible scenario...

 

[CrimandEvil]

I really don't think so, I don't see any real reason to make windowed HDs other then the novelty purpose.

 

[altec]

ya thats the only thing i did it for.

 

[domoMKIV]

id rather spend current prices for a hdd anyway, not $50 more for a windowed version. its not that exceptional.

i do want to mod mine though, gonna test it out with a hdd i have thats near the brink of death first though

 

[Metallica_Band]

id rather spend current prices for a hdd anyway, not $50 more for a windowed version. its not that exceptional.

Ppl pay up tp $200 and MORE just for a case...how insane was that back then??? Just as "insane" as it sounds right now when applied to hdd's...hell...mice with friggin lazer beams and 7+ buttons and colored cool colors can run ya $70+...wasn't that considered "insane" back then??? Ppl will pay for anything if t's cool enuff...we should give cool lookin hdd's a chance...

 

[darktiger]

Prob because there is no demand. Most people have there HD where it cannot be seen...

 

[Ysg]

The only reason that hdd's screw up when you ppl do it is because you expose everything to the open air...plus it's not air tight...but if these rich ass companies put some research into it and came up with a way to make a window on it and maybe lights and still have it work 100% then I think it'd sell pretty well if they put a decent price on it...

HD's aren't air tight, they have holes covered by filters. The platters falling out of alignment are the reason for HD death, once you take that center screw out you're, well, screwed.

The place I used to work had a western digital display drive that had a molded plastic top and it had a circuit that would spin the platters while moving the r/w head back and forth. I always wanted to swap that clear cover on to a working drive but I never got to

 

[Dark Ember]

This is a terrible idea. If HD manufacturers can't make money on their current products, why would spending mucho $$ R&D for a niche product make them any more profitable? It would end up hurting the industry more than helping. You have to remember, the majority of HD's sold by manufacturers are to OEMs and enterprise firms, not to enthusiasts and case modders. There is just no market there to make any R&D worth it in the long or short-term.

 

[gamekid]

i think someone should just start making tools for the common man to be able to do it himself.......much more practical at the moment.....if it is possible(??)

 

[jpmkm]

i think someone should just start making tools for the common man to be able to do it himself.......much more practical at the moment.....if it is possible(??)

That doesn't sound the least bit practical, at least not for a single drive. Though if someone already had all the necessary tools, then making hard drive windows might be a nice side business.

 

[Mickey21]

This is stupid... HDD's being modded is unecessary... I love modding, but there are things that I am not going to mod like my processor and my hard drives. These things are expensive enough today and only getting more expensive. The reason people dont mess with modding newer hard drives is plain and simple, they are too costly and functionable to risk messing one up for no reason. Hard drive physical design has changed very little in nature for many years. It doesnt seem harder for me to do a 100GB versus a 10GB drive. Few people care about seeing a modded hard drive. It just isnt worth the trouble, as well as most of the HDD's that were modded fail to work soon after... Save your money.

Manufacturers dont seem to be working on this idea either... I would sooner have a larger capacity HDD or a faster HDD than one that had a light... I think the likes of Maxtor and WD are thinking on the same lines as well... In short, I wouldnt be completely surprised if it one day happened, but I wouldnt hold my breath either...

 

[iddqd]

Instead of making aluminum covers for HDDs, they could just make them out of lexan instead. I don't see how that would change anything; or make the manufacturing any more difficult..

 

[Nivram]

They don't want you seeing the gremlins inside the hard drive, that help make it work!!

Sometimes the gremlins go on strike, or just quit.....that's when your hard drive problems occur, dontcha know?? LOL

 

[bigbadgreen]

love modding, but there are things that I am not going to mod like my processor and my hard drives. These things are expensive enough today and only getting more expensive. The reason people dont mess with modding newer hard drives is plain and simple, they are too costly and functionable to risk messing one up for no reason.

talk about contradicting yourself. The very reason to mod is to make your things unique. I hope you havn't dare cut into your case or painted it or anything, that's just not practical. If modding was meant to be practical, barely anybody would be doing it. How many people have changed the fan or added ramsinks to a $500 video card, that is in effect modding the card, risking a $500 investment. While hdd's are much more sensative, things can still go wrong with any mod and you're out money. How about watercooling, when people first started trying that how much crap did they take. There is even still scares about water leakage from non-computer people. That appears to be a risk fo your entire system, much more than just a $200 hdd.

I beg to differ that there is no market for a modded hdd. There is a market for modded cases, fans, lights, etc... So there is probably a market for modded hdd's. Not only would the quality of mods be better than home-done hdd mods, It wouldn't be difficult and have tons of $$$ into R&D. The only R&D costs would be to test durability, which they are currently doing, and for the initial tooling of the covers, which could be made from lexan instead of aluminum. I really don't see any practical reason for aluminum covers other than it's a pretty cheap material. It's not for protection, if you're dropping your hdd's so much that they need it they won't be running for very long. When buying in large quantities lexan isn't going to cost much more than aluminum.

No they won't sell as many modded hdd's, but that's not the point. That would also cut down costs because they don't have to have as many production lines making the modded hdd's. How many 10k raptors does WD sell vs it's other hard drives, that doesn't mean that the raptor isn't worth it.

 

[waddles]

I was compelled to correct some of the misinformation in your post...

This is stupid... HDD's being modded is unecessary...

That's what 99.9% of people out there say about case modding. Not everyone follows the "function over form" school of thought. People like bells and whistles.

These things are expensive enough today and only getting more expensive.

Where in the world are you getting your computer supplies? NewEgg has a 40GB 7200RPM drive for $47. This same drive five years ago would have been twice the price. Technology is getting cheaper, to say otherwise is silly.

It doesnt seem harder for me to do a 100GB versus a 10GB drive.

Hard drive physical design has changed very little in nature for many years.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. There have been huge advancements in HDD technology... 10k RPM drives? SATA? Increased capacity? 16MB buffers? If you think no "physical design" changes are made, you're sorely mistaken. 100GB drives are impossible to mod because when the cover comes off, the platters get moved all around and the drive is ruined. 10GB drives aren't so hard because the tolerances for this movement is much greater. But once you remove that center pin, all bets are off.

Few people care about seeing a modded hard drive.

I would sooner have a larger capacity HDD or a faster HDD than one that had a light.

Congrats. Not everybody else thinks like you, though. Is there a demand for this kind of HDD? Sure, people would buy it. Not as great a demand as OEMs, of course, but they could certainly get away with charging an extra $20 for an acrylic cover that would cost little extra to produce. As said previously, however, if there was money to be made, they'd probably already be doing it.

In short, I'd like to see windowed hard drives, and there's probably money to be made there, but who knows how long it will take before manufacturers respond.

 

[starhawk]

how do you make a window'd hdd anyways? i'd like to see a thread on this, preferably with pics.

 

[Metallica_Band]

The most recent mod that resembles this situation would be PSU's...PSU's can go into the hundreds...especially the large 500W+ models...and big companies like Enermax, Antec, Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, etc...they're coming out with colored, different types of metals, clear, wire management, additional fans, fan control, etc...

Doing these things to your expensive PSU's several years ago would not seem practicle and risky to do cause you'd be opening your PSU up and that'd void your warranty...modding your expensive vid card voids your warranty...OC'ing you memory and cpu and vid card in most cases voids your warranty...

Ppl take some big risks when modding their things...I don't see how buying a professionally modded PSU would make any difference...not many ppl mod their own PSU's...they buy premodded ones...

 

[domoMKIV]

Ppl pay up tp $200 and MORE just for a case...how insane was that back then??? Just as "insane" as it sounds right now when applied to hdd's...hell...mice with friggin lazer beams and 7+ buttons and colored cool colors can run ya $70+...wasn't that considered "insane" back then??? Ppl will pay for anything if t's cool enuff...we should give cool lookin hdd's a chance...

i dont have a $200 case.
i dont have a laser beam mouse with 7+ buttons and cool colors for $70.




i agree itd be neat, but not WORTH the pricetag that comes with it. a $70 mouse is usually exceptionally good and therefore worth its pricetag. a case for $200 is usually built tough with the proper airways for good circulation as well. So again, worth its pricetag.

 

[xonik]

Here's why. Hard drives are classified as magnetic recording devices. That's why the hard drive is enclosed in what is essentially a Faraday cage, which shields it from electromagnetic interference. Now what hard drive manufacturer would then open that Faraday cage up to the extremely noisy environment of the chassis interior, for the sake of aesthetics? That manufacturer's warranty would be measured in days instead of years.

Maybe when transparent alumina becomes popular, we might see something, but not any time soon.

 

[rayra]

How the hell can there be a topic in the Mod forum about modded HDs, WITHOUT ANY PICTARS!!1!?

Ran it in a testbed system for ~6 months.


Now lets hear some more kids whinging about clean-rooms.

 

[DooBall]

because nobody gives a shit for a stupid window.

Exactly

 

[Mickey21]

1) I was compelled to correct some of the misinformation in your post...

2) That's what 99.9% of people out there say about case modding. Not everyone follows the "function over form" school of thought. People like bells and whistles.

3) Where in the world are you getting your computer supplies? NewEgg has a 40GB 7200RPM drive for $47. This same drive five years ago would have been twice the price. Technology is getting cheaper, to say otherwise is silly.

4) Wrong, wrong, wrong. There have been huge advancements in HDD technology... 10k RPM drives? SATA? Increased capacity? 16MB buffers? If you think no "physical design" changes are made, you're sorely mistaken. 100GB drives are impossible to mod because when the cover comes off, the platters get moved all around and the drive is ruined. 10GB drives aren't so hard because the tolerances for this movement is much greater. But once you remove that center pin, all bets are off.

5) Congrats. Not everybody else thinks like you, though. Is there a demand for this kind of HDD? Sure, people would buy it. Not as great a demand as OEMs, of course, but they could certainly get away with charging an extra $20 for an acrylic cover that would cost little extra to produce. As said previously, however, if there was money to be made, they'd probably already be doing it.

6) In short, I'd like to see windowed hard drives, and there's probably money to be made there, but who knows how long it will take before manufacturers respond.

1) I had no misinformation... next...

2) You are saying that modders and people who like modding make up one tenth of one percent of the people out there? Now who is contradicting themselves. You claim that less than one tenth of one percent of people like modding, but then you claim there is money to be made on modded hard drives! Bah, now that is senseless... next...

3) That 40GB hard drive is hardly what I would call a drive by today's standards, and FYI was hardly available to buy at all much less be had for 100 dollars or less. Your concept of how far HDD have come in 5 years is skewed.... As far as technology, go back in time and buy a Voodoo Card and Buy the upcoming X850 XT PE, we'll see who thinks technology is getting cheaper. You may settle for cheap parts, but I buy the good stuff... 40GB, WTH is that? next...

4) You my friend are mistaken... And you go ranting off about things I made no comment about like drive capacities is GB. I said there are not much "physical design" changes (and you even pointed it out). What physical means is that in the last 10 years, there hasnt been a whole lot of physical makeup design changes. The HDD is still being made in a very similar way. Sure, controllers have been increased in computing, densities have increased, certain platter materials have changed, etc, but the average hard drive still uses the same motor makeup, the same aspects of rotating platters, moving needles, and metal housing. That is to say that their "clean room" build is not different between a 10 or a 100GB. What I was saying was that the drives are hardly any more difficult than each other to mod or not. You clearly are misunderstanding what I am saying and hopefully that clears it up for you... next...

5) I can tell you that from a business standpoint, they are in it to make money... A few hundred to thousands of sales on HDD that have a light would not make much of a dent at all in the R&D to make the drive, and marketing costs to push the drive. This is a losing arguement for you! Why, because IF YOU WERE RIGHT, THEY WOULD EXIST!!!! I see at the end there, you realize the error in your logic and side with me. Yes, there are those that may want this, a small side of me would WANT it to come about. I am not saying I might not buy one if it happened. MY POINT is that they are not likely going to do it. Why, because it isnt practical, it would cost more to produce, the market is already to competitive based on HDD manufacturers and models, and truthfully, not as many as people as you think would buy the product modded. I mean come on, you are ready to buy a 47$ 40GB drive practically. Why would you double that cost to 80-100$ when you could have gotten 3-4 times the capacity instead? If I can step into the heads of people out there buying hard drives, given the choice to buy a 40GB drive for $47 and buying a 200GB for $110, they would go with the 200GB 99 times out of 100.... next...

6) Finally some reason, I agree, I might like to have one of those modded hard drives in my cases someday. I have never said I didnt want one, I said it was unnecessary, as it is, and I said that it is not likely to happen due to various reasons. Make no mistake I am not a n00b. I have won various modding contests and love the moddine scene, hell if you take a look it is the only threads I even participate in conversations on Hard Forum.

I enjoy competing in modding contests, I enjoy the uniqueness. But you argue people who are modders want uniqueness.... FINAL WORDS : WTH IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT A HARD DRIVE WITH A WINDOW THAT EVERYONE CAN BUY... What modders wants that? I think the majority of true modders like something they worked on themselves by hand... Everytime I see someone next to me in the modding contest that put together something that got picked out of a bin at Fry's or Newegg and put no real effort besides turning some screws, I feel disgusted that they feel that is on the same level of real work, and even more if they win... I like the fact that they are interested, I just dont like the fact that they insult the time and effort I put in, with a few dollars they put on the table...

Edit: Just want to make sure that you understand that I am trying to point something out objectively and not just sit there and argue... I make my points as a 28 year old who has been building and working with computers since I was 9 years old. I have various experience in the industry doing repair, sales, consulting, network administering, and now modding... I am not making claims I cant back up... I have seen what has happened all these years, and would like to thing that I know a little something about what people want in today...

 

[Xeruan]

3) That 40GB hard drive is hardly what I would call a drive by today's standards, and FYI was hardly available to buy at all much less be had for 100 dollars or less. Your concept of how far HDD have come in 5 years is skewed.... As far as technology, go back in time and buy a Voodoo Card and Buy the upcoming X850 XT PE, we'll see who thinks technology is getting cheaper. You may settle for cheap parts, but I buy the good stuff... 40GB, WTH is that? next...

Technology is in fact getting cheaper as you said yourself, as the drive 5 years ago would have cost about 100 dollars, though the rise in price you talk about is the advancement of new technologies (500GB), not the ones that are already mass produced(40GB).

 

[Mickey21]

Technology is in fact getting cheaper as you said yourself, as the drive 5 years ago would have cost about 100 dollars, though the rise in price you talk about is the advancement of new technologies (500GB), not the ones that are already mass produced(40GB).

My original point is that buying the technology as the latest and greatest is getting more expensive to keep up with... Not that a 40GB hard drive 2 years ago is costing more today than it did then... Of course I understand the depreciation of technology, no kidding... I am saying that in general due to depreciation of your current technology, it is getting more expensive to maintain your bleeding edge technology system... Technology is always coming out with newer things... Anyways, this isnt even my maint point... My main point is that these modded hard drives in the competetive nature of the hard drive industry is not currently feasable...

 

[super_stoner]

How the hell can there be a topic in the Mod forum about modded HDs, WITHOUT ANY PICTARS!!1!?

Now lets hear some more kids whinging about clean-rooms.

Agreed, this 40 gig drive has been running 24/7 for over a year.

 

[Dan_D]

main reason is a lack of demand.

how many 80mb hdd's do you order in a month? i should hope you don't order even one a year, else you're getting some reeeeeeeeeeeally bad hdd's.

now, how many of those same hdd's does dell order in a month? probably somewhere in the 100,000's.

and who is going to order more of those hdd's with nice plexi windows? you. dell doesn't do windows on anything (unfortunately... )

see my point?

Because Dell and other OEM computer manufacturers don't want you to see the low grade low performance parts they shove in some of those cookie cutter boxes.

On the HDD window thing, it would be cool, but the market doesn't demand it enough to make it worth while. For all the reasons stated.

It would be nice, but even so most windowed cases wouldn't show off your HDD bays well enough to make paying extra for a windowed drive worth it.

 

[astolpho]

I'm the first to agree that building your own system is more satisfying than ordering one from Dell but i got to disagree with the idea that Dell uses cheap parts. They get the bleeding edge technology in their high end systems before you and me can even find them to purchase. If Dell sold AMD, their high end systems would already be selling with SLI configurations and NForce4 Chipsets. I can't tell you who makes their motherboards, or who makes their ram, but they will be using the latest technology available.