reconditioned HDs

User avatar
Skitterbug
BronzeLounger
Posts: 1280
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 12:14
Location: Sitting in my computer chair!

reconditioned HDs

Post by Skitterbug »

There are adverts offering very low prices for reconditioned external HDs. How can a defective HD be fixed so the chances of failure won't happen again? How safe are these repaired units?
Personally, I've never purchased one but I have to admit, the offer is interesting to consider.

Thanks for opinions offered! :yep:
Skitterbug :coffeetime:
A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.

User avatar
DaveA
GoldLounger
Posts: 2599
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 15:26
Location: Olympia, WA

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by DaveA »

I would NOT use one of them, even if they gave them to me, my data is to important.
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

User avatar
StuartR
Administrator
Posts: 12577
Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 15:49
Location: London, Europe

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by StuartR »

Hard Drives have a limited lifetime. They are mechanical devices and they wear out.
I would avoid buying a reconditioned one, unless you really can't afford a new one.
StuartR


User avatar
Leif
Administrator
Posts: 7193
Joined: 15 Jan 2010, 22:52
Location: Middle of England

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by Leif »

I can't honestly believe that it a HD can be 'reconditioned' like servicing a car, the drive itself is unlikely to be opened. I would guess that any reconditioning is purely cosmetic, with perhaps a shiny new USB cable and/or psu unit thrown in.

How safe?
How much use has it had? How many times has it been dropped? How many bad sectors already exist on it? How much use is your money back if it fails before you expect it to?
Leif

User avatar
viking33
PlatinumLounger
Posts: 5685
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 19:16
Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts,USA

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by viking33 »

Skitterbug wrote:There are adverts offering very low prices for reconditioned external HDs. How can a defective HD be fixed so the chances of failure won't happen again? How safe are these repaired units?
Personally, I've never purchased one but I have to admit, the offer is interesting to consider.

Thanks for opinions offered! :yep:
I suppose it's possible to recondition HDs. They can be opened and things like heads replaced and flex cables changed. BUT...did they go that far and would it be economical to do so, when HD costs are so low these days? What shape are the actual platters in? Bad sectors?
I think I would think twice and go for a new drive.
BOB
:massachusetts: :usa:
______________________________________

If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

User avatar
Skitterbug
BronzeLounger
Posts: 1280
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 12:14
Location: Sitting in my computer chair!

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by Skitterbug »

Thanks for the comments. This verified what I felt about these offers. I can not imagine that data would be safe on a reconditioned unit and that is what users hope to achieve - safe keeping of valued files. Actually, even using "new" hardware, I am paranoid enough to make two different backups in case one fails!

:thankyou: :yep:
Skitterbug :coffeetime:
A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.

User avatar
John Gray
PlatinumLounger
Posts: 5401
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 08:33
Location: A cathedral city in England

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by John Gray »

Skitterbug wrote:I am paranoid enough to make two different backups in case one fails!
And preferably to two different media types!
John Gray

Venison is quiet deer, and quite dear.

User avatar
BobH
UraniumLounger
Posts: 9215
Joined: 13 Feb 2010, 01:27
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas

Re: reconditioned HDs

Post by BobH »

Several friends of mine are former IBM field engineers. Another was also a BIOS programmer for Dell. They repair failed hard drives - sometimes - by replacing the ECB. They tell me that the boards fail far more frequently than do the mechanical components.

IF - note the big 'if' - the refurbished drives are those taken back by sellers, and IF (again, big 'if') they are refurbished by properly equipped, reliable engineering labs, I would consider them as an inexpensive addition to my system; but I would not rely upon them as the sole repository of data. Look for the S.M.A.R.T. results and get a money-back warranty if they fail within 90 days. These drives might make effective recorders for videos, movies or TV programs whose loss would not be catastrophic if the disks failed.

AGAIN, I would no rely on refurbished HDDs to store critical data, even with an effective back-up strategy. But they do have their place in the grand scheme of things.
Bob's yer Uncle
(1/2)(1+√5)
Intel Core i5, 3570K, 3.40 GHz, 16 GB RAM, ECS Z77 H2-A3 Mobo, Windows 10 >HPE 64-bit, MS Office 2016