[mythtv-users] OT: Seagate to reduce warranties on consumer drives to 3 years from 2009

[Yeechang Lee]

Preston Crow <pc-mythtv08a at crowcastle.net> says:
> From a consumer perspective, if I had a drive fail after two years,
> the product cycle is such that I wouldn't bother getting a warranty
> replacement, as the cost of shipping would be more than the value of
> the drive.

It of course depends on the capacity in question. We MythTV users deal
with very large--and thus more expensive--drives.

For example, when I have a failure among the Western Digital Raid
Edition 2 500GB SATA drives that comprise my main MythTV storage
array, I requet an online advance RMA. When the new drive arrives, I
pack up the old one in the new one's box, print out a $5.50 prepaid
shipping label, and take the box to my condo building's front desk so
it's picked up the next time the UPS guy comes buy. $5.50 is a better
deal than the $97 plus shipping I'd pay at ZipZoomFly.

-- 
Frontend:		P4 3.0GHz, 1.5TB software RAID 5 array
Backend:		Quad-core Xeon 1.6GHz, 6.6TB sw RAID 6
Video inputs:		Four high-definition over FireWire/OTA
Accessories:		47" 1080p LCD, 5.1 digital, and MX-600