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From: "Frank Brand" <fbrand at uq.net.au>
To: <general at lists.humbug.org.au>
Subject: Re: [H-GEN] [HYPERscan M7]
Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 15:50:44 +1000
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[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and  ]
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>> hard drive (although if you can afford it i recommend an IBM glass
platter
>> drive.... heavy, but very quiet and i've yet to hear from anyone who has
>> had a problem with one.
>
>Do you talk to anybody?  IBM drives of late are infamous for their
>high failure rate.
>
If you buy a lot of hard drives, from time to time you have problems with
most makes. Western Digital had massive problems a few years ago, at one
stage I had problems with Quantum another time it was Samsung, currently
Maxtor. Usually it is not a major design fault (although occasionally it is)
but it is a problem with a particular batch.

I did wait for 4 months for a replacement for a Seagate 10gig but that had
more to do with the distributor than Seagate. I have had relatively little
trouble with Fujitsu but I buy a lot more of other brands. I buy hundreds so
I do see failures. If I buy 100 and see two failures it's 2%...about average
I suppose. If you buy one every three or four years, for most people they
see no failure - 100% success; a few have a drive that fails...they see 100%
failure. So for me its 2%, 3% or 4% failure rate for you its 100% one way or
another.

The most important issue for me is not that drives fail but what the
reseller/distributor does for me when that happens. Just remember your hard
drive *IS* going to die...not an if but a when (maybe 4 days, maybe 4
years)...so back up important data.

Be wary, in some cases, especially so with hard drives, that parallel
importing takes place...ie. not through normal channels...they might be
imported via Vietnam via Thailand via Taiwan or wherever a good deal is
available (called parallel because it is running in parallel with official
direct importing channels). The products may be sold to
wholesalers/distributors with or without warranty. With a good retailer the
buyer never knows this and even if the retailer bought at a very good price
without warranty or with a modified warranty, he covers the disks that are
duds. He can do this because he bought at a low enough price for him to
cover warranty claims himself without recourse to the manufacturer. Often,
in the USA, the same goods are sold as a "Retail Package" or as "OEM". In
some instances OEM products have reduced warranties because they were
originally sold in lots of 1,000 or 10,000 and maybe with a condition that
the bulk buyer carries some or all warranty responsibility. The bulk buyer
might only want 1,000 but buys 10,000 to get a better price and takes the
risk that he can on-sell the remaining 9,000 at a small profit (say be
selling lots of 500 at the 1,000 lot price). This further subsidises his
original purchase. Even if he sells them all at his 10,000 lot purchase
price he has received the benefit of a lower price than he would get by
buying at the 1,000 lot price.

Not such good retailers make you wait until they get coverage from their
distributor or can get a replacement drive at lower price or whatever.

So, the important thing to me is, if I have a warranty problem, does the
dealer make me feel welcome and that it is not my problem but his and
replaces the component immediately or does he look down his nose at me make
me feel like he doesn't want to know and that he will look after me only
after he's been looked after by his distributor...maybe in a few months
time.


Yesterday, Sarah mentioned the CMI 8738 PCI 4 channel sound card. I too am
using that card under Linux and it works very well and is picked up
automatically with a standard install. It comes with the Linux sound driver
on the CD and instructions for recompiling the kernel if necessary - most
unusual for this level of Linux support. I have a source for these at $25
each...maybe even a dollar or two less for a larger purchase.

Ron also mentioned Sony CDROMs...CDROMs are, in my experience, the most
likely item to fail prematurely. In recent years they have become commodity
items. Most are made and rebadged in factories in China (Sony, Acer etc) and
Indonesia (Mitsubishi, Samsung). I suspect quite a few brands come from the
same factories. Up until 1997-98 or there abouts Sony made their CDROMs in
Japan...more recently they are sourced from China. Whether the recent Sony
CDROMs perform as well as the earlier models I am not sure but they probably
do not perform any worse than the others, I just don't pay a premium for
Sony any more.

Just another 2 cents worth.


Frank Brand



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