Well thanks Seagate & eBuyer...

megamaced · 18-04-2007, 12:01 AM

... for destroying my Kubuntu installation. I really appreciate it.

I bought a new Seagate 250GB hard drive from eBuyer to pair up with my previous 80GB hard disk. I decided I was going to install Kubuntu Feisty Fawn so I burned the latest daily build onto CD. The installation process was going well until I got to the disk partitioner. I created a new partition table on both hard drives and went to format. Bang. The format bottomed out on 33% on the new hard disk, and my old installation on the second disk gone. At first, I thought it might be a bad CD, or a Feisty bug, so I popped in a Dapper Drake CD. Same results. Next I used a Gparted CDl, only for the format to fail as well. Now after several reboots, the new hard drive is not even detected by the BIOS! I can hear the sound of the famous clicking noise, which means K.O.

My old hard disk still works fine, but it's too small, hence why I replaced it. Now I am in a bit of a situation because it's pointless installing a new system on the old hard drive, then having to replace it again once eBuyer sort their act out

So I am stuck on my spare computer, which is not exactly modern....

In fairness to Seagate, this is the first hard drive failure I have experienced. Both my 80GB and 40GB hard drives are Seagate and I've never had a problem. I am more inclined to blame eBuyer and City Link for bad handling. I've had City Link turn up with a PC case in bits. I bought an 80GB Maxtor hard drive that was incredibily loose in it's packaging. Luckily that still worked.

So not the first time I've bought a product from eBuyer which is DOA, and not the first time I've experienced bad handling from City Link.

I think it's time I find a different store..

Karanislove · 18-04-2007, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mega

My old hard disk still works fine, but it's too small, hence why I replaced it. Now I am in a bit of a situation because it's pointless installing a new system on the old hard drive, then having to replace it again once eBuyer sort their act out

Cant u transfer the OS from old to new??

Swansen · 18-04-2007, 01:09 AM

i would fight them,.. with shoes and spoons probably

Big B · 18-04-2007, 03:51 AM

Well, at least Seagate's RMA's are pretty painless if ol' eBuyer drops the ball there.

Karanislove · 18-04-2007, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swansen

i would fight them,.. with shoes and spoons probably

Well Ma sox will do that job easily... Send me that HDD and i will pack it and courier bak to the company with ma socks and they will die out of smell..

megamaced · 18-04-2007, 07:19 AM

The RMA is done through eBuyer, and they don't make it easy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karanislove

Cant u transfer the OS from old to new??

I wiped the old hard drive when I attempted to install Feisty Fawn on the new hard drive. I know in hindsight that was a pretty stupid thing to do! But I wasn't expecting the hard drive DOA obviously. I guess we live and learn.

I haven't actually lost any precious data though. I keep an exact copy of all my files on my spare computer. So as long as my Maxtor doesn't pack in...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swansen

i would fight them,.. with shoes and spoons probably

Indeed

rimmer · 20-04-2007, 04:20 PM

wouldnt trust a maxtor personally, as you can see my sig hasnt been updated, my 160 gig died in december, i only had it a year and 2 weeks, thats 2 weeks out of warranty

now i have a 320 gig seagate baracuda, backed with a 5 year warranty, my games load 30% maybe 40% faster than the previous hard drive did and i have never had a problem with it

megamaced · 20-04-2007, 06:22 PM

I understand lots of people have problem with Maxtor, but until one fails on me, I will continue to buy their products. I've owned several 10GB Maxtor drives, and one 80GB that I currently use now. All of them have worked as expected.

I will continue to buy Seagate drives as well. This is the first problem I've had, and I am expecting my replacement drive to function OK.

Of the most notable brands of hard drive I've seen fail, either my own, or someone else's, would be IBM, Western Digital and Fujitsu. That being said, I still run Western Digital drives.

rimmer · 20-04-2007, 08:19 PM

Maxtor's have also been known to fry, for no reason whatsoever. Hmmmmm

megamaced · 24-04-2007, 04:05 PM

Ebuyer confirmed the hard drive as DOA today, but they couldn't issue me a replacement as the item is now permanently out of stock. It's a shame, because specification wise, it was the best available for the money. Anyhow, i've settled on a Western Digital, which I had to pay a few extra pounds for. Which is a shame, seen as I'd expected them to make up the difference, for all the hassle they've put me through! I guess my bartering skills just ain't good enough. To be honest, I am just looking forward to closing my account with them and never looking back!

I don't usually opt for Western Digital, but the drive on offer appeared to be the best value for money. I have a few older Western Digital WD200 20GB drives, one of which is permanently used in my spare computer. The performance is quite good for a hard drive of that age, however I've seen lots of WD200 drives dead as well! In fact, I've seen more dead Western Digital drives then any other manufacturer!

I think comparing hard drive manufacturers is a bit like comparing car manufacturers. Whilst some models are obviously inferior to others, compared overall, most manufacturers are about equal. It's just a case of who's models you've purchased, and how they've worked for you. I've never had a problem with Maxtor, whereas other people would rather use their products as toilet paper. I'd now think twice about purchasing a Seagate, whereas other people swear by their products.

In the future I think i'll be purchasing Samsung drives because I rarely hear of failures. They appear to be very reliable and offer good performance for the money

Big B · 25-04-2007, 11:34 AM

I've bounced between Seagate and WD 160GB for my main drives, and Seagate was a tad faster. I didn't know by actual use, but running HD Tach gave it the edge.

megamaced · 26-04-2007, 09:28 AM

My Western Digital hard drive arrived yesterday in working condition, thank God! Actually, it was the first hard drive I've bought from eBuyer that wasn't loose in it's packaging!

As I've said before, I've never really considered Western Digital drives before, but that might change now that i've witnessed the performance of this hard drive! Whilst it is a little noisy, more then you'd expect from a modern day hard drive, the speed more then makes up for this. The hard drive it replaced is an 80GB Seagate that only had 1MB of cache! No, I didn't buy it, it came preinstalled in my eMachines computer! I never thought that moving to the 8MB cache of the Western Digital would make all that much difference. But it's like I've installed a new processor or upgraded the RAM! Boot time and file transfers and so much faster. It's amazing! I can only begin to think what 16MB of cache would do..

So yeah, very happy with the hard drive. Will definately recommend Western Digital in the future.

18-04-2007, 12:01 AM	#1 (permalink) Top
megamaced Geek Geek Geek! Join Date: Nov 2005 Age: 24 Male Posts: 3,466 Times Helpful: 352 My Mood: Fine Status: Offline My Computer	Well thanks Seagate & eBuyer... ... for destroying my Kubuntu installation. I really appreciate it. I bought a new Seagate 250GB hard drive from eBuyer to pair up with my previous 80GB hard disk. I decided I was going to install Kubuntu Feisty Fawn so I burned the latest daily build onto CD. The installation process was going well until I got to the disk partitioner. I created a new partition table on both hard drives and went to format. Bang. The format bottomed out on 33% on the new hard disk, and my old installation on the second disk gone. At first, I thought it might be a bad CD, or a Feisty bug, so I popped in a Dapper Drake CD. Same results. Next I used a Gparted CDl, only for the format to fail as well. Now after several reboots, the new hard drive is not even detected by the BIOS! I can hear the sound of the famous clicking noise, which means K.O. My old hard disk still works fine, but it's too small, hence why I replaced it. Now I am in a bit of a situation because it's pointless installing a new system on the old hard drive, then having to replace it again once eBuyer sort their act out So I am stuck on my spare computer, which is not exactly modern.... In fairness to Seagate, this is the first hard drive failure I have experienced. Both my 80GB and 40GB hard drives are Seagate and I've never had a problem. I am more inclined to blame eBuyer and City Link for bad handling. I've had City Link turn up with a PC case in bits. I bought an 80GB Maxtor hard drive that was incredibily loose in it's packaging. Luckily that still worked. So not the first time I've bought a product from eBuyer which is DOA, and not the first time I've experienced bad handling from City Link. I think it's time I find a different store.. __________________ "A computer is like air conditioning: it becomes useless when you open windows". ~Linus Torvalds

18-04-2007, 03:51 AM	#4 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 28 Male Posts: 9,636 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Offline My Computer	Well, at least Seagate's RMA's are pretty painless if ol' eBuyer drops the ball there. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

20-04-2007, 04:20 PM	#7 (permalink) Top
rimmer Big Geek Join Date: Aug 2006 Age: 18 Male Posts: 302 Times Helpful: 5 My Mood: Amazed Status: Offline My Computer	wouldnt trust a maxtor personally, as you can see my sig hasnt been updated, my 160 gig died in december, i only had it a year and 2 weeks, thats 2 weeks out of warranty now i have a 320 gig seagate baracuda, backed with a 5 year warranty, my games load 30% maybe 40% faster than the previous hard drive did and i have never had a problem with it __________________

20-04-2007, 06:22 PM	#8 (permalink) Top
megamaced Geek Geek Geek! Join Date: Nov 2005 Age: 24 Male Posts: 3,466 Times Helpful: 352 My Mood: Fine Status: Offline My Computer	I understand lots of people have problem with Maxtor, but until one fails on me, I will continue to buy their products. I've owned several 10GB Maxtor drives, and one 80GB that I currently use now. All of them have worked as expected. I will continue to buy Seagate drives as well. This is the first problem I've had, and I am expecting my replacement drive to function OK. Of the most notable brands of hard drive I've seen fail, either my own, or someone else's, would be IBM, Western Digital and Fujitsu. That being said, I still run Western Digital drives. __________________ "A computer is like air conditioning: it becomes useless when you open windows". ~Linus Torvalds

20-04-2007, 08:19 PM	#9 (permalink) Top
rimmer Big Geek Join Date: Aug 2006 Age: 18 Male Posts: 302 Times Helpful: 5 My Mood: Amazed Status: Offline My Computer	Maxtor's have also been known to fry, for no reason whatsoever. Hmmmmm __________________

24-04-2007, 04:05 PM	#10 (permalink) Top
megamaced Geek Geek Geek! Join Date: Nov 2005 Age: 24 Male Posts: 3,466 Times Helpful: 352 My Mood: Fine Status: Offline My Computer	Ebuyer confirmed the hard drive as DOA today, but they couldn't issue me a replacement as the item is now permanently out of stock. It's a shame, because specification wise, it was the best available for the money. Anyhow, i've settled on a Western Digital, which I had to pay a few extra pounds for. Which is a shame, seen as I'd expected them to make up the difference, for all the hassle they've put me through! I guess my bartering skills just ain't good enough. To be honest, I am just looking forward to closing my account with them and never looking back! I don't usually opt for Western Digital, but the drive on offer appeared to be the best value for money. I have a few older Western Digital WD200 20GB drives, one of which is permanently used in my spare computer. The performance is quite good for a hard drive of that age, however I've seen lots of WD200 drives dead as well! In fact, I've seen more dead Western Digital drives then any other manufacturer! I think comparing hard drive manufacturers is a bit like comparing car manufacturers. Whilst some models are obviously inferior to others, compared overall, most manufacturers are about equal. It's just a case of who's models you've purchased, and how they've worked for you. I've never had a problem with Maxtor, whereas other people would rather use their products as toilet paper. I'd now think twice about purchasing a Seagate, whereas other people swear by their products. In the future I think i'll be purchasing Samsung drives because I rarely hear of failures. They appear to be very reliable and offer good performance for the money __________________ "A computer is like air conditioning: it becomes useless when you open windows". ~Linus Torvalds

25-04-2007, 11:34 AM	#11 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 28 Male Posts: 9,636 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Offline My Computer	I've bounced between Seagate and WD 160GB for my main drives, and Seagate was a tad faster. I didn't know by actual use, but running HD Tach gave it the edge. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

26-04-2007, 09:28 AM	#12 (permalink) Top
megamaced Geek Geek Geek! Join Date: Nov 2005 Age: 24 Male Posts: 3,466 Times Helpful: 352 My Mood: Fine Status: Offline My Computer	My Western Digital hard drive arrived yesterday in working condition, thank God! Actually, it was the first hard drive I've bought from eBuyer that wasn't loose in it's packaging! As I've said before, I've never really considered Western Digital drives before, but that might change now that i've witnessed the performance of this hard drive! Whilst it is a little noisy, more then you'd expect from a modern day hard drive, the speed more then makes up for this. The hard drive it replaced is an 80GB Seagate that only had 1MB of cache! No, I didn't buy it, it came preinstalled in my eMachines computer! I never thought that moving to the 8MB cache of the Western Digital would make all that much difference. But it's like I've installed a new processor or upgraded the RAM! Boot time and file transfers and so much faster. It's amazing! I can only begin to think what 16MB of cache would do.. So yeah, very happy with the hard drive. Will definately recommend Western Digital in the future. __________________ "A computer is like air conditioning: it becomes useless when you open windows". ~Linus Torvalds

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