What is your opinion on Hitachi Deskstars?

yaggayagga Havn't you heard? ... New
edited November 2004 in Hardware
I've heard some bad things about Deskstars, but is that just for older IBM ones?

I have a friend who is looking for a new harddrive and I want to know if I should recommend this one:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=314482&cm_ven=chth_em&cm_cat=em_110704&cm_pla=allcusa&cm_ite=up&cm_cmem=%%el%%

Comments

  • floppybootstompfloppybootstomp Greenwich New
    edited November 2004
    The old IBM Deathstars were bad news, I had three packup on me, all rma'd OK, still using two, although one's starting to play up two years down the line.

    From what I've read, since Hitachi took over production, they're a lot better. I'd certainly take a chance on one, chances are they probably don't have a higher failure rate than any other manufacturer.

    Funny thing was, in their time, the IBM Deskstars (correct spelling that time ;) ) were a very good drive, but buying one was like playing Russian Roulette.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited November 2004
    I still dont trust them. Go with maxtor or seagate...
  • MissilemanMissileman Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    The IBM drive division made some of the best and fastest drives on the market for a lot of years. Then the "DeathStars" model hit and it was all over. It was similiar to the 1.2 Gb fiasco Western Digital had only worse. It was a bad design. It was so bad IBM dumped the division to Hitachi who immediately went back to the tried and true design and updated the electronics. I have been running 2 80Gb SATA drives now for a year or so and they have been rock solid and way faster than my Seagate drives. The 2 Hitachi Drives burst 235Mb and sustain 100Mb+. Seagate doesn't even come close on the same board and the same controller's other 2 channels.

    I'd say go for it. They haven't had anybad reports in since Hitachi took over.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    The end of IBM storage came when they started using pixie dust on their platters (I'm not making this up, BTW). The deskstars WERE good drives - fast and high capacity. But man, they sure screwed up bad when they didn't foresee all the thermal problems.

    The deathstars were one of the worst things to ever happen to my company. I had been purchasing those drives like crazy for customers, and I swear they all started failing around the same time. Imagine, if you will, RAID 5 arrays with 2 or even THREE drives failing at the same time. Major data loss for big customers with screams and shouts of "YOU SWORE THIS COULD NOT HAPPEN WITH RAID 5", etc.

    For that, I will never buy a deathstar again, I don't care WHO owns the name or the tech.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    [H]ard|OCP blew through 14 deathstars in 17 days. :eek:
  • MissilemanMissileman Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    Like Prime I'm the same way with WD. They cost me a ton of money and a lot of goodwill with the 1.2 Gb EIDE problems. Luckily I was on a Maxtor kick when the DeathStar thermal trouble hit. It's hard not to hold a grudge.

    :rarr::grr:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2004
    This sad tale has been told before, but to repeat:

    Two 46GB DeathStars died after about a year. Both RMA'd.

    Both replacement drives dead within a year of that. RMA time once again.

    I now have had a fifth 46GB DeathStar and a Hitachi 61GB drive sent as replacements for the second pair of duds sitting brand new in their boxes for two years now. Every time I find myself tempted to use one I end up buying a new drive instead.

    To be fair, nearly three years ago I bought four Maxtor 80GB drives and had one die a year ago and another croak last week. My dads 160GB WD (lasted a year) and my daughters 120GB WD (six months) both needed replacement as well...

    The Conner 850MB drive that came with my first computer nearly ten years ago still tests out fine. ;)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    Hey! I have the same Conner drive! Mine still works too. :D
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    If you want one of the SATA drives I would say do it! I have 3 of the 80's and they are a completely new drive from anything IBM ever produced. Read this from Storage Review.
  • yaggayagga Havn't you heard? ... New
    edited November 2004
    Wow, thanks, I kind of get the idea that its a chance I'm taking if I go for it, but it is still a somewhat good chance. If I find anyother sales this week I probably will say no to it though.
  • ShivianShivian Australia
    edited November 2004
    Thrax wrote:
    [H]ard|OCP blew through 14 deathstars in 17 days. :eek:
    What in blazes were they doing to them???
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2004
    Probably using them..... :cool:
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited November 2004
    primesuspect wrote:
    Probably using them..... :cool:
    ;D;D;D;D;D;D
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited November 2004
    Most of the Dell travelstar RMA's are Hitatchi drives now. I remember how pissed I used to get when I received a 'refurbished' IBM travelstar as an RMA replacement. Especially after the user lost all of his/her data :shakehead .. Sure enough, within 12 months, the drive is toast..
  • ShivianShivian Australia
    edited November 2004
    primesuspect wrote:
    Probably using them..... :cool:
    :D
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited November 2004
    I'd steer clear of them. I've replaced a bunch of the travelstar hard drives and wouldn't go near them. I'm a western digital or maxtor kind of person. If you're considering that size and rpm then also consider buying one with 8mb of cache instead of just 2mb. You'll really like the performance improvement.
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