2 x F1 1TB have been in my rig, one as Vista, other as games and programs. Then in a Nas in raid0, now in another pc - one as Windows7 sys and other as backup/files. 2 x F2 1.5TB in my rig currently, used as backup, games and program drives. I can't remember when I bought them, sorry but the 1TB drives have been in service for acouple of years or so and the 1.5's have been in use about a year or so maybe longer.
Speak of the devil... I just lost two Spinpoint HD103SJ's today. They started dropping out of Windows randomly, and then all of a sudden stopped showing up in BIOS. I think I just got a bad batch, their serial numbers are sequential and they both chose to die together.
3 x F1 500gig (used as main drive) all died within 2 years 2 x F1 500gig (used as storage drive) still going. 4 x F3 500gig (2 used as main drive / 2 as storage) + 1 x F3 1TB (storage) all going strong for minimum of a year.
Been buying F3 HDs recently. I really hope I haven't got a bad batch but I reckon their failure rates are pretty damn low as hard drives go.
I've got 2 1TB F3s, One as my main drive, the other in the sky box getting fairly constant use. Had both for approx 14 months and not had any problems yet.
Is there a way to check this on the drive itself somewhere? They stopped showing up in BIOS last night.
If they won't show in the BIOS, you won't be able to see the firmware version as it is not written on the outside. If both won't show in the BIOS, are you sure the m/b, SATA & power cables are okay? Do you have another machine you can test it on first?
Had a couple of the original Spinpoints. A 120gb and two 250gb. The 120 and one of the 250s are still working fine, more than 5 years (got the 250 in late 2005, and the 120 in late 2006). The other 250 died after 3 years (bought in early 2007, died around xmas 2009). As for the new ones, I bought a pair of 1TB F3s in the summer (one in May, one in July). One of the drives failed in November. I was moving cases and when I re-installed it, it just had the "click of death". I took the usual safety precautions, and it wasn't mishandled, so I'm not sure if it was a normal failure or if something weird happened when I was moving it. I RMA'ed it, and the replacement is chugging along like a champ.
1 x 1.5 TB F3, 8 months old or so. No problems at all, very quiet too. Actually, the only drives I've ever had fail on me were all WD Caviars.
2x 1TB F3 - 8 months old - On 24/7, media streamer pc. 2x 1TB F1 - 18months (I think), Desktop PC. 2x 750Gb - 2 years constant use, now relegated to backup devices 1x 500gb, 1x 320. Ancient. still used No issues on any of them.
1 x T166 500GB HD501LJ - around 4 years old, working fine 2 x 1TB F1's - about 6 months old, working fine Pretty much spinning up 24 hrs a day until recently, when i started shutting down the PC overnight.
I have a 1TB F1 grinding away as a networked file server. Has been running fine 24/7 for about 2 years with no problems. Knock on wood. I have only had 2 drives drop dead on me in the last 8 years one was a W\D caviar and one was a Hitachi Deathstar.
After recomending them to friends (well puting them into their builds) and using at least 40 Spinpoints I was shocked to blow 6 drives in as many months in my own system. Turned out to be a faulty PSU that was spiking the 12v line (had checked it before with my trusty analogue multimeter but the spikes only showed on digital). Lost soo much hardware to that PSU.
2x 1TB F3s. 1 is around 8 months old, the other around 5-6. No issues so far. Only component that ever broke down in my PC was the Corsair HX850 which blew up after 3 months of light use >.>
F3 500GB 1 year and 1 month or so old. Working perfectly. F3 1TB in an icybox enclosure connected via eSATA 1 year 6 months old working perfect but one night win 7 decided to really thrash it to death, quick reboot sorted that though.
2 F3 1TB in my machine. 16months old and still working. It was running 24/7 until last month, so at least the one with the o/s on it will have had above average use.
Over the last 3 years have used around: 1TB Samsung = 2000 dead in warranty around 25 1TB Hitachi = 800 dead in warranty around 8 1TB WD 64mb Cache = 4500 dead in warranty around 60 1TB Seagate = 500 dead in warranty around 2 Although worse drive is WD 160gb 10K Raptor used 8 dead in warranty 6 So we see a couple more WD 1TB die then average but all others pretty much the same. Obviously these are not all personal use :=) i work for a custom PC builder.
