I have the exact same drive. I have transferred something like ~500 GB of data to it, and after 3 days, it started clicking (the so called "click of death"). The SMART and Short DST tests report everything as normal. Seagate was really prompt and replied to my case in 1 hour, telling that it is a warranty problem. I have seen over 500 HDD's during my experience with PC's (I work as an IT Professional for 10 years now), and Seagate has always been the best choice due to the speed and reliability. However, during the last two years, it seemed to me that Seagate is doing everything to loose that title, and it's affecting their reputation really bad. Just google the model number of this drive, or the 2 TB version, and you will see the results. Failure rate seems to be extremely high.
We all know the firmware problems of the 7200.11 series and now this?
My question is: Seagate, what are you doing? Where do you want do go, because clearly you are not going in the right direction and this isn't the Seagate I knew for over 10 years! It's something else, it sounds more like Maxtor used to be. Of 80 or so failed drives I have seen during my experience, something like 40 of them were Maxtor, I know Seagate bought Maxtor, but I was hoping that Seagate's standards would impose upon Maxtor and not the other way around.
I have a BS in EE and I know that releasing a product with hidden flaws, design issues or unforseen problems onto the production line is something that happens to every big company in every field of business, but having the strength to acknowledge that the problem exists and do something about it, be it retiring the line, pausing the production, recalling and so on, is the thing that separates the serious companies, that really care for their clients, from the profit oriented companies. We all know Microsoft's widespread policy: "If we don't admit there is a problem, it means it doesn't exist!". Don't walk that road.
From a PR/Marketing point of view, acknowledging that there is a problem with a product/line of products would prove to be harmful in the short term, but could be extremely positive in the long term.
Don't get this the wrong way, but, Seagate you have to wake up!
Thank you.
