Hard Drives Get Longer Warranties

Seagate and Western Digital are both increasing their warranties—at least when you purchase in bulk. Seagate started it, and Western Digital hastened to follow suit in order to keep up with their competitor.

Given that most hard drives fail within their first two years, a three-year (or five years, for ‘enterprise’ drives) warranty is definitely worth the purchaser’s while.

As an end-user purchasing an external drive, additional drive, or replacement drive, you might not get such a good deal, but read the fine print when comparing prices anyway. All else being equal—or nearly—get the drive with the longer warranty.