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Two dead hard drives in two years... is this acceptable??

M

momeg2

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 24, 2008
3
0
After my mom having the same pc for years and years, (with no problems) she was convinced by a friend to buy a macbook. She purchased the white macbook in Sept 2007. Within three months the logic board and hard drive crashed and, obviously, she lost everything that was on the computer.

Two weeks ago, the hard drive crashed again, and again, she has lost everything which wasn't backed up. This laptop sits on a desk and is used for the internet and storing photos - nothing else.

Obviously, we are becoming slightly disheartened with Apple products. I am just wondering if anybody has had any experiences with multiple crashed hard drives, (or other hardware) and if so, have you had any support from apple when the laptop is passed its warranty? This to me seems completely unacceptable from what is supposed to be a 'quality' and 'reliable' product and that there should be extended support if one persons product fails once a year!!!

Thanks!
 
Looks like she got a lemon there! Since it's been two years, you might not be able to get a replacement, but since it's a lemon computer that's had two dead HDs and a dead logic board, call Apple and see what they can do. It's certainly not acceptable.
 
Two hard drive crashes in such a short time is not normal. Unfortunately, the Apple marketing process is sometimes better than Apples manufacturing process.

My recommendation to your mother would be to install a little tool called SMARTReporter. It continuously monitors the SMART status of your hard drive and warns you if a failure is imminent.
Otherwise I would suggest to get 10.5 or soon 10.6 and use Time Machine.
 
Hard drives fail. They spin, and eventually stop moving.

Two failures in two years is bad luck. Nothing more, nothing less. Has nothing to do with your mother's Macbook.
 
Well, I suppose this is a good example of why to use the excellent Time Machine feature to keep the laptop fully backed up at all times.

If a third one dies, there's something else wrong that's causing the HDDs to die prematurely. Hopefully, though, this is just a case of bad luck and the replacement will last many years.
 
My black macbook had FIVE hard drives. I used it on a desk as well. The logic board tested fine each time, so it was just the drives being bad quality. For quite awhile apple was using really crappy drives in them and almost all failed within the first year. I finally bought a decent quality drive and it's been fine ever since.
 
momeg2 said:
After my mom having the same pc for years and years, (with no problems) she was convinced by a friend to buy a macbook. She purchased the white macbook in Sept 2007. Within three months the logic board and hard drive crashed and, obviously, she lost everything that was on the computer.

Two weeks ago, the hard drive crashed again, and again, she has lost everything which wasn't backed up. This laptop sits on a desk and is used for the internet and storing photos - nothing else.
Click to expand...

Two hard drives in two years is a bit unlucky, but not too unusual (for any computer). However, it is _inevitable_ that any hard drive _will_ crash eventually. That is what Time Machine is for.
 
Mobile hard drives are far more prone to failure than desktop drives. This is not an Apple thing, this is a 2.5" drive issue. They can last longer than that but I never trust them personally.
 
Apple don't make the hard drives. Brands like Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor, etc. makes them. When a hard drive fails, its the problem from those brands, not Apple. Apple just uses their hardware.
 
My PowerBook had two HDs fail within one year.

Both replaced for free under AppleCare.

Current one is still working 3 plus years later.

HDs are an OEM product. Sometimes they fail and sometimes they work for a long time.
 
Would any one recommend an external hard drive with a great manufacturer?
I hear seagate is the way to go,
I really do not need anything to fail on me due to bad manufacturing
 
kingmohd84 said:
Would any one recommend an external hard drive with a great manufacturer?
I hear seagate is the way to go,
I really do not need anything to fail on me due to bad manufacturing
Click to expand...

I personally stay away from Seagate because for some reason, whenever I use Seagate, it clicks like crazy and slow compared to other brands.

My personal favorite is Western Digital. Still have a 200GB from 2003 running non stop on an external enclosure for Time Machine backups.
 
Another vote for Western Digital here! Someone I know has a WD drive that's been dropped on the floor a few times, and has been running for about two years, and is still fine, running non-stop most of the time for Time Machine.
 
The original drive I had in my Rev A. white MB failed and before they announced the replacement plan I bought a new one so I was SOL. I think if you still have Apple Care you can explain to the rep that you have had problems with this mac over and over again and they might replace it with a newer generation 13 MB or even a MBP. Good luck with that as it sounds like she got a lemon, but it is always good to have Apple Care.
 
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