Western Digital WD RE4 WD1003FBYX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Enterprise Hard Drive

Pros: None

Cons: I have been running 3 RE2s in a QNAP in RAID 5 for 4 years without incident. I needed to expand the capacity so I ordered the 1 TB RE 4 anticipating zero problems. The drive I received could not be read at all, the replacement drive I received reported S.M.A.R.T. errors and any tests I ran failed at reading the drive, and the second replacement drive I received just clicked and could not be read at all. I will be returning for a refund.

Other Thoughts: After reading the negative reviews, this seems to be a common problem. I'm not convinced it is the packaging, however, since all 3 drives were packed the same way: bubble wrapped in a box that is inside another larger box and surrounded by paper fill stuff. Maybe it is the way the drives are handled or stored before they are shipped or maybe it is a WD problem, we may never know.

I have found other reviews on [a different major retailer that the review system won't let me write because it is [redacted]] for this drive that site similar problems but not to the extent of Newegg. Perhaps I'll try to order the same drive from them.

Pros: Western Digital is usually what I go with as far as HDD's never had one with bad sectors that wouldn't pass S.M.A.R.T

Cons: wouldn't pass S.M.A.R.T, had bad sectors

Pros: Fast, quiet.

Cons: Has become unstable after just about exactly one year of service. I've put in a service request with WD, and expect they will issue an RMA.

Pros: Was inexpensive for Enterprise hardware. (Go figure)

Cons: Original drive shipped DOA. RMA'd directly to Western Digital. Replacement arrived in a timely fashion, then the nightmare began. Installed it to our server for an internal backup drive. After powering back up, immediate sizzle and smoke. There was a dead short on the 5 volt rail. When the drive was removed, we realized it not only killed itself, but it destroyed our primary data drive and half of our raid stripe. Only 1 drive in the server survived. I spent dozens of hours and several hundred dollars on data recovery. DO NOT BUY THIS DRIVE.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the WD RE4, as this is not the typical experience with the product. It is unfortunate that you experienced a DOA drive, as our drives are all rigorously tested to ensure they are in good working condition before leaving our warehouse. Our goal is to provide world class customer service, and part of that goal in this situation would be to replace your drive, and investigate the cause relating to the products defect.
How to get an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) or replace a defective product under warranty
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8
We would like to assure you that what you have experienced is extremely abnormal.
You may contact us directly at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/. Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: In RAID 10, was very fast editing video. Up to this point, I thought WD drives were the best.

Cons: I figured out what RE stands for: REPLACE EVERYDAY. I bought 5 of these for a 4 raid setup for a video editing system, one bought for spare. After about 45 days, one of the drives failed. Ran the WinDlg software and it failed the quick test. RMA'ed and $15 shipping then received replacement from WD. It failed within an hour. Another RMA and $15 more and the next replacement failed. AND another RMA and the replacement lasted two months and a day later one of the other drives failed. You know it takes about a week for the drive to get to WD, then they fool around with it for a couple of days, then send a replacement 3 day air, so about two weeks a drive. Something like 60% fail rate? The big money for five drives and a backplane and time spent setting up this RAID only to have a system that is NOT reliable at all. By the way, the backplane was taken out of the loop and drives connected direct to motherboard for troubleshooting, SATA and power cables also switched out and checked. A good indicator is when drives sound like someone clearing their throat.

Other Thoughts: This is ridiculous. LESSON LEARNED: I should have and now will purchase a 500gb SSD which will not only be faster, silent, cooler, a fraction of the space, so much easier to configure and RELIABLE.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the WD RE4, as this is not the typical experience with the product. We are very sorry to hear that several of your drives did not function so soon after they were delivered. Western Digital does rigorously test and verify all of our drives, prior to shipping, with burn-in and diagnostic tests. We stand behind our warranty for the duration of the products provided warranty period, and as such, we are here to support our products regardless of the circumstances. We would like to assure you that what you have experienced is extremely abnormal. We would appreciate the opportunity to further assist you, and resolve any further concerns you may have with the device and/or your experience. You may contact us at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/. Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: I have two of these in an intensive RAID1 server environment, and they have been performing without any issue at all.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: This is a WD quality drive.

Pros: Cheap price on a well known name WD has always had great service

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: 4 installed in a NAS for backup backup backup...

Pros: Nice drive for the price.

Cons: These drives carry no warranty from WDC. WDC lists them as sold to a system manufacturer. I had to call WDC and get them to change the warranty status. Newegg only covers direct returns for 30 days. Be advised when buying bulk drives, you may have RMA troubles.

Pros: These drives are excellent for low end servers or high end workstations. They rarely fail, unless purchased from Newegg. The packaging that they were shipped in was styrofoam on one side with the open side covered by completely popped and flat bubble wrap (meaning no protection). You could see wear marks on the antistatic back where the hard drive corners are. 5 of 8 hard drives were bad, 4 failed the WDC test and the 5th just clicked. This was verified on 2 other computers. On a $6000 order I thought they might pack it right... but this is their standard OEM hdd packaging procedure. For my clients, hdd failure rate is higher for drives purchased from newegg than any other retailer. I've E-Mailed them about this before. Any money or convenience saved by shopping here was lost with a delayed deployment and inability to charge a client for the extra required labor caused by a poorly packaged product.

Cons: None, if the drives are packaged properly.

Other Thoughts: WDC would void your warranty if you sent these drives to them in the same manner that Newegg ships them out.

I can't ask my client to purchase at several different retailers for components since that is just extra overhead so until the packaging issue is resolved, Newegg is off the list.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the Western Digital 1 TB Desktop Black Drive, as this is not the typical or intended experience with the product. It is unfortunate that you have experienced a drive failure after only one day of use, as our drives are all rigorously tested to ensure they are in good working condition before leaving our warehouse. There are many variables that affect the condition of your hard drive between leaving our warehouse and physical installation and writing to your drive, including shipping, repackaging and shipping again, handling, actual read/write commands or operating system installation, and even just a defective drive. We understand that many situations can affect the health of your hard drive, however we stand by our warranty and replacement policy, and will gladly replace your defective in-warranty hard drive for you, at no cost for replacement. Information detailing the steps to take to replace your product can be found at the following link.
http://bit.ly/Anlqmn
We would appreciate the opportunity to further assist you directly, and resolve any further concerns you may have with the device and/or your experience. You may contact us at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/
Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: With a field-tested 1.2 million hour MTBF, this high performance drive is supposed to deliver the highest level of reliability for 24x7 operation in up to 100% duty cycle applications.

Cons: 3 of 6 purchased have failed within 6 months of installation

Other Thoughts: Makes me wonder if we got drives that were flooded in Thailand - or was the pressure so great to churn them out after the floods that corners were cut.

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the Western Digital RE4 Drive, as this is not the typical or intended experience with the product. It is unfortunate that you have experienced a drive failure after only 6 months of use, as our drives are all rigorously tested to ensure they are in good working condition before leaving our warehouse. There are many variables that affect the condition of your hard drive between leaving our warehouse and physical installation and writing to your drive, including shipping, repackaging and shipping again, handling, actual read/write commands or operating system installation, and even just a defective drive. We understand that many situations can affect the health of your hard drive, however we stand by our warranty and replacement policy, and will gladly replace your defective in-warranty hard drive for you, at no cost for replacement. Information detailing the steps to take to replace your product can be found at the following link.
http://bit.ly/Anlqmn
In the interest of troubleshooting, before replacing your product, you can use the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows (WinDLG) utility for your windows computer or Disk Utility for your Mac computer to attempt to write zeros to your drive, additional zeroes written could be more beneficial, to see if the problem persists. Information regarding WinDLG and Disk Utility can be found at the following links.
http://bit.ly/QO6dvm
http://bit.ly/mE9Fjo
We would appreciate the opportunity to further assist you directly, and resolve any further concerns you may have with the device and/or your experience. You may contact us at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/
Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.