Never buy a SAMSUNG!! Hard Drive - THEY can WHINE

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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scottb
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 11:48 pm

Never buy a SAMSUNG!! Hard Drive - THEY can WHINE

Post by scottb » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:01 am

Hi,

I say I am annoyed is an under statement. I am furious with SAMSUNG. They can't be called a professional company.

I bought two SP1614C drives, spinpoint serial ata sata drives for a RAID 1 config.

I got the dreaded JVC motors, and they make an awful sound. They are unusuable. My whole family insisted they get turned off. It is that bad. Its like having enforced tinnitus.

So I tried to RMA to microdirect and they said, "yes, we know about the problem, but samsung won't take them back, so we won't allow RMA"

The fact is samsung are selling sub standard kit, and have specifications on their website that says the drives are 16db in idle. This is NOT correct if you get the JVC motors.

Surely there is some consumber law in the UK to help me out. I have spent nearly 200 quid on two duff drives and what is worse, wasted my valuable time.

Never buy from SAMSUNG, you have been warned.

alleycat
Posts: 740
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2002 10:32 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by alleycat » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:27 am

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, I also copped one with a whiny JVC motor (120GB PATA). Very disappointing considering all the good publicity Samsung gets around here, and I won't be recommending Samsung's products to anyone either. I can certainly relate to your tinnitus comment.

However, you can also consider this as a challenge to come up with some ingenious way of damping the noise, and post your findings here! For a start, decoupling the drive(s) reduces the lower frequency and seek noises to an astonishing degree, and even the whine is lessened slightly. Look in the sticky at the beginning of this section for ideas. I've experimented with some felt damping material (I got mine from a car audio shop), and when I can be bothered, I am certain I can reduce the whine to nothing without too much effort. It seems that high frequency noise is pretty easy to block. Good luck.

tomknight
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 7:36 am

Post by tomknight » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:11 am

I'm guessing you bought the HDD in the UK (unless there's also a non-UK Microdirect)

Trading Standards...
On buying a computer:
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi- ... 5-1111.txt
"The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended):
The computer should be of a satisfactory quality, fit for its purpose and as described. When deciding whether the computer is of a satisfactory quality, its appearance, finish, durability, price paid, safety and freedom from even minor defects can all be taken into account. If the computer is faulty, you have a legal claim against the retailer of the computer, who should help you to resolve any problems."

"The Trade Descriptions Act 1968:
As well as The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended), which says that the computer should be as described, criminal law says that any description made should be truthful and accurate. If this is not the case, your local Trading Standards Department may be interested in the information."

I reckon you should have a case under at least the TDA. If Microdirect knew there was a potential problem then they really should be prepared to refund you even if Samsung don't want to. After all, did Microdirect tell you the drive was quiet? Hmm... maybe they didn't (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInf ... roupID=205), but they did permit the review "very quiet" to stay on their site. I can't see a disclaimer saying that the reviews are not the official company literature...

Maybe you received this drive less than 7 days ago - then you can use the "cooling off" period to send it back.

Oh, obviously IANAL.

Tom.

scottb
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 11:48 pm

thanks

Post by scottb » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:06 am

thanks to the posters.

On one side, i am taking on samsung, and am now even in contact with korea. If you put your case in an articulate fashion, folks find you hard to get rid off!

Secondly, microdirect are considering what to do after i got heavy with them, and i also have indicated the 7 day cooling period is activated.

So, we shall see what happens.

I tried to get rid of the high noise with pads, foam, and nothing worked. It is hard to get rid off, it is very high pitched.

Rusty075
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 4000
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Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Post by Rusty075 » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:50 am

Although it is of no consolation to Scottb, his misfortune does illustrate something important:

If you're buying a product where there is individual variation between samples that is important (besides these HDD's, CPU stepping, and PSU/mobo revisions spring to mind) think of these guidelines, ranked in order:

1. Buy local, so you can see what you're getting before you pay for it. (the best solution, but not always possible)

2. Buy from someplace that will "cherry-pick" Some places will, with smaller stores seeming to be more likely to do so. Often a phone call is much more successful at arranging this than an email.

3. Buy from someplace with a liberal return policy. And verify what the policy is first. This is probably the riskiest path, because you often get into the definition of what "defective" is. Check their listings, their images, and their disclaimers; they all might you give an out if what you get isn't what they were describing/showing.


Not a help to you Scott, obviously, but maybe it'll save someone else from frustration in the future. Good luck, and keep us posted on how it works out for you.


(and now that things have mellowed a bit, you may want to edit your topic title to soften it some...it is a bit harsh. :lol: )

kogi
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 2:02 pm
Location: sydney.au

Post by kogi » Wed Jul 14, 2004 6:06 pm

We can't win. I got a couple of new seagates because I wanted to go SATA. The seek noises on them sound a like a jack hammer.

kogi

PCGUY
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 11:36 am
Location: USA

Post by PCGUY » Fri Jul 16, 2004 9:25 am

I have 2 SATA SP1614C samsungs and they are extemely quite :D

I cannot hear this stuff even during seeks - Offcourse I used EARS grommet to secure them.

Touch wood, it is working for the last couple of months!

Probably you got the batch that was defective.

dimva
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:01 pm

Post by dimva » Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:28 pm

scottb, can you please participate in my poll?

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