Hey all,

 

I'm (most likely) in the market for a new drive, I've got an array full of 2TB WD Greens at the minute and I'm thinking I might as well push up the capacity when this drive fails, so it's 3TB+ but I'm torn is it worth going WD green or Red these days?

 

Opinions please!

 

You'll get a variety of opinions on this.  I think the lower power consumption, better vibration management, and longer warranty of the Reds is worth the slight extra cost -- so that's all I buy these days.    There are other good drives -- HGST and the Seagate NAS units in particular, but I'm staying with the Reds ... especially since they released the 1.2TB/platter 6TB drives.

 

I presume you're aware that to use a new, larger drive, the first thing you need is a larger parity drive.  You should do that NOW ... BEFORE a drive fails.    I'd replace your parity drive with a nice new 6TB WD Red    [if that's too pricey for you, just go with a 4TB unit ... but I wouldn't bother with anything smaller.]

 

 

Cheers, yeah I was aware I'd need a new parity drive too.

 

Why couldn't one of the older 1TB drives I had failed instead of the 2 TBs I would have got more bang for my buck too!

WD red drives do not have a longer warranty, they only have a 3 year warranty. The new red pro drives have a 5 year warranty buy they cost significantly more.  A 4TB red drive costs about $170 and a red pro costs about $260.

 

It sucks because when the red drives fist came out they were a 5 year warranty but about a year later they went to 3 year.  All my red drives are 3 year and my oldest red is about 2 years old.

Buy with an American Express and you get an extra year warranty (up to a total of 5 years I think) on electronics (from a dishwasher to a video card). (Different Amex cards have different benefits, so double check before selecting a card.)

 

If a product fails under the Amex warranty, you get your money back.

 

The Amex warranty is the last resort - so if you bought an extended warranty or under the manufacturers warranty, you have to exercise the other options before turning to Amex. I recently had a very old WD 2TB drive fail and remembered this warranty, and got a nice credit on my credit card.

WD red drives do not have a longer warranty, they only have a 3 year warranty.

 

The Reds are longer than the Greens ... that's what I was referring to.    You may be right about the initial Red warranty, but I don't think so.    I bought Reds within a few months of their initial release, and mine all had 3 year warranties.    the Blacks have 5 yr warranties; and of course the new Red Pro's do (as do most of the enterprise drives).

 

Buy with an American Express and you get an extra year warranty

 

Many credit cards do that -- both my AmEx and my MasterCard add a year to the warranty (but not over a 5 year total).    More precisely, they double the warranty up to an extra year ... so a product with a 90 day warranty is only doubled to 180 days (not an extra year).  I'm fairly sure Visa does the same thing.    The cards may have to be at a certain level for this feature (Gold, Platinum, etc.).

 

 

WD red drives do not have a longer warranty, they only have a 3 year warranty.

 

The Reds are longer than the Greens ... that's what I was referring to.    You may be right about the initial Red warranty, but I don't think so.    I bought Reds within a few months of their initial release, and mine all had 3 year warranties.    the Blacks have 5 yr warranties; and of course the new Red Pro's do (as do most of the enterprise drives).

 

Oh wow I didn't know that the greens went to 2 years.  All my green drives are 3 year warranties.  I haven't bought a green drive in over 2 years thought and my last 2 green drives expire in December.

 

 

Buy with an American Express and you get an extra year warranty

 

Many credit cards do that -- both my AmEx and my MasterCard add a year to the warranty (but not over a 5 year total).    More precisely, they double the warranty up to an extra year ... so a product with a 90 day warranty is only doubled to 180 days (not an extra year).  I'm fairly sure Visa does the same thing.    The cards may have to be at a certain level for this feature (Gold, Platinum, etc.).

 

I believe that my discover card also have a warranty service.

Heh roll on payday/Credit card bill day!

 

They've dropped such excellent cover for things in the UK, used to get it years ago but most banks limited it recently I think. Might be worth a look at a new Amex though!

I'm not surprised.  Many years ago (20 or so) the warranty doubling programs were introduced with Master Card Gold cards; and at that time it was an actual doubling of the warranty.  Didn't take long before the "up to an extra year" was added ... and there are a LOT of very precise steps you have to take to get reimbursed through the program.    I've used it a few times, and it works well; but you DO have to very carefully dot your i's and cross your t's when filing a claim.

 

Apparently they've simply eliminated this program in some other countries (or perhaps they never had them there).  I THOUGHT American Express might be different, since they've always been thought of as an "international traveler's" card.  But the Terms and Conditions for their Extended Warranty are no better -- according to their web site, it only applies to those card members who are ".... issued a United States of America based proprietary American Express Card, which is Current and in Good Standing, and who has a Permanent Residence in the 50 United States of America, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands."

 

It's nice to see that some other credit cards besides Amex are providing this extra warranty. Amex also offers 90 day returns (regardless of store policy) and 90 day theft / damage coverage (think dropped iPhone). Not sure about MC and Discover.

 

Not sure about others but Amex is do darn nice about it!

Warranty doubling has been a feature of virtually all Gold and Platinum Master Cards and Visa cards for over 20 years.  American Express added it sometime later as a competitive response.  As noted above, Discover has it as well ... and I suspect a few others may as well.