On 7/5/2010 1:04 AM, C.H.Ling wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Moose"<olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
>> I don't know about car but I do heard some US brands need more attention
>> than the Japanese one.
The point was not about cars. It was about a world leader in reputation for
quality and reliability having some
spectacular failures. Until a few months ago, anybody wanting to follow your
advice about buying for reputation would
buy Toyota.
Stuff happens, and it's impossible to predict when and to whom.
>> The problem occurs, and this is true, only when frequency of failure/repair
>> and frequency of purchase are quite low . If I were buying HDs for a server
>> farm, my approach would be different.
> HD is cheap, I don't think it is worth to consider something less, I will buy
> the one with better reputation, the cost different is less than 10% or $10. I
> had more than 4 hard disk failures in last 20 years, it caused lots of
> trouble. Even there is back up I have to re-install the OS and all software,
> very time consuming.
You buy one way, I buy another. It means nothing, statistically, but is
amusing, that I have had only one HD failure in
my life. And that cost me only a few minutes of time and $5 shipping, as it
failed immediately.
> For toaster oven or low cost electrical appliance we just buy the good
> looking one (the one my wife like) unless I need a special feature others
> don't have, in case it failed replacement cost is low (cost including effort
> and money). For hard disk I want to reduce the risk to minimum.
The toaster oven I bought cost about the same as a 1TB HD. I do understand
about the time and trouble. Still, my basic
point is an argument that buying by reputation, with certain products, in the
case of infrequent, small purchases,
does not improve the chances of reliability.
> I had think about this case too and expected you might put it up, this is a
> special case, I'm talking about the general reliability. I know this cause
> Toyota lots of money but this is just one single case.
No, just the most obvious. Even in completely low tech, it can happen. I'm
about to send in the top from a premium brand
of water bottle. They changed the plastic in one part, a few customers dropped
them, a few of the parts broke. The
sharp edge could cut a person's mouth. Now they are in a recall campaign that
will surely cost them more than they made
on the bottles.
The couple of no-name bottles I have are fine.
>
> Quality is not 100%, so there is quality level, we can't say it is not
> ENTIRELY controllable then there is no different between A and B. Even both
> have chance of failure but I sure prefer the one with lower percentage of
> field failure report.
Great, your choice. I make a different one.
> The factory I worked for is making electronic ballast, most product are using
> very old technolgy (ok, there are also high-end computer controlled ballast)
> but still the design of each product change every one to three years (mainly
> for cost reduction) so the design is pushing to the limit.
That's what I expected. It's old tech, with many competitors and tiny profit
margin. Every tiny bit that can be saved
without increasing warranty costs is important. I spent my working life in a
business with tiny profit margins.
>
> The HD failures I have seen are mainly electromechanical, I think it didn't
> involve recording techniques.
Yes, as it turned out, the change in technology went well. Chuck's point is, as
I understand it, that you can't know
ahead of time whether any particular major design change will cause trouble or
not, so wait until it is proven.
> I'm doing the same but the two Hitachi HD's (a 80GB and a 250GB) I had
> failure were not new to the market when I purchased them, not for waiting it
> to settle on the quality but mainly for the price.
And I've not bought Hitachi because they usually cost more. I seem to recall
there was a period not long ago when one or
more of their models had more bad user reviews than others.
> If talking about electronic products (toaster oven not counted :-)), I don't
> think there is big different.
Ah, but mine is electronic, with a microprocessor and electronic controls. And
there is a difference to me. I'm the cook
in this house, and there are differences in ease of operation, temperature
evenness and accuracy, and so on. With only
two people to cook for, I now hardly ever use the regular oven. So I'm saving
on electricity, too
This one even makes better toast than the last one. You know why? Because of
the processor. Instead of simply timing the
toast setting, it adjusts based on the oven internal temperature at the start.
I like it. :-)
Moose
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