What Does manufactured Recertified with Zero hours mean?
- Thread starter Kneelbeforezod
- Start date
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You have to be really careful with "refurbished" hard drives, as many are just pulls that have been (hopefully) tested and listed for sale by 3rd parties (not the manufacturer).
Seagate drives should say "Certified Repaired HDD" and have a green border around the label. Western Digital normally uses the standard label but with the word "Recertified", usually under the model number. I don't know about the others. Manufacturer recertified drives should be in their factory packaging (normally clamshells for Seagate, anti-static bags for WD).
Neither of those are 100% certain, though - the "test and sell" resellers get some of those recertified drives in as well as original drives, and anybody can stick a drive in a clamshell or antistatic bag. Any writing on the drive label, stickers, etc. are a giveaway that you're getting a drive that the manufacturer hasn't recertified. In particular, run - don't walk - away from any eBay sellers that put approximately 1" green dots (or pieces of same), 1/2" orange dots (or pieces of same) or white stickers that say "ZT" on the drive labels.
Another issue is getting the correct firmware (either generic or OEM, depending on what you need). The label usually indicates if it is an OEM drive (will say Dell, HP, etc.) on the factory label. You usually won't find manufacturer recertified drives in the OEM space - part of the OEM discount is special warranty terms which usually include a very short manufacturer warranty. So you need to buy those drives on the open market and be careful about what you get. I know that Dell has been careless at times and sent used drives instead of "pulls from unused systems" to the aftermarket - I dealt with a reputable seller that got 1000 or so 146GB 15K 2.5" SAS drives from Dell, supposedly unused pulls. I received 50 or so of them and they all had 25xxx hours on them, many with grown defects. After a little back-and-forth, they shipped me new-in-box drives to replace them, gave me a $250 gift card, and had me send the drives directly back to Dell. So I'm certain the reseller wasn't scamming me, but instead had been misled by Dell.