Safe to buy hard disks from Amazon or Flipkart?

[OrrBitt]

I'm thinking of buying a 2 TB external hard disk, Seagate or WesternDigital, most probably Seagate. The price in the local shops is around Rs. 6000 - 6500, while online, it is around 5500, and at present, with the 10% discount when paying with card, the price comes to around 4500, which is 1500 to 2000 less than what the shops quote.

There are a lot of negative reviews on the product pages of the hard disks, some saying that the hard disk stopped working after just a few days. So is it advisable to buy from Amazon or Flipkart as compared to the shop, and have members here who have bought online faced any problems?

Another thing is, suppose the hard disk has a problem, and I claim warranty after say three months, and I get a new hard disk in return. If the warranty of the first hard disk was two years, will I get another two years warranty for the second hard disk from the date of delivery / invoice, or will it be from the date of delivery / invoice of the first hard disk, or will it be something else? And suppose the second hard disk also has problems, can it be given back in warranty, or is the warranty applicable only for the first purchase?

 

[whitestar_999]

Buying external usb only(not the ones with power adapter or internal hdd as they are delicate) hdd fron amazon/fk is fine,just don't buy "ultra slim" seagate(different from slim series & costlier too).Stick with seagate backup slim or WD my passport series.

Every hdd comes with the risk of failing,always assume any hdd to fail any time & take backup of important data accordingly.It all depends on your luck,some people prefer online & some offline(similarly seagate vs WD).

Warranty is on original product & any replacement/replacements for the entire duration of original product warranty.If it is 3 years then during those 3 years you can get your hdd replaced as many times as needed.

 

[OrrBitt]

Hi there, thanks for the reply. I was thinking of this either this one:

Seagate 2 TB Expansion, for Rs. 5199:
*www.amazon.in/Seagate-Expansion-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B00TKFEE5S/ref=sr_1_68?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1548234088&sr=1-68&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin:7004858031

or

Seagate 2 TB Backup Plus Slim, for Rs. 5299:
*www.amazon.in/Seagate-Photography-Kaspersky-Antivirus-Subscription/dp/B00GO0HY68/ref=sr_1_74?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1548234136&sr=1-74&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin:7004858031

The first one (Expansion) has no warranty, at least the product page says so. Don't know how that is possible.

Apart from these two, there's another one called "Backup Plus Ultra Slim" which you have advised against, and anyway it costs Rs. 5899.

WD Elements is available for Rs. 5099, and My Passport is for Rs. 5199.

Would you recommend any one from these four, or are they all the same?

 

[whitestar_999]

Get seagate 2tb backup plus slim or WD my passport 2tb(make sure seller is appario retail in both cases). If you have a good past record with seagate drives(aka no drive failing within 2-3 years) then get that else get WD.

 

[OrrBitt]

I have a Seagate drive that is around seven years old and still works fine, so I think I'll go in for Seagate.

If I have to claim warranty, should I contact Amazon, or find a local shop?

 

[whitestar_999]

Neither,you go to seagate authorized service centre(list available on their site).

 

[Nerevarine]

I recently bought a 2TB seagate drive (internal) from amazon. make sure its cloudtail and make sure its amazon certified.

 

[omega44-xt]

I use WD My Passport because I find WD's Backup & Encryption (password protection) softwares great. My Passport doesn't look good otherwise no issues with it, speeds are as expected.

Buying from FK or amazon are safe. If something goes wrong, you have to contact manufacturer after the 7 day return period & both Seagate & WD are good.

 

[OrrBitt]

I bought the Seagate one since I have had a good experience with Seagate. The seller is Appario, who I think is also a reputed seller, and the product is Amazon Fulfilled. Later, I received an SMS saying it will get delivered in a secure package, and on the day of delivery, I'll get an OTP for accepting the package. In all this time that I've bought from Flipkart or Amazon, I've never seen such a thing. Maybe they are afraid they'll deliver the stuff to someone else?

 

[whitestar_999]

This OTP thing is news for me.Probably it is like you said,it is to avoid those "delivery boys scam"(many such cases recently in news).

 

[Nerevarine]

This OTP thing is news for me.Probably it is like you said,it is to avoid those "delivery boys scam"(many such cases recently in news).

Yes, Im glad they implemented this. But I have had parcels given to security guard in my apartment without OTPs as well. So it may not have very stringent implementation as of now.

 

[whitestar_999]

Yes, Im glad they implemented this. But I have had parcels given to security guard in my apartment without OTPs as well. So it may not have very stringent implementation as of now.

Maybe it depends on risk factor,if items is valuable or high risk category(mobile phones,hdd,memory card etc) then strict following of OTP procedure else relaxed norms based on delivery person discretion.

 

[OrrBitt]

I asked the delivery guy about the OTP thing. He said that it is for higher priced products like mobile phones, etc. He also said that this is a new thing.

The only problem I had with this delivery is that the hard disk was not delivered in a special case with foam and all. It was just the regular delivery in which I opened the thin plastic Amazon packing, and inside was the hard disk (in a paper box like you see in shops). I'm afraid it might have received too many bumps before being delivered. I'm thinking of buying a soft cover specially made for hard disks, like they show on Amazon.

 

[Nerevarine]

If its an external drive, get a soft cover. 100 % recommend this.

 

[OrrBitt]

Do I need to look for something in the soft cover, or will any of the Rs. 250 - 300 ones do?

 

[Nerevarine]

any 250-300 will do.. Post link here when you are buying.

 

[whitestar_999]

Install crystaldiskinfo(it's free software) & regularly check your hdd health every few days.

 

[OrrBitt]

any 250-300 will do.. Post link here when you are buying.

I want to buy a soft cover for the Seagate 2 TB Backup Plus Slim I bought earlier. This is the one I bought:

*www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00GO0HY68/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are three HDD bags I found. The second Saco one has some people saying that the Seagate 2TB doesn't fit properly:

Alexvyan Shock Proof External Hard Disk Case for Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB and 2TB External Hard Drive (Black)

*www.amazon.in/Alexvyan-Shock-Exter...65V2E446EX4&psc=1&refRID=JVDK7GJFG65V2E446EX4

Saco Shock Proof External Hard Disk Bag for Portable External Hard Drive with Mobile Device Backup USB 3.0 (Black)

*www.amazon.in/Saco-External-Portab...B2CQVY5H1GP&psc=1&refRID=RYJQWC674B2CQVY5H1GP

AmazonBasics External Hard Disk Case

*www.amazon.in/dp/B00F5CKWBA/ref=ss...d_r=149f344c-a7c3-11e9-ac76-613fa6a17ff6&th=1

Should I go for one of these or any other?

 

[Nerevarine]

Go for Western Digital branded case...suited me well so far.