Electronics can get very expensive, and wary consumers look for any way that they can find to save money, including buying electronics and computer parts second hand. In many cases, this is a great way to save some cash, but it’s not a good idea when the product that you’re looking to buy is a hard drive. Here’s why it’s considered a bad idea to buy secondhand, used hard drives.
The Curse of Hard Drives – The problem with all hard drives is that eventually, they fail. This is pretty much a foregone conclusion, an inevitability; hard drives have moving parts, and any mechanical product eventually fails. As hard drive components are ridiculously specific, though, when they fail, they can’t be fixed. Well, to be precise, they can be fixed, but it costs far more than actually replacing the drive.
Hard Drive Life – Hard drive manufacturers rate drives with a drive life of any time from 5 to 10 years. This is an average life span. Some hard drives fail in two days, some seem to last a life time, but except in rare cases, this isn’t the fault or the benefit of the manufacturer, but a combination of chance and the treatment of the hard drive. Chance you can’t control, but the treatment of the hard drive you can control. By following basic hard drive maintenance advice, for instance keeping your hard drive away from vibration (which gradually offsets the drive heads), keeping it at a reasonable temperature and humidity, placing your computer in a position where it can adequately ventilate, running scheduled maintenance like defragmentation programs and surface scanners, and not suddenly shutting your computer off in mid-operation, you can be fairly sure that your hard drive will last a long time.
When you buy a used hard drive, however, you have no sort of guarantee that the hard drive was treated well. It could have a dirty filter from being kept in a very, very dirty room, the heads could be on the verge of failure, or the previous owner of the hard drive may have beat it with a shovel. And, with the exception of the last point, you can never tell from looking at the hard drive that it experience any sort of misuse. Used hard drives are more likely to fail prematurely, simply because a human aspect was introduced.
Combine this with the rapidly falling cost of good, new hard drives, and it makes little sense to buy a hard drive used. If you’re looking for a replacement or an upgrade, whether you’re looking at an external hard drive or an internal hard drive, avoid used drives–they’re simply not worth the headache. Also, always remember to back up your new drive–remember, chance plays an important role in hard drive life, too, so never put yourself in a position where you could face costly data loss.
Do you have any thoughts on buying used hard drives? Share them in our comments section below.
