Exactly. The 5-year warranty on a Seagate means about zilch to me since the real issue is whether the drive crashes on me and I lose my data, not whether I have to pay for a new drive (in four years, I can buy a lot better for a lot less). I've mentioned this before, but longer warranties usually imply crappier products, not better products (i.e. you have to give a longer warranty to sell the product; why Honda gets away with a 3-year warranty and Hyundai has a 10-year warranty). I'm not saying that Seagates are trash, by any means, but a 5-year warranty really means little to me.
Wow, that's some bass ackwards logic. If the drives are more prone to failure, wouldn't
extending the free service and replacement cost a company more money? Conversely, if a manufacturer knows that its product has a limited lifespan, wouldn't it be in their interest for the "standard" warranty to end before that average lifespan is up?
BTW, car warranties and electronics warranties are apples and oranges -- American Honda's factory warranties vary from 3/36k to 5/60k, depending on model, and can be extended to 10/100k for a fee. The reason for the short warranty is that a long warranty does no bolster Honda's image, and given the extremely long life-cycles of their cars (versus the industry average), a long warranty only promotes private owner sales of existing vehicles, rather than new vehicle sales. Hyundai, which actually has relatively decent initial quality and product lifespans (better than Ford and Mazda, IIRC), is trying to establish a presence and positive reputation in the U.S. market, so the longer warranties encourage initial and subsequent owners to keep their Hyundai's on the road for a longer period, potentially enhancing brand awareness.
It's rare that a computer carry a hood ornament, even moreso that the hood ornament feature the hard drive's logo. WD's carry a short warranty because they're cheap. Seagate's carry a longer warranty because they're not.
