It didn't help that the big HDD factory that made everything (brand didn't matter) in Thailand blew up — mid 2000s but I don't recall the year. I replaced hundreds for school districts during the last decade after being called out too many times on service calls. The summer after warranty expired, I was replacing the drives and I tested every single one.

If the OE drive was in a computer made 2009 or earlier, there was a chance that it might still be good but best to be safe than sorry. If 2010–2013… still looking for my first one. Although many still worked, the SATA graphs showed that they were on their last legs.


BIAB 2024 Audiophile, 24Core/60CoreGPU Core M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP/color]
[color=#FF0040]Digital Performer11, LogicPro

Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5