On 10 Aug 2002, at 22:37, JMB wrote:

> Our MIS department got a 'great' deal on 2 GB to 20 GB Fujitsu hard
> drives. Only problem is that there seems to be an abnormally high
> failure rate of these drives after they have been in use for anywhere
> from 500 hours to 5000 hours (we are experiencing about a 20 % failure
> rate).
>
> I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this company and the
> quality of their drives. I remember several years ago there was a
> company (JTS I think) that made and sold drives dirt cheap, but that is
> what you got - dirt. I'm wondering if Fujitsu is possibly in the same
> ballpark, because it sure doesn't seem that they last like Winchesters,
> Seagates, Maxtors, etc.  Any input s would be most appreciative.
>
> Jean Bourvic

  I believe Fujitsu has now left the hard drive market.

  I used a lot of their drives about five years ago, and I still run
two of those in my main system.  Our observation, though, was that
they tended to "run hot", and the ones I still use are mounted in
"bay coolers" with several small fans apiece.  I don't know how much
that helps, but I haven't had any problem with them....

  Winchester, by the way, is not a brand or manufacturer.
Originally, it was an IBM mainframe drive model[*], and the term has
been genralized to apply to just about any drive where the heads and
platters are all wiothin a single sealed unit.

[*]  There are conflicting stories of how the name was chosen,
including one that the drive's IBM part number was "3030", which
reminded someone of the Winchester 30-30 rifle.  Or perhaps that it
was an IBM lab near Winchester, England, that designed the drive....

Dave Gillett

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