Please note that effective Jan 2. 2012, Western Digital will have warranty change too. Basically, warranty on Desktop & Mobile (Blue and Green family lines) will be changed from 3 years to 2 years.
As to other lines such as Black family line, WD AV, WD RE and WD branded/Retail products warranty terms and return structure remain unchanged.
Please note that effective Dec 31st 2011, Seagate will be changing their warranty again. In the nutshell, Desktop & Mobile will be changed from 2 years to 1 year; Enterprise from 5 years to 3 years. This will occur even though Seagate corporate profit increased by 60%.
Product Line Limited Warranty Period
(as of December 31, 2011)
Constellation®.2 and Constellation® ES.2 3 years
Barracuda® and Barracuda® Green 3.5” Drives 1 year
Barracuda® XT 3 years
Momentus® 2.5” Drives (5400 RPM & 7200 RPM) 1 year
Momentus® XT 3 years
SV35 Series™ – Video Surveillance 2 years
Pipeline HD® Mini, Pipeline HD® 2 years