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I'm shopping for new hard drives and all the stores (Amazon, Overstock, Newegg, etc.) now show product pictures like this:
I can find no information in the product descriptions or in Google searches stating that this is just another marketing gimmick and that the drives really are enclosed.
Here's an example hard drive page on Amazon.
The replacement drives are to go into an external array (Drobo) that blows unfiltered air over its drives. Last I heard, even the tiniest bit of dust can trash drive components, but maybe technology has changed on me again?
- Is dust no longer a concern for 2 and 3 TB drives?
- Are these units really covered? I don't want to spend a few hundred bucks to order them before knowing.
- If they really are covered, what reason would a marketing team have to only show pictures of the guts?
- If they are not covered, how do I buy one that is?
21Look closely on the edge. You'll find six holes used for the screws which will be holding the cover in place. This way of displaying drives is not new. First time I saw it was more than a decade ago. It does tell you a bit more about what product you are buying than a picture with the cover attached would. From a picture with the cover attached, most people couldn't even tell the difference between a disk and an SSD. – kasperd – 2014-10-21T06:55:48.957
21If it helps, I work at Seagate and can confirm that I know of no drives which are shipped to consumers without a case and there have not been any for about 20 years at least as far as I know. The reason being is that the platters are so sensitive to dust they need to be kept in a clean room when open to avoid damage. – Vality – 2014-10-22T16:59:33.520
4Those are just marketing pictures. No drives are shipped that way. – RockPaperLizard – 2014-10-24T21:26:27.987
4This question appears to be off-topic because it is about why a certain image is used in a marketing a hard drive. – ChrisF – 2014-10-27T12:36:24.077
@Vality your comment "have not been any for about 20 years at least as far as I know" suggests that 20 years ago there were? can you provide any further info? or did you mean you have worked there for about 20 years and haven't seen any and doubt there ever were. – barlop – 2015-02-23T07:09:57.017
@barlop I had not meant to imply that there were any such disks before then, I am just saying that I only have experience on what existed going back to about 20 years ago and cannot comment for sure either way on what may have been before that. I doubt there was ever any commercial drive like this but there may have been something used in research long ago but I would know nothing about that. – Vality – 2015-02-23T10:05:33.547
@Vality I didn't mean/say that you implied, I meant that you suggested it or left the suggestion very open. I am glad you have now clarified, but try to phrase yourself better next time. – barlop – 2015-02-23T11:38:10.450