We asked you about the 10K Western Digital Raptors a little while back.
Thanks to all who responded.
We’re going to break the data into two: between those who current own one and those that don’t. Most of the questions were aimed at one group or the other, so the answers will come from one group or the other.
Question 1
Do you own a Raptor?
a) Yes
b) No
About a third of those surveyed said they had one. I wouldn’t take that as a necessarily significant figure (those who have one would be a lot more likely to answer than those that don’t), but it’s probably safe to say that they’re not some sort of freaky rarity on the desktop.
Question 2
If you own a Raptor, are you glad you bought one?
a) Yes
b) No
Raptor Owners Said:
From their votes and comments, Raptor owners were quite happy about their drives, and as you’ll see in their comments the next page.
What might be of interest to non-Raptor owners is that there was little complaint about heat and noise, two factors that Raptor owners
fairly often cited as reasons not to own one.
Speed, of course, was generally the most important reason why people bought Raptors, but increased reliability was not far behind. Quite a few people cited multiple hard drive failures (especially from IBM/Hitachi “Deathstars” as they were universally called) and went to Raptors for a higher level of reliability.
Another trend found in the Raptor owner’s comments was “space fatigue.” As you’ll see, many said, “Yeah, they’re on the small side, but how much space do I really need?”
Many balanced out the need for speed and the need for space by using the Raptors for OS and programs, and 7200 rpm hard drives for data.
Positive Raptor Reports…
Negative Raptor Comments…
Why I Don’t Have One…
| They cost too much per gigabyte | 59% |
| Cost is fine; they aren’t big enough | 26% |
| I have tons of unused hard drive space as is | 15% |
From the comments made, the 59%-26% divide between speed and size is actually a bit closer than that. Many who answered cost as a factor tended to say,
“They really cost too much, and that’s why not, but they aren’t big enough, either.”
Question 5
If you said “they cost too much” in question 4, at what price per gigabyte would you buy a 10K IDE drive?
a) $3 a gigabyte
b) $2 a gigabyte
c) $1 a gigabyte
d) No more than the going rate for 7200rpm drives
Nonowners Said:
| $3 a gigabyte | 11% |
| $2 a gigabyte | 51% |
| $1 a gigabyte | 23% |
| No more than the going rate for 7200rpm drives | 11% |
This will make pricing the 72Gb Raptors rather interesting. The most acceptable pain point is about $2 a gigabyte, which the likely cost of the 72Gb will probably be $2.50-2.75 per Gb. Western Digital may find that relative minor price reductions could yield big sales increases.
Question 6
If you said, “they aren’t big enough” in question 4, what would be big enough?
a) 72Gb
b) 108Gb
c) 144Gb
d) More than that
Non-Owners Said:
| 72Gb | 47% |
| 108Gb | 35% |
| 144Gb | 11% |
| More than that | 7% |
72Gb would satisfy many, but a third platter would satisfy most.
What Western Digital really needs is a 108Gb that cost $199. That sort of drive would most of the performance market that are willing to pay a reasonable premium for it.
However, they (and other hardware manufacturers) face a big problem.
Paying For Quality…
–>
| I agree, and I’m happy to pay for the extra quality | 80% |
| I agree they’re better built, but I’m not going to pay that much for that level of quality | 5% |
| I don’t believe it | 15% |
Raptor Nonowners Said:
| I agree, and I’m happy to pay for the extra quality | 44% |
| I agree they’re better built, but I’m not going to pay that much for that level of quality | 36% |
| I don’t believe it | 20% |
These numbers are actually skewed too much towards “I agree;” this was one question where comments said more than the votes.
Even some who owned Raptors, were happy with them, and said “I agree” then voiced doubts as to whether these drives really cost appreciably more.
This is rather disconcerting given what the Raptor actually is. Just holding one tells you immediately that it is built much differently than a regular IDE drive; it’s a lot heavier.
Raptors are also rated for a 24/7 duty time, while your typical IDE drive is normally rated for a 30% duty cycle.
Some may question, “Are they worth four times as much per gigabyte?” Well, a good part of the reason for the difference is that the current Raptors are single-platter, and single platter drives always cost proportionately more than multi-platter drives.
That being said, it’s probably not realistic to expect a multi-platter Raptor built to SCSI-like standards to get much below, say, $2 a Gb. That’s probably the real cost of quality.
Nonetheless, a rather large proportion of people seem unwilling to pay for higher quality or even recognize it when it exists. Even those who faced recent multiple hard drive failures often said, “Nope, I’m not paying.”
One extreme example of this belief was this comment:
“if there was an answer “d: BULLSHIT” i would have chosen that one instead. their statement is a double-edged sword, because they’re ADMITTING they skimp on quality for the 7200/5400 rpm drives. this is people’s data they’re taking potshots with. i think the whole 1-year warranty thing is ridiculous anyway. with storage, people plan purchases based on warranty, and decreasing the warranty by 67% only serves to hurt consumer confidence. if just one company would implement uniform build/quality standards across all products, regardless of price, they could corner the market. but fat chance of that happening…”
The problem this person has is that he doesn’t want to pay for quality. If a company were to actually implement “uniform build/quality standards across all products, regardless of price” that would mean the price of the low-end drives would go substantially, and then he wouldn’t buy one because somebody else was selling something else cheaper.
A lot of others seem to have milder forms of this problem. A sentiment often found in comments was something like, “I’ll pay more for quality, but not much more.”
The sad reality is the hard drive companies aren’t “taking potshots with” people’s data. The people are, by demanding lower and lower prices. At some point, you start cutting into bone.
It is also true that the average computer user really doesn’t need an enterprise-class hard drive for the hour or two a day they’re on the machine. A lesser drive suits them fine, just as people in Florida don’t need 100% goose down winter coats. A heavy cloth coat will do.
The people in our audience are more like people who live in Minnesota. They often need something a lot more heavy duty than the Floridian winter coat, but don’t want to pay any more for a goose-down coat.
It is one thing to not need a goose-down coat. It is quite another to say that a goose-down coat isn’t better, doesn’t cost more to make, or that the coat company is ripping you off by not giving you a goose-down coat for a cloth coat price. Demanding that a cloth coat keep you warm in the middle of a Minnesota winter can be fatal. 🙂
Those who bought Raptors and cited reliability as a reason for the purchase on the whole seemed to be more experienced and realistic on the issue. In many cases, experience proved to be their teacher, in others, they had data that really was worth paying more to keep preserved.
If you won’t pay for quality, if you don’t value it, you don’t get it. Something to think about.
Quality Comments …
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