An Update Regarding OCZ's Warranties

[A Guy]

There's been some level of uncertainty regarding OCZ and especially the outstanding product warranties. I covered OCZ's situation and its position at Toshiba in our Vertex 460 review but now we've finally got the official word about warranties as well.

In short, all OCZ's latest SSDs will be covered by warranty normally, but the unfortunate news is that all non-SSD products (such as PSUs, DRAM, USB drives etc.) will not be supported at all. Outstanding product warranties were excluded from the acquisition terms, so it appears that Toshiba is only willing to cover the most necessary products, those being OCZ's most popular SSDs. Bear in mind that the acquisition only included OCZ's consumer and enterprise storage divisions -- last time I heard OCZ was looking for a buyer for its other units but it seems that they've not been able to find one.

Update: OCZ told us that they have a buyer for their PSU business with more details to follow in two weeks. The RAM and cooling divisions have been discontinued a long while ago, though.

Source

A Guy

 

[HerrKaLeun]

What are they gonna give you under warranty? Another OCZ with the same reliability ?

If you value your time and data at all, you just pay to get an Intel/ Samsung and stay sane.

 

[whs]

What are they gonna give you under warranty? Another OCZ with the same reliability ?

If you value your time and data at all, you just pay to get an Intel/ Samsung and stay sane.

That is not so. I own 3 OCZ SSDs - the oldest from 2007 - and they all are going strong. Never had a problem. I did have problems with another manufacturer's SSD - but they replaced it.

 

[crankypenguin]

I would advise a Mushkin product.

 

[whs]

I would advise a Mushkin product.

I own 2 Mushkins. One went south after 2 years but they replaced it within 2 hours (plus shipping). They are good and friedly people. I like the Mushkins too.

 

[crankypenguin]

I would advise a Mushkin product.

I own 2 Mushkins. One went south after 2 years but they replaced it within 2 hours (plus shipping). They are good and friedly people. I like the Mushkins too.

They have been around since 1994. Makes you think.

 

[ganjiry]

That is not so. I own 3 OCZ SSDs - the oldest from 2007 - and they all are going strong. Never had a problem. I did have problems with another manufacturer's SSD - but they replaced it.

+1 Both of my OCZ Ssd's have run without issue since I bought them.

 

[HerrKaLeun]

No one here claims every single OCZ SSD failed, but it was a much larger % than for other manufacturers. And this isn't just based on internet anecdotes... unless you think they went baknrupt based on a rumor.

another problem with OCZ was, they had thousands of models. Before I bought my Samsung SSD I reasearched them. And Intel, Samsung etc. they have very clear lines of products. Mostly a normal and premium consumer grade line, and professional line (or enthusiast). Very easy to figure out what to look at. This also makes writing good firmware easier, which may have been one of OCZ problems. For OCZ? Really, without deep research a normal person couldn't tell which was their higher end etc. version. When you looked at Newegg for a specific size, Intel, Samsung gave you 1-2 SSD, OCZ had dozens of drives, many with overlapping price. Is an Agility 2 bettern than a Vortex 1? Only people on forums like this can research this, 99% of users just want an SSD that never fails.

There probably are many other good manufacturers. The problem is I only do deep research when I need an SSD. The price difference is not that big. Speed difference nowadays is negligible for normal users. Could a non-Intel or Samsung be equally as good at $5 less? Probably. But do I want to risk anything and spend days researching to save $5? Probably not. It seems staying with OEM that also make chips is a safe bet, so Toshiba likely will do well. I like WD HDD, but would I buy their SSD knowing HDD expertise means nothign for SSD?

And everyone here who has an OCZ SSD that didn't fail, did you have to upgrade firmware? If yes, here go your savings (if time is money). OCZ had times with many many firmware upgrades, indicating they had issues. I've had my Samsung SSD for oever a year, and there still is no new FW.

 

[HerrKaLeun]

....One went south after 2 years but they replaced it within 2 hours (plus shipping)....

I think this is a very good sign that this is a good company:
- they stand behind their product and the warranty actually means something
- they probably only have a few failures (otherwise their support woudln't have time and money to be so helpful). so your case likley was an isolated incidence

 

[chev65]

As a system builder, it was a renowned fact that OCZ memory had the absolute worst compatibility compared to all other brands, this was back in the core2duo days and continued well into the i7 days, It definitely wasn't an isolated incident in this case.

I never had much faith in the brand since then and no, I'm not intending to argue this point with anyone because I really don't care that much, it was simply my first impression of this company and I've never felt comfortable buying anything from them ever since.

Apparently there were others who felt the same and stopped buying from them, hence the business model collapses.