Thinkpads Forum

Hi all,

I've been offered a brand new DELL hard drive cheap, with makers warranty.

This may be a daft question. I'll ask anyway.

Would a DELL branded/supplied hard drive work properly in a Thinkpad T60.

The reason I ask is that DELL say, --
"We specify and control the manufacture of our hard drives’ firmware and hardware subcomponents to assure compatibility ------ " And ----- "Dell specifies the operational capabilities of Dell hard drives with the complete storage subsystem in mind. This assures the drives are fully compatible with Dell systems, including unique Dell functionality. --- "

I know that DELL don't make their own hard drives, just buy from various companies. But from reading the above, they do specify certain features/details, and I'm concerned that those features/details might not be ok on a Thinkpad T60.

So should I buy a generic drive, or is a Dell drive ok?

It will work just fine.

It shouldn't be a problem at all.
I just bought a lot of Dell HDDs for the ThinPads I need to get rid of, they work fine but I had to reinstall the OS.
The Dell configuration doesn't boot up, reinstall is the only option.
T6x doesn't have a bios error code like the T4x models.

Hi both,

OK, thanks for the info. I'll go ahead and get the drive.

HDDs and SSDs are universal, they fit any computer, unless there is an issue of physical size (like, some laptops can take only 7mm drives, other up to 9.5mm or up to 12.7mm). If you have physically too large disk, it won't fit into the laptop (though it would work), if you have too small, you can connect it just fine, but there will be some empty space underneath.

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. Here's an update.

I didn't buy the Dell drive in the end. It turned out that there was no warranty. Dell told me on the telephone, they only warranty if bought direct from them, and if it's installed in a Dell product. Even though the dive is brand new, there didn't seem much point in arguing, as they were adamant about it. They said ask the manufacturer.

The drive is actually an Hitachi manfactured drive. A good drive. But on their website Hitachi say, --------"This Limited Warranty applies to new HGST storage products purchased from an authorized HGST dealer by the original purchaser for normal use and not for resale --- ".

I wasn't buying from an authorized HGST dealer. Genuine honest sale, just not from an authorised dealer. So rather than risk a possible later drive failure, and then find I have no warranty on an otherwise brand new drive, I bought a Western Digital Black, with a 5 year warranty. I got this pretty cheap too, and the warranty is valid(I checked), so I'm happy.

This seems odd to me, since HGST is owned by WD now. Anyway, I had no idea that unless you purchase a drive direct yourself with some makers/brands, that warranty doesn't apply. It seems a bit dodgy to me, but not worth my hassle to press the point with either Dell or Hitachi.(HGST).

Does anyone have the full story on this, regarding comsumer rights/warranty if not bought direct, etc?

As for physical fitting, the Dell(Hitachi) drive is(was) 7mm thick. The WD drive I bought is 9.5mm. My T60 currently has a 9.5mm Seagate in it, so both 7 and 9.5 fit ok.

Thanks again.

It's really very simple:

Any drive supplied by the manufacturer to an OEM such as Dell or Lenovo will only carry the warranty applicable to:

a) System it shipped with or

b) OEM's policy regarding drives replaced under warranty in the system.

In other words, once pulled out of the machine it shipped with the drive will carry NO warranty whatsoever.

In my on the cheap refurbs/give aways, I routinely use Game Cube HDD's. Have not seen and issues with them. Normally Seagate's.

Ron