Qulaity of hard drive packaging for mail order

[Lem]

I am based in the UK and I've had one or two hard drives sent to me
by mail order companies in the UK.

A hard drive is a delicate component so I would have expected good
packaging but sometimes I have been surprised at the difference in
packagig quality between companies.

I bought a drive from Hammer (trade-only) and the packaging was
simply superb. Hard box about 16 inched square, foam inserts, hard
drive in slot in the foam in the centre of the package.

OTOH I got a hard drive from Tekheads and it arrived wrapped in a
large roll of bubble wrap about 12 inches x 8 inches and in nothing
more than a plastic courier envelope!

Quite different.

What is the normal packaging used by a half-decent UK mail order
company for hard drive?

I would be interested to know what other people usual get, even in
other countries.

 

[chrisv]

I am based in the UK and I've had one or two hard drives sent to me
by mail order companies in the UK.

A hard drive is a delicate component so I would have expected good
packaging but sometimes I have been surprised at the difference in
packagig quality between companies.

I bought a drive from Hammer (trade-only) and the packaging was
simply superb. Hard box about 16 inched square, foam inserts, hard
drive in slot in the foam in the centre of the package.

OTOH I got a hard drive from Tekheads and it arrived wrapped in a
large roll of bubble wrap about 12 inches x 8 inches and in nothing
more than a plastic courier envelope!

Quite different.

Well, bubble-wrap works just fine if there's enough of it. It has
more cushion than most alternatives. If slick appearance is what you
want, it's not as nice...

 

[Bob Eager]

Well, bubble-wrap works just fine if there's enough of it. It has
more cushion than most alternatives. If slick appearance is what you
want, it's not as nice...

That may ot may not bet so...the shock characteristics may be very
different. Note that IBM/Hitachi will not accept an RMA if bubble wrap
is used; they insist on foam. Any disk that arrives in bubble wrap is
deemed to be 'damaged by misuse' or some such, with no further testing.

 

[George]

I am based in the UK and I've had one or two hard drives sent to me
by mail order companies in the UK.

A hard drive is a delicate component so I would have expected good
packaging but sometimes I have been surprised at the difference in
packagig quality between companies.

I bought a drive from Hammer (trade-only) and the packaging was
simply superb. Hard box about 16 inched square, foam inserts, hard
drive in slot in the foam in the centre of the package.

OTOH I got a hard drive from Tekheads and it arrived wrapped in a
large roll of bubble wrap about 12 inches x 8 inches and in nothing
more than a plastic courier envelope!

A drive I ordered from Watford arrived in a box about two sizes too big with
a couple of their thin brochures used as light padding and 3" gaps around
the drive so it could bounces about. Haven't used them since.

 

[Mark M]

A drive I ordered from Watford arrived in a box about two sizes
too big with a couple of their thin brochures used as light
padding and 3" gaps around the drive so it could bounces about.
Haven't used them since.

Did the drive work?

 

[George]

Did the drive work?

It did but didn't inspire confidence and I wouldn't risk it again.

 

[George]

Did the drive work?

It did but didn't inspire confidence and I wouldn't risk it again.

 

[J.Clarke]

On 24 Oct 2003 10:15:44 -0400

It ain't all that delicate. A check of the spec sheet for a random
model, from a random manufacturer, shows that the non-operating shock
limit is 250Gs and while operating the limit is 30Gs. I recall seeing
similar numbers on other models, when I've looked.

http://www.maxtor.com/en/documentation/data_sheets/
diamondmax_80_ata100_datasheet.pdf

Don't worry.

I think you would be surprised at how easy it is to deliver 250G to a
drive.

The general rule is 3 inches of some kind of padding or a purpose made
box. I don't see that very often with OEM drives anymore, but retail
drives are still packaged using purpose-made deformable plastic inserts.

 

[Al Dykes]

I am based in the UK and I've had one or two hard drives sent to me
by mail order companies in the UK.

A hard drive is a delicate component so I would have expected good
packaging but sometimes I have been surprised at the difference in
packagig quality between companies.

It ain't all that delicate. A check of the spec sheet for a random
model, from a random manufacturer, shows that the non-operating shock
limit is 250Gs and while operating the limit is 30Gs. I recall seeing
similar numbers on other models, when I've looked.

http://www.maxtor.com/en/documentation/data_sheets/
diamondmax_80_ata100_datasheet.pdf

Don't worry.

 

[CWatters]

I think you would be surprised at how easy it is to deliver 250G to a
drive.

.... and to support that, here is a quote from specification I found on the
web...

QUOTE: Multiple 1 meter drops onto a concrete surface resulted in a peak
force of 8000 G's

http://www.pi-si.com/IBM_Microdrive shock and vibration report.pdf

 

[Al Dykes]

... and to support that, here is a quote from specification I found on the
web...

And how little it takes to break the fall and bring the

QUOTE: Multiple 1 meter drops onto a concrete surface resulted in a peak
force of 8000 G's

What does "multiple" mean in this context ? G's don't add up. Either a
drop is 8000Gs or it's not.

I didn't say that dropping a bare disk onto concrete was acceptable,
but an inch of bubble pack wrapped around the disk would be enough to
bring the G's the disk experiences to way below 250.

http://www.pi-si.com/IBM_Microdrive shock and vibration report.pdf

Note that this web site quoted is selling a shock absorbing
product. While it looks like it's legit, it _is_ trying to scare you
and to apply it's 8000G figure to a shipping box is probably wrong. I
think the point of the web site is that all it takes is a little bit
or rubber to reduce 8000G shock to withing the limits of the IBM
microdrive specs.

The Gs experienced in a colision is a function of the deceleration,
which is a function the stiffness of the two items colliding, and if they
are both concrete, can aproach infinity, at least on paper. Dropping a
brick onto concrete can certainly show massive G's but if it hits on a
corner and a little bit of a corner turns to dust in the impact, the
G's expererienced by the brick will be much less.

F=MA is the basic equation, and it doesn't hurt that your disk weighs
a lot less than a brick, ehen it hits the floor.

 

[Rod Speed]

And how little it takes to break the fall and bring the

What does "multiple" mean in this context ? G's
don't add up. Either a drop is 8000Gs or it's not.

Presumably they mean that that was the worst Gs seen over multiple
drops. In other words some other drops didnt get quite that high a G level.

I didn't say that dropping a bare disk onto concrete was acceptable,
but an inch of bubble pack wrapped around the disk would be
enough to bring the G's the disk experiences to way below 250.

Yep, that mount in the pdf is obviously designed
to reduce the Gs the drive sees similarly.

Note that this web site quoted is selling a shock absorbing
product. While it looks like it's legit, it _is_ trying to scare you
and to apply it's 8000G figure to a shipping box is probably wrong.

Very likely given that the shipping box is unlikely to be as rigid.

 

[chrisv]

That may ot may not bet so...the shock characteristics may be very
different. Note that IBM/Hitachi will not accept an RMA if bubble wrap
is used; they insist on foam. Any disk that arrives in bubble wrap is
deemed to be 'damaged by misuse' or some such, with no further testing.

Well, that's likely because bubble-wrap is so "unscientific". With
foam, you have a precision-engineered thing, a known quantity. Bubble
wrap is variable depending on who did it. Things can go wrong. That
doesn't mean it can't do the job just fine...