With the news of fake and defective hard drives flooding Lazada and Shopee, we reached out to both affected hard drive companies about the issue and Seagate has responded that they have a verification method on all their internal hard drive products to confirm legitimacy and they asked us to remind users by publishing this post.
What’s Original?
There’s really no such thing as a fake hard drive in a sense that it’s not a hard drive. The typical definition of a fake hard drive, is that a) the brand or product is misrepresented or b) the drive is presented as one thing but the actual product is another. Another instance are grey market imports that are technically legitimate but due to the fact that come from sources other than the local authorized distributor, Seagate cannot ascertain the source of the drives. Do note that hard drives in the Philippines are regulated items and your local distributor has paid all the government fees for your drive.
Why Original Seagate?
Hard drives are oftentimes taken for granted. Thanks to their long life and high-dependability, they’re one of the most forgotten parts of a PC. Its only after they are full or break do people remember. It’s a funny thought but its reality and hard drives experience most of the neglect that that a PC owner can inflict on their unit. On a more serious note, neglect is one of the leading causes of failure in hard drives such as bad airflow or bad power connection, both of which can shorten the life of hard drive. Thankfully, Seagate provides warranties for their drives from workmanship and defects. Damages like the drive is suddenly not recognized, or it suddenly shrinks in size or the likes, Seagate will cover you and provide a replacement if the problem is confirmed to be a product defect.
An original Seagate drive will also grant your technical support from Seagate so if you have questions particular to your product, you can reach out and ask for help. Seagate also runs local promotions which your drive may be entitled to provided you have an original, locally purchased Seagate drive.
How do I know if my Seagate drive is original?
Seagate has implemented a simple way for internal hard drives to be verified. As they are still the most popular and most scammed products from Seagate, they have taken the initiative of simplifying the verification process. With this, even second-hand market drives can be checked by just taking a photo of the stop.
As the image above indicates, all you need to do is scan the QR code and you’ll be taken to the Seagate verification portal site. Enter the details needed and you’re all set. The output page will show you the capacity of the drive and the ending serial numbers. If they don’t match, your drive may have tampered with.
Like in the promo image, you the benefits of a warranty, recovery, avail promotions and technical support with an original Seagate drive.
Leave a comment for questions.
