WeaKnees upgrade kit

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I finally got around to opening a Bolt 3TB upgrade kit I bought a month ago from WeaKnees and discovered that the anti-static bag had already been opened (top of bag stripped off at perforation). The bag, whose open end was folded over and taped closed in the middle, contained a desiccant pack, but I would question the duration of that pack's usefulness since the anti-static bag wasn't airtight.

So, is it typical to receive an upgrade drive from WeaKnees whose anti-static bag has already been opened?

I'm currently putting the 2.5 inch drive -- a Western Digital Blue WD30NPRZ born on xxOct2016 -- through WD's DLDIAG extended test. Hopefully it'll check out OK.

 

Perhaps WeaKnees always opens anti-static bags to do their own testing on hard drives before shipping any of their upgrades kits. Even so, I always make it a point to run my own extended tests before installing a new hard drive.

But, as you mentioned, I don't think WeaKnees had to write anything to my upgrade drive or to any upgrade drives 3TB and smaller that are targeted for Roamios and Bolts. Those machines will format such drives themselves.

 

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I really only wanted a Western Digital WD30NPRZ drive for my Bolt upgrade and could find no other source than WeaKnees for this item.

 

Well, I finally got around to installing my Weaknees-purchased WD30NPRZ drive into my TiVo Bolt, and now -- a week later -- I am hearing occasional short periods (occurring maybe only once or twice per day -- I can't say exactly) of clicking from the drive. That is not a good sign. At the time of delivery some eight months ago (yes, the drive is now out of Weaknees standard warranty), the drive passed all WDDIAG tests.

It's my fault for having waited too long before installing the drive, but I'm now even more suspicious of the fact that the drive arrived in a pre-opened (i.e., cut open) anti-static bag with no zip-seam or other way to recreate an airtight seal. (I wonder why they even bothered to put a desiccant packet inside.) The open end of the anti-static bag was simply folded over and fastened with a short vertical piece of tape.

So when I look back at the Weaknees website, I notice they advertise their standalone WD30NPRZ product as being "Brand New Sealed." Do they consider my purchase to have been "Brand New Sealed?" I know that there was no need for Weaknees to open a factory-sealed WD30NPRZ for any disk formatting or such. The Bolt will automatically format the drive.

Do you think Weaknees ripped me off by selling me a used (e.g., returned?) item as new?

 

When you say sealed, do you mean your WD30NPRZ arrived "factory-sealed," such that you had to cut or tear open the anti-static bag -- as opposed to the anti-static bag having some zip-like resealable seam?

At the time I received my Weaknees-purchased upgrade kit, I attempted to register the WD30NPRZ with Western Digital and was informed that the drive was an OEM hard drive. Specifically:

"Please be informed that the serial number: xxxxxxxxxxxx is an OEM hard drive.

"If your product was purchased as a component integrated within a system by a system manufacturer, No limited warranty is provided by Western Digital. Therefore, the drive does not qualify for any warranty update. The warranty would be covered through the system manufacturer. Please contact the system manufacturer directly for warranty service."

Is this all legit? I mean, is Weaknees considered an OEM, even when the drive comes as a bare drive in an upgrade kit? Or did they cannibalize the drive from a true OEM's laptop or something and then sell it to me as brand new -- thus explaining why the drive would not have been factory-sealed?

 

Yeah, I think I realized that Weaknees must be considered an OEM since Western Digital does not make WD30NPRZs available to retailers or sell it themselves to the general public. I’m just not sure why Weaknees did not provide the drive to me as “Brand New Sealed,” like they advertise, since the drive did not need to be prepped.

 

I noticed that this past week WeaKnees has started giving a discount on Bolt hard drive upgrade kits if you are upgrading from a WD30NPRZ drive. To get the discount ($50 off of 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB kits; $75 off of 3TB kits) you have to send in your faulty WD30NPRZ drive.

My guess is that they want spare parts in order to repair WD30NPRZ drives so as to keep the stream of 3TB upgrade kits flowing. WD stopped making WD30NPRZ drives a while ago.