Who said there was no backup? The drive that went down is the backup drive, but it took the installation software for a lot of programs with it (which I would have to dig up). The only thing I lost are Camtasia videos that I just don't back up due to their size. The rest of the space has Norton Ghost images of the main drive which are not needed right now.
In my experience with ATA drive manufacturers, no, I don't know of any that would replace your used failed drive with a new one and you paying for return shipping is par for the course as well. I wouldn't take much stock in anecdotal evidence about drive failures, I have only seen a few documented cases of real higher-than-normal drive failures, the IBM deathstars (deskstar) comes to mind. You can find no shortage of folks who would swear up and down that brand X are the most unreliable (where X is every different brand, depending on the person) I agree with Stealth Trader about buying drives on sale, you can often get really great deals if you buy a drive when its on sale, not when you need it. I always have a couple of extra drives laying around still in their original packing with the UPC code cut out (rebate submitted)
STAY AWAY from Maxtor. An external Maxtor 250 GB died on me a while back. Once bitten, twice shy. Ciao! Stacy
Consider setting up a RAID 1 array with two drives. This gives you 100 percent redundancy. If one drive fails you just rebuild a new one from the remaining drive. Many newer motherboards support this configuration without an additional RAID controller. If you do need a RAID controller, I've been very happy with my Adaptec Serial ATA RAID 1210SA; it's $57 at Buy.com (free shipping if you're not in a hurry). There's also an ATA model called the 1200A. Good luck.
Got 11 drives, 6 WD, 4 Seagate, 1 maxtor. All operating properly, maxtor performs the worst for me, seagate & WD are about tied, when compared on tech specs vs. tech specs from what I see using them. I'd recommend both seagate and WD. Drives are so cheap, why bother even calling tech support--waste of time and energy (and shipping ). Just trash it, totally destroy the platters, and get another. Just back every thing up, and you'll be worry free. Gotta love how cheap hardware has gotten! PS--Hope you don't have any sensitive data on there if ya pawn it off.
I ordered a 250GB WD SATA II drive yesterday. I have actually decided not to return the Maxtor for warranty afterall. Although I don't have anything that is very sensitive on there, I don't like the fact that I get a refurb and someone can have access to my trading videos. I am not sure how to destroy it beyond retrieval, but a drop from 15,000 ft on my next skydiving trip comes to mind. I don't have a mallet to smash it with but I think I have a very good carpenter's hammer. I looked through a few websites and I have found that there are more complaints about Maxtor than any other brandname manufacturer. How does everyone feel about Fujitsu? Is IBM still making Deathstars...errrr... Deskstars? If so, have they gotten better?
There is some unknown party out there who doesn't understand that they need to thank you as you drive will not be reintroduced to them as a refurbished one. Deathstars are still suspect. Stick with the Western Digital and segate route with these ATA drives setups. They offer the best service-to-price ratios.
Get yourself a Western Digital Drive. It would be a good idea to get a second one as backup. Keep a copy of everything thats important on the second drive. The less you access the second drive the long it will last. So most likely the main hard drive will die first.