There were more votes for hard disks than any other hardware (11,408) and the final order was identical to last year: Seagate won with Samsung and Western Digital (WD) getting Highly Commended. The first question we asked concerned Quietness. Here Samsung, once again, rated very highly, with 87% of buyers saying they were at least satisfied and a very high 54% saying they were Very Satisfied. This was far ahead of the other manufacturers with the next best result being Seagate – 83% satisfied; 40% Very Satisfied. Hitachi and Maxtor satisfied just under 80% of buyers.
But Seagate was king in terms of Reliability, satisfying 93% of buyers. WD was close behind with 92%, Samsung and Hitachi satisfied 90% but Maxtor was off the pace with 82%.
Some 92% of buyers were satisfied with the Value given by Samsung and Seagate. WD was 2% behind but Maxtor and Hitachi were further back pleasing only 82% and 81% of their customers respectively.
Brand loyalty was high, with 96% of Seagate customers saying they’d buy from Seagate again. 94% and 91% of WD and Samsung buyers said likewise (respectively). But 'only' 85% of Hitachi buyers said they’d buy again, as would 84% of Maxtor’s customers.
