First Street WOW Computer for Seniors WOW computer for seniors hardrive failed within 2 years of a $1000 purchase by my 85 yr old mother. Company would not back up their product even after customer servie rep said he never heard of a har colonial heights, Virginia

"The bearing lubricant migrates by gravity over time, leading to hard restarts.    Like a car, a computer that you only use once in a great while will not last long. They are designed to be operated on a regular basis."

First off, this is only an issue with older Hard Drives. This issue you state is called "stiction" and modern hard drives have mostly solved the stiction problem by using ramps to "unload" the heads from the disk surface on power-down. These ramps ensure the heads are not touching the platters, which not only prevents stiction but also keeps abrasion from kicking up microscopic particulates that can later contaminate the drive mechanism.

Parking the heads in this manner also allows the voice coil actuator to be shut down to save power, so the heads are also frequently unloaded when the drive is idle. A competing solution is based on laser textured landing zones near the ID of the platter where no data are stored. The heads are parked in that zone, and the actuator is latched until the next start-up.

The landing zone consists of a controlled array of nanometer-level 'bumps' on the disk surface produced during manufacturing of the disk using a local substrate melting process employing suitable laser-based equipment. The method was pioneered by IBM around 1995 and is still widely in use in most desktop and server class HDDs.

Unless you admit to using very old 750Gb Hard drives (which really doesn't exist), I call lies.

The issue with this company may be less with their product, but the product is still very old in it's own terms, being rebranded, and sold as new. The fact that the Representative I have personally spoken to on the phone stating that this computer has "500 Terabytes of hard drive space" and a real kicker "500 RAM". Yes, those were the exact words that were chosen. along with it being an "8-bit system", This company is out for money, not for quality or service.

If this system was made to last, and be very "quick", then can you explain why it is being configured with a celeron processor? for $1,200? To fail shortly after (and yes, 1-2 years is short for a life of a computer) on more than one occasion? on more than two occasions? How many occasions has this had?

Please, explain how this can be turned around into a benefitial situation for the customer.

The original reporter has every right to complain and report this company.

I don't expect anything from anyone.  We spent good, hard earned money and expect a reputable company to back up there product.  If you think its OK to purchase this product go right ahead  I'm here to warn others not affiliated with this product to steer clear of this piece of junk.  Your rationalization that every computer manufacturer has hard drives that fail prematurely makes no sense.  We are talking about this manufacturer and this product.  All manufacturers have lemons but this company was very cold, uncaring and matter of factly said this is the only time they've ever heard of this situation.  If it really was the case why wouldn't they honor their product and come up with a new hard drive?  They didn't and that's indicative of this company and what they really care about.  Its not the customers.  As an aside  Honda once gave me a new transmission after 65K miles even though the warranty expired because the consumer expectation is that a transmission should last longer than 65K miles.   That's a company that backs up its product.  The WOW computer from First Street does not and others need to be told.  I have spent the last several months spreading the word in every conceivable fashion to warn everyone and anyone that does there homework when buying this type of product to find other products that will do the same for far less money.

"   No computer manufacturer would last in this highly competitive business if hard drives failed in a little over a year which is what all you seem to expect them to last.  "

   Your claim was that "one" hard drive failed after the warranty period.  I guarantee you that every major (and minor) computer manufacturer has had the same thing happen.  I don't know of any that will replace a hard drive that has failed beyond the warranty period.  

"   I've got laptops over 4 years old and have had desktops for over 6 years that still work. "  

   I've got a 12 year old desktop that still works.    Is that supposed to mean something?

"  Your saying because the computer was used minimally as the cause of this problem? That makes no sense. "

   I explained why.   I would suggest that it is you that does not know much about computers, or at least their failure modes. 

"  Bottom line is anyone that puts out $1OOO  for a computer that targets seniors and can't provide a quality product needs to be called out on it. "

   Here's the real bottom line.    Anyone who buys a computer from any manufacturer could have a hard drive failure after a year.    Hard drives are not all perfect and some may last for decades while others do not.   Warranties exist to make sure that defects will be fixed for a given period of time.  Once the warranty has expired, it's up to the customer to pay for repairs.   This is not a difficult concept and applies to almost any equipment that comes with a warranty.

   It seems that the real problem here is that you think you deserve some magical extension of the warranty period because you are so special and your problem is so unique.    Rest assured that you're not and it's not.

You obviously don't understand anything about computers.  No computer manufacturer would last in this highly competitive business if hard drives failed in a little over a year which is what all you seem to expect them to last.  I've got laptops over 4 years old and have had desktops for over 6 years that still work.  Your saying because the computer was used minimally as the cause of this problem? That makes no sense.  Bottom line is anyone that puts out $1OOO  for a computer that targets seniors and can't provide a quality product needs to be called out on it.  Just buy a desk top from a reliable manufacturer with a large terminal for less than half the price and you'll be much better off.  The Wow Computer by First Street is a waste of money and would never, ever recommend this for any senior.  In my job I am in daily contact with seniors and I tell anyone who will listen my thoughts on this piece of junk.

"   In less than 2 years the hard drive needs to be replaced  "

  Hard drives sometimes fail.'

" after minimal use. "

  Especially when they are not used regularly.  The bearing lubricant migrates by gravity over time, leading to hard restarts.    Like a car, a computer that you only use once in a great while will not last long. They are designed to be operated on a regular basis.

   That being said, what are you complaining about?   From your post I gather that the computer worked for over 1 year, which is the length of the warranty, but less than two.

   The computer is out of warranty.   It doesn't matter whether the user is 85 or 8.5 years old.  It doesn't matter whether you pay $1000 or $5000 for a computer.   When the hard drive fails after the warranty expires, we (the customer) are required to replace it ourselves.    That's why they specify time periods on warranties.   What do you not understand about this?