News - Corsair recalls first-run 120GB SandForce-powered Force 3 drive

[HEXUS]

Stability-related issues, Corsair says.

Read more.

[cameronlite]

I've been battling this for days and days. Thank 'insert deity here' it's their fault - I thought I'd lost my touch!

[semo]

[Corsair] has adopted the only
course open to a responsible
company once the issue(s)
have been identified

Since OCZ have admitted they are at fault for the 25nm transition fiasco, they are therefore not a responsible company by not issuing a mass recall of the affected products. Why does HEXUS continue to be affiliated with an irresponsible company?

[shaithis]

Rather embarrassing considering that hexus interview recently where they stated their QA was what separated them from the other manufacturers....

I smell a slight whiff of over confidence

[thomasxstewart]

Sandforce has secret & thats pci-e3.0, first to perfect TOP end when slot is TRUE, even now msi pci-e 3.0 without proper cpu Nor 3.0 game cards from msi,2281 improving one or some erradatta is to be applauded. however, this twists pci-e3.o possibilities, much better to make TRUE controller on pci-e 3.0 when all sand pebbles are inline, then finalize pci-e2.0 level, 2281. then pci-e3.0 will take in that 20% straight out boost plus 2X speed. SandBox Me, Baby.

drashek MD

[cameronlite]

Sandforce has secret & thats pci-e3.0, first to perfect TOP end when slot is TRUE, even now msi pci-e 3.0 without proper cpu Nor 3.0 game cards from msi,2281 improving one or some erradatta is to be applauded. however, this twists pci-e3.o possibilities, much better to make TRUE controller on pci-e 3.0 when all sand pebbles are inline, then finalize pci-e2.0 level, 2281. then pci-e3.0 will take in that 20% straight out boost plus 2X speed. SandBox Me, Baby.

drashek MD

Hmmm, i couldn't seem to find an online translator for this language. In other words, come again?

[kalniel]

Since OCZ have admitted they are at fault for the 25nm transition fiasco, they are therefore not a responsible company by not issuing a mass recall of the affected products.

If you read the article you'll see Corsair are (honourably) taking full blame for this one, saying it's a very specific combination of parts and multiple faults that causes this issue. Unless another manufacturer happens to use the exact same combination of parts that Corsair does on the 120gb drive, they are likely fine.

[semo]

If you read the article you'll see Corsair are (honourably) taking full blame for this one, saying it's a very specific combination of parts and multiple faults that causes this issue. Unless another manufacturer happens to use the exact same combination of parts that Corsair does on the 120gb drive, they are likely fine.

OCZ messed up with the V2 25nm transition. They effectively admitted that they messed up by offering full refunds when challenged by individual customers. Corsair messed up and did the honorable thing as you say by issuing a mass recall. OCZ have not issued a mass recall for an issue that is much bigger than a buggy product. OCZ´s fiasco is a huge consumer deception exercise and is much more severe, yet OCZ has not taken action as far as Corsair has.

All I´m saying is that Corsair did good by a) acting fast (the drives have only been out there for a short period) and b) fully resolving the issue by contacting everyone that was affected (whether the affected parties knew about it or not).

This is very different to what OCZ has done with their huge issue which they have successfully now buried and pulled the wool over consumers´, critics´, and journalists´eyes. HEXUS is still affiliated with OCZ (an irresponsible company based on the argument they put forth in the main article)

[kalniel]

Got ya, though I'd never heard about a Hexus-OCZ affiliation before. Corsair, yes, but not OCZ.

[DR]

OCZ messed up with the V2 25nm transition. They effectively admitted that they messed up by offering full refunds when challenged by individual customers. Corsair messed up and did the honorable thing as you say by issuing a mass recall. OCZ have not issued a mass recall for an issue that is much bigger than a buggy product. OCZ´s fiasco is a huge consumer deception exercise and is much more severe, yet OCZ has not taken action as far as Corsair has.

All I´m saying is that Corsair did good by a) acting fast (the drives have only been out there for a short period) and b) fully resolving the issue by contacting everyone that was affected (whether the affected parties knew about it or not).

This is very different to what OCZ has done with their huge issue which they have successfully now buried and pulled the wool over consumers´, critics´, and journalists´eyes. HEXUS is still affiliated with OCZ (an irresponsible company based on the argument they put forth in the main article)

Semo,


Firstly thank you for posting on the HEXUS forums - good to hear your take.

I'd love to hear this affiliation with OCZ - we've zero connection with them on a commercial level and we've done editorial for you, our readers on their products.

Accusations which are wrong, and damaging are certainly a concern to me.

Could you please drop me a line to discuss further? david.ross@HEXUS.net

David

[Tarinder]

Just to add, HEXUS has no commercial relationship or affiliation with OCZ. We take a look at their SSDs as they often happen to first to market with cutting-edge NAND controllers - Vertex 3, for example.

Tarinder

Editor, HEXUS.net

[yogibear]

Just canceled my order, I'm surprised companies (overclockers.co.uk) are still selling them. I should have known something was up when scan only had the price available upon call.

[semo]

Semo,


Firstly thank you for posting on the HEXUS forums - good to hear your take.

I'd love to hear this affiliation with OCZ - we've zero connection with them on a commercial level and we've done editorial for you, our readers on their products.

Accusations which are wrong, and damaging are certainly a concern to me.

Could you please drop me a line to discuss further? david.ross@HEXUS.net

David

David, Thanks for taking an interest in my reply. If you go to the OCZ official site and look at the awards section of the Vertex 2, you will see the Hexus Performance reward. In my opinion, this is an affiliation.
http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-ver...i-2-5-ssd.html

This can be confirmed by the review page on Hexus
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=26646&page=8

A glowing review verdict for a flawed product. Hexus did highlight the problem but I am not seeing Hexus follow through.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=29086

In the Vertex 3 review, OCZ were again given an award for their product. No reminder of the 25nm transition fiasco. Why keep such a big issue quiet? This is not a technical problem. It is a consumer issue. OCZ took a huge dump on consumers’ statutory rights by totally ignoring the Sale of Goods Act 1979. How can you release a product when you know that it is both slower AND smaller than what a consumer can practically expect? The original article mentions corporate responsibility and I think OCZ have fallen very short of ticking all the boxes.

There's a growing distain amongst forums against OCZ, yet the media coverage does not reflect that. I've discussed this on the anandtech forums and I'm getting the impression that review sites don't want to burn their bridges with OCZ. SSD reviews bring a lot of traffic and OCZ are currently leading the pack in terms of releases.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2143367

There are reports on some forums of Vertex 3 BSOD issues but again, official coverage is hard to come by. Hexus has "opinion" articles about apple, tablets and other light issues but nothing that might really upset someone or be of any use to a consumer. After all, Hexus and other sites alike are there to serve the consumer and separate the marketing bull from the facts. The average online shopper wil probably read a review before committing to a purchase. Let's say someone decides to buy an SSD. They come across the Hexus V2 review and decide to get one from ebay based on the recommendations in that article. How would they know the got the drive they read about? How will consumers that bought OCZ V2 drives a few months ago know that they were screwed if they didn't keep up with the (very quiet) fiasco? Until OCZ issues a recall, we'll never know how many users were affected.

I know OCZ have gotten away with it but they haven't fooled me. They offer 0 differences from other SSD makers. With the Indilinx purchase, this may change but Indilinx weren't that great to begin with (the barefoot's only pro was that it wasn't JMF602 basically). I used to buy/recommend V2 drives but not anymore.

[DR]

Thank you for the reply - I think you are somewhat confused but that's okay.

We review products on their merits - and always have, if there is an issue afterwards we will run a story normally as news - which you can find on the news section of the site, in the related reading for the reviews and on the manufacturer page on HEXUS: http://www.hexus.net/content/company.php?company=304

Doing a review of a product does not make us affiliated with a said operation - it purely means we have had a sample come in and conducted a review on it.

Otherwise that means we are affiliated with over 400 companies which we have written content about, including ones when we have reported they've gone out of business.

So the facts:

a. We do not have any commercial agreement with OCZ
b. We have reviewed their products as well as others on the market.
c. We reported on the fiasco behind their product issues which came out after on a revision of the product: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=29086
d. We reported on Corsair doing the right thing pulling SKU's from the market.

At no point have we stood there and stated anything other than facts as we see it.

Your statement of an affiliation is incorrect.

[semo]

Affiliation does not mean you have to be receiving money from someone else. OCZ are using a Hexus reward to sell V2 drives and a Hexus logo can be seen OCZ's website.

I know that no review site wants to burn their bridges with OCZ so the fiasco is only reported to a degree and nothing else is done about it. Why wasn't OCZ slammed in the original article as a reminder to readers to what an irresponsible company might do compared to Corsair's response? Why aren't the original 1st generation OCZ SF drive reviews not updated with a disclaimer? Never in the history of HDDs have you we had a situation where 55GB drive was sold as 60GB. My point is that the original Vertex 2 has change beyond recognition and Hexus' original recommendation is no longer valid. An intel core i7 2600k today will be the same as an intel core i7 2600k in 1 year's time because a company like intel will not change a product completely without updating the model name.

There is an inherent assumption that when you say "I recommend Vertex 2", Vertex 2 will be the same everywhere, at any time. Since this is not the case with Vertex 2, why not retract your original recommendation?

b. We have reviewed their products as well as others on the market.

Give me one example of a product that has drastically changed since your original review. For example, it is common for RAM modules to have their memory chips changed over the life of the product but they will always remain within the original spec (overclocking might be affected but that is not part of the original spec in most cases anyway)

[MadduckUK]

I know monitors have changed their panel manufacturer, and even the type of panel before on the sly. The list of things wont be a long one though.