I came across a reference to this Russian forum thread in a WDC forum:
http://maccentre.ru/board/viewtopic....70953&start=15

Here is Google's translator:
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?sl=ru&tl=en

The thread discusses oxidisation of contact pads in current Seagate
and Western Digital hard drives. The drives were used in typical
office and home environments, and are about a year old. The thread has
several detailed photos. All except the older tinned PCB appear to
show evidence of serious corrosion.

Is this the fallout from RoHS? Surely it's not the result of some cost
saving measure?

- Franc Zabkar
--
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