I don't forget very easily and hold I grudges

I used to be like that too, but I've learned that no manufacturer is infallible. I've had HD's die on me from Seagate, WD, Maxtor, IBM, Quantum,... That doesn't mean they ALWAYS produce bad drives.
IBM used to have a pretty good reputation, until the 75GXP debacle of last year. Same goes for Seagate (anyone remember the 1 and 2 gig medalist series ?)

This also applies for other computer hardware like eg. motherboards. I think Asus is a pretty solid motherboard maker, but I've also seen some bad motherboards from them. Same goes for Aopen.
So I've leard now to first read the reviews of new products, and if they are mostly positive, THEN buy the stuff. Of course, this is not 100% bulletproof, but in that case I still have my warranty. Remember, this is microelectronics we're dealing with. It doesn't take much for it to fail. That's why good warranty is so important. Something the Empeg people understand better than any other company I know.