Hey Everyone, Does anyone know of a cheap place online where you get can HDDs from? I'm located in Canada, but hopefully that won't make a difference.
Each shop will have different prices for different drives and you'll need to shop around to get the best deal. Set yourself a spec (not just size but also 5400/7200RPM, 32/64MB cache) and get hunting. The best price will change pretty much daily.
I'm really looking for a 2TB HDD. The cheapest I've found was about $84. I don't really care about speed, just raw disk size. Hrm... I guess I'll have to keep my eye out. But feel free to chime in if anyone finds something.
Having recently been in the same position (looking for 2TB drives with the emphasis on price over performance) I can say that I ended up with two Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen drives. You may want to read around about 512 vs 4k sectors if you're still on XP as it can have a significant impact on performance. Drives with 4k sectors perform better but aren't supported in legacy OSs like XP. Read here for the lowdown - I don't know if you can buy a 2TB drive that isn't 4k-native but you want to be aware of it either way.
I've avoided buying hdd's online for two reasons: 1. Unless it's a SSD device, I don't really want it dropped/thrown around in the postal system. 2. Postage costs usually make it more worthwhile going down to the local computer store and buying it.
Good points everyone! Hrm... About the drive format, I'm probably going to be formatting to EXT3 / EXT4 so it might not be necessary to worry about sector size. I guess buying used HDD's is a big no no since it's really hard to verify providence in those cases? I know lots of people to bang, drop, and damage stuff so it wouldn't surprise me if they did that to their HDD's as well.
I would sign up for Newegg.com newsletters they have coupons regularly and since you live in canada no sales tax(Unlike us in California ) Infcat they have a coupon for a 2TB drive this week here's the link http://promotions.newegg.com/neemai...EFL031011-_-EMC-031011-Index-_-E0-_-PromoWord If the link doesn't work for you i'll copypasta the code for you 2TB HDD for 74.99 US$ + Free shipping Infact this is the same HDD I bought for my brothers computer that I built. Fantastic drive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...011-Index-_-InternalHardDrives-_-22152245-L0A + promo code "EMCKGJK24"
I buy my hard drives from newegg.com and haven't had any issues. They're packed pretty well. Buying used drives online via Ebay where the seller might not pack it very well might not be a good idea.
I've never had a new HDD come DOA in the post and I've ordered and dealt with God knows how many. Any time a halfway reputable company sends one it'll be packed in a football-sized amount of bubble wrap. As for it being cheaper to walk to a shop and buy one, hey, if it's true for you then that's great and I'd do the same. Certainly isn't true here though!
In Canada you have to use Newegg.ca, and you got sales taxes but unless you're in Ontario, only the federal one, not the provincial one (yeah, we got 2 sales taxes)! They got really good prices in CAD$ too. I don't know if the ".com" coupon codes works though. Other good shops for Canada are Tigerdirect.ca and ncix.com FG
I'm in the States and both newegg and tigerdirect have sent me emails with promo codes for 2tb drives for $70 shipped. I suggest you sign up for both their email adverts, as well as microcenter if you have one within driving distance (we drove an hour to save $100 on an i7 930) Many deals of theirs are walk in only but some trump any deal you will ever find online.
Newegg and tiger have been selling very poorly performing and negative review drives, be careful what you get from them.
>_> own's such shitty 2tb drives from when $109 was the best deal to be found :/ If the review says anything bad about drive response/seek time stay away, I've 2 that while they may hold the data when you go to access the drive you have to literally wait up to 10 seconds some times. They are perfectly fine for the use I put them to though, but Assembler is totally right, some of the ones that regularly get discounted are poor performers. I'm still yet to EVER receive a DOA drive though, unless you include random ebay seller who shipped a ps2 drive to me in a cardboard envelope (arrived half hanging out) and have had only 2 drives ever fail on me both of which were pushing 10yrs....
How do you think the drives get to the local computer store, then? And they'll buy them OEM in bulk, so they'll often be treated like shit. They SHOULD be sent in a foam tray, but we had arguments with our distributor when they kept taking them out of the trays and throwing them in the box with everything else. One time, I had a relief driver. He came in the shop with the parcel. We had a bar-style counter, complete with the flip-up bit and door to get out. The flap was up - he held the box over the door and let go of it! It was full of hard drives, and PSUs, amongst other things. If you can find a drive as cheap as online from a local seller, good for you. You get to go back and throw it at them when it goes wrong! ;-) Did someone say Tiger Direct? Didn't they get found selling customers' details?
Only drive I had show up DOA was one that had something about 3-4mm wide (like a slotted jewelers screw driver) stab through the anti-static bag and into the controller board. Sucker could be detected by the BIOS but would lock up any OS upon attempting format. So 1 drive out of 10-15+, pretty good score IMO. Last drive I bought was a 2TB Western Digital Green. Been in my system since September or so and have had 0 issues thus far. Then again I've got pretty clean power on my side of town which makes life for a HDD much easier than if you have dirty power. BTW, Newegg just sells drives, they don't make them. Thankfully I've never had problems getting refunds or replacements from them when something has turned out to be bad.
Ah, so you do have to pay tax in Canada? That blows Edit: The only place you should be cautious about poor shipping for HDD's is Amazon. They pack them VERY loosely.
