News WD's 10TB Elements External Hard Drive Is Down To $160

[Admin]

Always handy to have one for your backups

WD's 10TB Elements External Hard Drive Is Down To $160 : Read more

 

[jimmysmitty]

It still blows my mind how cheap space is with magnetic storage and how for some reason NAND storage always finds a way to stall in getting close to the same $/GB.

For $160 best you can do is about 1TB and for a really good drive you are looking at 512GB for $160, minus sales of course.

 

[mdd1963]

I routinely use Crucial's MX500 in 500 GB/1 TB trim for laptop upgrades at $65 and $105, respectively...

(I'm referring only to standard 2.5" SATA prices, of course)

I do often dream of a 2 TB 970 EVO at only $149... (My poor 500 GB 960 EVO is just not as spacious as it once seemed)

 

[zachacox]

Or, instead of using it as a USB3.x external, shuck the drive and attach it to an internal SATA port.

Unless I missed it, or things have changed in the six months since I bought one, the drive inside is actually a WD RED NAS 5400rpm drive.

There is just one hitch, though. To use it outside of its factory enclosure, you need to do one of a few tricks to prevent the drive from receiving the 3.3v power signal from the SATA power connector. You can mask the pins on the power connector on the drive itself, or, much easier, use a MOLEX connector, or a SATA-to-MOLEX adapter. Otherwise, the drive will not spin.

Also, I have no idea whether this voids any warranty on the drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Or, instead of using it as a USB3.x external, shuck the drive and attach it to an internal SATA port.

Unless I missed it, or things have changed in the six months since I bought one, the drive inside is actually a WD RED NAS 5400rpm drive.

There is just one hitch, though. To use it outside of its factory enclosure, you need to do one of a few tricks to prevent the drive from receiving the 3.3v power signal from the SATA power connector. You can mask the pins on the power connector on the drive itself, or, much easier, use a MOLEX connector, or a SATA-to-MOLEX adapter. Otherwise, the drive will not spin.

Also, I have no idea whether this voids any warranty on the drive.

I don't know about the WD's, but I know the equivalent Seagate drives are easily shuckable.
Couple of months ago, I bought an 8TB external, $140.
Pop the case open, standard 8TB Baracuda, with regular SATA connections. No messing around with the pins or Molex.
It is now in my NAS box.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Or, instead of using it as a USB3.x external, shuck the drive and attach it to an internal SATA port.

Unless I missed it, or things have changed in the six months since I bought one, the drive inside is actually a WD RED NAS 5400rpm drive.

There is just one hitch, though. To use it outside of its factory enclosure, you need to do one of a few tricks to prevent the drive from receiving the 3.3v power signal from the SATA power connector. You can mask the pins on the power connector on the drive itself, or, much easier, use a MOLEX connector, or a SATA-to-MOLEX adapter. Otherwise, the drive will not spin.

Also, I have no idea whether this voids any warranty on the drive.

This absolutely voided the warranty. While its a pretty standard drive the serial number is probably, in their system, tied into the enclosure. The moment you pull it out its like taking apart a TV to fix it. Sure you can do it but taking it apart voids the warranty.

 

[drivinfast247]

This absolutely voided the warranty. While its a pretty standard drive the serial number is probably, in their system, tied into the enclosure. The moment you pull it out its like taking apart a TV to fix it. Sure you can do it but taking it apart voids the warranty.

Does the warranty cover data recovery in the event of a drive failure? If not, not really a big deal.

 

[USAFRet]

Does the warranty cover data recovery in the event of a drive failure? If not, not really a big deal.

Warranty never covers data, unless you pay extra for it. And your own backup is THE way to protect your data.
But a free replacement drive is not a bad thing.

Having said that, I accepted the small possibility of physical drive fail, and shucked the Seagate, as mentioned above.

 

[drivinfast247]

Reviews on Amazon aren't the greatest. Looks to be a "WD white label" model.

 

[Tex61]

WD Elements and EasyStore (at Best Buy) are 5400 rpm white label drives.

I've owned several for 1 yr plus and have had no problems with them.

Shucking is easy. Many videos on YouTube on how to shuck the drives.

Shucking obviously voids the warranty. However, if you keep the enclosure (and do not damage it when shucking), you could put the drive back before sending back to WD. If done correctly, not sure they could tell the drive had been removed from the enclosure.