1 TB Samsung for $94.99 free shipping at Newegg

[jtr1962]

Title says it all. Less than $0.10 per GB. Both models are on sale:

5400 RPM

7200 RPM

Why get the 5400 RPM over the 7200 RPM if the price is the same? Reading the reviews, it runs cooler, uses less power, makes less noise, and should have higher reliability. It isn't as slow as the speed differential would lead you to believe, either.

I'm tempted to get one as it's probably been over three years since my last hard drive purchase but I don't currently need the space. Then again, once I get a TV card and start doing VHS to DVD I might.

They also have the Seagate Barracuda 1.5 TB on sale for $129.99 with free shipping. Less than 9 cents per GB. Given Merc's recent experience with Seagate though I'd stay away from that one. I personally think bit density has gone too high to keep RPM at 7200 and still have decent reliability. Hence the reason I'd get the 5400 RPM Samsung over the 7200 RPM choices.

 

[Stereodude]

I got 3 1.5TB Seagate drives from TigerDirect for about ~$103 shipped each using the 15% live.com cashback.

 

[Mercutio]

Yes, but now you are going to have a bunch of data on Seagate drives. I would not exactly call that a positive.

 

[Stereodude]

Yes, but now you are going to have a bunch of data on Seagate drives. I would not exactly call that a positive.

There is a firmware update for them, so I'm not too worried about it. I have mostly Seagate drives in use right now with a few WD stragglers, and two Samsung.

BTW, I received 3 SD17 drives in a bright pink box.

 

[LOST6200]

Are we akll sure now that die firmenwre has solvered teh 1.5's probelmos?

 

[Stereodude]

Are we akll sure now that die firmenwre has solvered teh 1.5's probelmos?

All accounts so far that I've seen indicate that die firmenwre has solvered teh 1.5's probelmos.

 

[paugie]

Are we akll sure now that die firmenwre has solvered teh 1.5's probelmos?

hehe-hahaha,
we've got a German geek with a mexican accent.

on topic: hmmm, I'd want a Samsung 1Tb for Christmas. but the Pentax arrived last Sunday and the missus might say "that's enough Christmas for you this year"
And I'd say, yeah but early next year I'll need space to put all the pix.

 

[LunarMist]

What firmware? I've never needed any for a hard drive. Seagate must be building some seriously defective drives.

 

[jtr1962]

Looks like the prices are back to normal-$129.99 for the 7200 RPM Samsung, $169.99 for the Seagate. The 5400 RPM Samsung has been deactivated. No, I didn't buy it. I figure by the time I really need the space I'll either be able to get a larger drive for the same price, or the same size for less, or better yet a nice SSD of a few hundred GB for under $100.

 

[LunarMist]

Samsung F1 is $99.99. Seagate 1.5 TB is the best deal - if you have the guts to buy one.

 

[LOST6200]

What firmware? I've never needed any for a hard drive. Seagate must be building some seriously defective drives.

It is on the Producto Tour pagpe o fthe NewEGG Website. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337
<Mmany of the drievs are defecativio, having a clak of death.

 

[LOST6200]

Yes, but now you are going to have a bunch of data on Seagate drives. I would not exactly call that a positive.

So what so you choose today? Hitachbi? WD is notr good in yor esteem. Seagte is now in question. I'm begning to think all hard[b/] dirves are flaky, chaeps, commodity partst now.

 

[Fushigi]

I'm begning to think all hard[b/] dirves are flaky, chaeps, commodity partst now.

Yes, they are.

 

[Mercutio]

So what so you choose today? Hitachbi? WD is notr good in yor esteem. Seagte is now in question. I'm begning to think all hard[b/] dirves are flaky, chaeps, commodity partst now.

Hitachi drives have never been problematic in my experience. Even my 75GXPs had a reasonably long life. WDs have never really been good in my experience. The one time I let my guard down, I got a bunch of shitty drives. I went a long time without using any Seagate drives. I was lured back to purchasing them with the five year warranty and the free copy of TrueImage that is available to Seagate customers, but given the return rates I've had with Seagate products across their product lines, I don't think I'll be trying that again for several years at least. Also, Seagate drives tend to be slug-like, which is something I've always complained about.

Samsung has been good. Given the quantity of drives I buy, my return rate is very low, most years I might return 1% of what I order. That may just be a coincidence, or maybe Samsung just builds better drives. I really don't know.

 

[LunarMist]

Perhaps I am wrong, but the bad packaging/shipping of most OEM hard drives is a major concern.

 

[mubs]

That is why for the longest time I bought only retail drives.

 

[Fushigi]

To me, if the packaging was so awful that drives were being damaged or arriving DOA, the higher return rates would inspire the retailer to use better packaging since returns impact their margins & costs. Since the retailers aren't re-thinking their packaging, the packaging must be adequate.

Besides, the drives are already surviving shipping OTR and/or rail transport from the manufacturing plant to a loading dock, over the ocean in a shipping container, and OTR/rail to the retailer's distribution center. They're being jostled about plenty with unknown amounts of packing material keeping them from knocking against each other. I don't see how UPS over US roads (not perfect but generally good) is going to be harsher than that. The drive may move around in the box but it is fully wrapped in at least one and generally two layers of large bubblewrap. And drives are rated for pretty high non-operating shock forces.

 

[Mercutio]

When I buy drives, I'm often buying in a quantity that results in direct shipment of manufacturer packaging. Seagate, Optiarc and Samsung drives all ship in cartons of 24, for example. In all cases the drives are packed in a Styrofoam container that is sized to fit perfectly in its shipping box. Samsung drives are further protected by the plastic clamshells they are stored in.

Newegg, as my main supplier, will often literally cut a Seagte shipping box in half and take out a couple drives, if I order say eight or 10 drives, then ship THAT to me covered in bubble wrap and inside another box. If I hadn't just thrown them all away I would take a picture to show everyone. It's really very sturdy packaging.

Point is, I still had appalling failure rates on brand new Seagate drives, and I am not generally buying one drive that's thrown in a box with some packing peanuts (and when I am, they're usually my personal drives, the ones I should care most about).

 

[paugie]

The store I buy from only stocks 160Gb Samsungs. for larger drives I have gone to Hitachi in the last few months.

Though Seagate's 5 year warranty is tempting, I have no compunction to buy them.

BTW, a 20Gb Samsung I installed in August, 2002 died 2 weeks ago.

 

[LunarMist]

So where can the ordinary user buy a hard drive or two that is packaged properly, at least less horrifically than by NewEgg?