ST373307LW SCSI pricing

[sdadept]

So I've decided to buy two of these for my new small server. I'm a bit confused on pricing though. When I go to www.pricewatch.com, I see several etailers selling them for $160 or so. However, when I go to any reputable retailer like newegg.com they are listed at $255 and up for the same model. I've looked at the other sites and none of them say refurbished or anything. So is newegg just overpriced or are those others that are listed not trustworthy? How much should this drive cost?

[Snugglebear]

Provided you're seeing 80-pin hits mixed with 68-pin hits, the $160 versions are probably sold without warranty, or with a significantly reduced warranty. This is fairly common practice in the world of SCSI and you need to be alert to it. Some years ago I was sold a drive with a 1 year warranty that was listed as having a 5 year warranty. I even called the place so they wouldn't screw it up. It took me two and a half years before I found out offhand it was a 1 year warranty model, and by this time I no longer had the invoice or receipt to fight with. I no longer do business with this place, and this is actually considered one of the most reputable around.

[aug1516]

I'm thinking Snugglebear is right on this one. Take a look at the warranty of the cheaper drives. Newegg's markup is never that high, something is different.

[animeguru]

You'll find that most of the "bargain" SCSI drives are actually refurb units that come with a 90 day warranty. If you're a bit of a gambler, you could make out fine, but you could also be screwed.

In my experience, I usually come out with a drive that works fine. I've got some ancient 9.1GB Atlas IV drives that were pulled from a server that'd been sitting in a warehouse for who knows how long and god only knows what kind of abuse they took before that. They still run without any problems, but like I said, it can go either way.

It may be worth it to you to spend a little extra for the comfort of knowing that it'll be under warranty in another two or three years. Most new SCSI comes with a five year warranty, and I have had to utilize that warranty before (with some other drives I have).

[sdadept]

That is something I didn't know. Brand new drives come with different levels of warranty and that is refelcted in their pricing. And I hearing you guys right?

[Philip]

You are hearing right. Most of the refurbed drives carry a 90 day warrenty. An OEM drive is 1 year. A retail drive is 5 years. So look at warrenty close. That is where the price difference is coming in at.

Myself I have a mix of all three in my computer and my girls computer. The only problems I have had was with a retail Cheetah 15k drive. It was a bios issue with my LSI controller killing the drives. So check the bios on your controller card and flash to the latest if it shows any issues with a Cheetah drive.

[Snugglebear]

Refurbed equipment will carry a big "REFURBISHED" sticker on it, and resellers need to tell you that the equipment isn't new. OEM drives do not necessarily come with a one year warranty. The term "OEM" only means the drive doesn't come with a box and accessories that come with retail drives meant to be sold to end users. I have bought dozens of OEM drives with full warranties over the years. Lastly, beware of the differing types of warranties - there's a big difference between a reseller/retailer warranty and a manufacturer warranty. Many of those drives covered for one year are only covered by where you bought it from, not the manufacturer.

[dave_graham]

You are hearing right. Most of the refurbed drives carry a 90 day warrenty. An OEM drive is 1 year. A retail drive is 5 years. So look at warrenty close. That is where the price difference is coming in at.

Myself I have a mix of all three in my computer and my girls computer. The only problems I have had was with a retail Cheetah 15k drive. It was a bios issue with my LSI controller killing the drives. So check the bios on your controller card and flash to the latest if it shows any issues with a Cheetah drive.

errr...you're not QUITE accurate. Factory remans from seagate carry 3 year warranties. :-)

cheers,

dave

[animeguru]

errr...you're not QUITE accurate. Factory remans from seagate carry 3 year warranties. :-)

cheers,

dave


Hmm... good to know...

::starts pricing out some "new" SCSI:: ;)