WD 320GB SATA HDD $140 No Rebate @ Monarch

well i had to bite the bullet as well as i'm almost outta hd space everywhere.. i wish i coulda went with the 2 x 250gb drives, but i only have 1 sata spot left :( .. oh well at least now i'll have 672gb on this computer.
 
FYI, for those of you who wanted to know about the packaging. I just got mine today (ordered it on Friday the 17th) through FedEx Ground. The HD itself was wrapped in bubble wrap, but it's obvious it was done pretty darned quickly as parts of the HD packaging are exposed. The bubble-wrapped HD was then placed in a small box full of peanuts and that's how I got it. Props to FedEx, as the box doesn't seem to have sustainted any major damage. Hope this helps!

Now I just have to connect it and see if it works. That will probably have to wait until the weekend though, given the fact that I will need to install it on one of my other systems. I'll let you folks know.

- James
 
I ordered mine on Friday also. I haven't recieved any indication that it has even shipped. Monarch's website doesn't list a tracking number, nor have I recieved an email with one...? But yet I have been billed already for it. :(

Lame.
 
James54321 said:
FYI, for those of you who wanted to know about the packaging. I just got mine today (ordered it on Friday the 17th) through FedEx Ground. The HD itself was wrapped in bubble wrap, but it's obvious it was done pretty darned quickly as parts of the HD packaging are exposed. The bubble-wrapped HD was then placed in a small box full of peanuts and that's how I got it. Props to FedEx, as the box doesn't seem to have sustainted any major damage. Hope this helps!

Monarch ships drives Newegg style, eh? No cookie for them.
 
I ordered mine on Friday also. I haven't recieved any indication that it has even shipped. Monarch's website doesn't list a tracking number, nor have I recieved an email with one...? But yet I have been billed already for it.

I ordered about $1000 worth of parts from Monarch last Saturday. As of now, it's still in the warehouse. I'm really hoping to get the parts by Friday so that I can build the sytem over the weekend.

I'm starting to think that maybe I should've paid the sales tax and ordered from Newegg. :(
 
i got my drive today..i forgot when i ordered it though...
i think i ordered it the day after this thread was posted.

they ship it in a small box with a bunch of peanuts in it. the drive itself is not in the retail box but rather just the static free package which is also wrapped with the bubble wrap.


i also live in Georgia where monarch is...so im guesssing yall should be getting it soon as well
 
Yeah. They sent me an email yesterday telling me that mine would ship within two days. Apparently, there was an issue with my billing address and my shipping address not being the same. This happens when you finally move out of the parent's basement :)
 
people who recieved it.... pic's of packing?

I've heard over at the anandtech forums that monarch did not expect such a large order....
15k orders =O .... saying labeling... etc is taking a long time....
 
Just picked my 3 up at the FexEx warehouse. I expected a bigger box. Each drive was wrapped in an AS bag and taped together.
picture9ie.jpg

picture16xb.jpg

picture26tr.jpg
 
dragontales said:
no tax and free shipping to California....Gooooo Monarch! :)
Yeah, you end up saving like $20 by going through Monarch instead of NewEgg. I loved NewEgg when they had the free or shipping for $0.05. They days it seems like they're pumping money into REALLY shitty marketing, so they need to start charging more to compensate.

:(
 
Chiefvalue = Newegg, but likely to have slightly lower pricing and often free shipping.

ZipZoomFly also very good, AND they know how to pack hard drives properly. Unfortunately they're also in California, however I believe they do Canada.
 
icemochalatte said:
Just picked my 3 up at the FexEx warehouse. I expected a bigger box. Each drive was wrapped in an AS bag and taped together.
picture26tr.jpg
Ouch :eek: That's not good. Are those drives ok? With poor packing like that, you'll be lucky if they all spin up :( Glad I stick with ZZF for my HDD needs.
 
I'll know tonight whether they all work or not. There doesn't appear to be any damage to the drives. They were not packed incorrectly, just not as well as I would do or would have liked. It wouldn't necessarily keep me from ordering them again though.
 
Evanthes said:
sooo....based on recent post i shoudlnt get this hdd?

Based on that picture, I would STRONGLY recommend that you do not order hard drives through Monarch.

Ever.
 
ashmedai said:
Based on that picture, I would STRONGLY recommend that you do not order hard drives through Monarch.

Ever.

It leaves much more to be desire.

But, I'll still buy from them. I'm waiting for fedex to drop off my drive today. I'll see if my hdd works tonight.
 
I think it is time I upgrade my harddrive already, I have a 3.2gig IBM that is 4500rpm and I don't even think it has 2mg of cache, probably like 512k. Anyways, the one thing I didn't have to upgrade after all these years. It was bought in either 96 or early 97. It's funny how I can now get a harddrive 100 times the size.
 
shramj said:
I think it is time I upgrade my harddrive already, I have a 3.2gig IBM that is 4500rpm and I don't even think it has 2mg of cache, probably like 512k. Anyways, the one thing I didn't have to upgrade after all these years. It was bought in either 96 or early 97. It's funny how I can now get a harddrive 100 times the size.

Um... 3.2GB? Really? LOL... I salute you! I'm at 70GB and running out of space. BTW, since I won't get to install the drive until this weekend and it's still in the original packaging, I'd be glad to post pictures only I'm not sure were to host 'em? Anyone know a good photo/file hosting site that allows linkage? My ISP unfortunately frowns upon posting potential linkage that could lead to high bandwidth usage. Thanks.

- James
 
why are u bitching about the packaging? from the pics it looks fine, and mine got delivered fine as well.
 
James54321 said:
Um... 3.2GB? Really? LOL... I salute you! I'm at 70GB and running out of space. BTW, since I won't get to install the drive until this weekend and it's still in the original packaging, I'd be glad to post pictures only I'm not sure were to host 'em? Anyone know a good photo/file hosting site that allows linkage? My ISP unfortunately frowns upon posting potential linkage that could lead to high bandwidth usage. Thanks.

- James


www.photobucket.com

Choose the free acccount service.
 
EvilKokonut said:
why are u bitching about the packaging? from the pics it looks fine, and mine got delivered fine as well.


I just got mine. I would say the packaging could have been better. Maybe they could of used those big bubble wrap instead of these tiny ones. The buffer between the hdd and the externals wasn't all that thick.
 
Quantity in Basket: none
Code: 150439
Price: $160.00
FREE SHIPPING
Ships in 2-4 days

ouch $20+ after a couple days
 
amd ati FO SHO said:
Quantity in Basket: none
Code: 150439
Price: $160.00
FREE SHIPPING
Ships in 2-4 days

ouch $20+ after a couple days

Wow $20 more bucks eh? Dang, I probably would not buy at this price.
 
ClayDogg84 said:
got mine today and thought packaging was fine.

Fine for a hard drive means it's inside a clamshell, inside a foam box, and that is snugly packed (no peanuts). There are a few variants that also achieve the same purpose, which is to keep the drive from shifting at all during shipping. Peanuts are also a big minus because of the static electricity involved, there are ways to reduce that as a risk factor but it's nice to not have them there to worry about at all if possible.

I seriously doubt that Monarch has gone from extremely poor packaging to good packaging suddenly, so unless you confirm the specifics of the fine packaging, I'm going to assume your standards are just set way too low. I've said this many times before - most early drive failures are due to mishandling and abuse of the drive. This includes everything from not having adequate power protection, to packing the things in such a way that they'll knock around a lot during shipping. It's completely unacceptable, and there are other places you can take your business. Even if you have to pay a couple dollars more for it, it means that the unit will be MUCH less likely to meet an early demise.
 
I was pleasantly surprised at how well mine was packed, for the most part. I ordered two drives, and each was wrapped in a bubble sheet and individually placed snugly into a small box, both of which were peanut packed into a larger shipping box.

The only quibble I have is that the larger box could have been a bit bigger for extra protection -- their method of wrapping, boxing and nesting was very much appreciated and should protect from shock very well, but maybe not so much from direct physical damage to the shipping box.

P1000456a.JPG


P1000457a.JPG


P1000458a.JPG
 
karrock said:
I was pleasantly surprised at how well mine was packed, for the most part. I ordered two drives, and each was wrapped in a bubble sheet and individually placed snugly into a small box, both of which were peanut packed into a larger shipping box.

The only quibble I have is that the larger box could have been a bit bigger for extra protection -- their method of wrapping, boxing and nesting was very much appreciated and should protect from shock very well, but maybe not so much from direct physical damage to the shipping box.

Well, that's a heck of a lot better than I received 'em... maybe they did change the guy after a lot of complaints. Anyway, below is how I got it and yes, it was really wrapped like that. Take it as you want; I'm just posting my experience, since folks were interested. Glad to see they probably fixed it.

MonarchHDPkg2.jpg


MonarchHDPkg1.jpg


Also, thanks for the head's up on Photobucket! :D

- James
 
LOL ooooooooh noes my hardrive was packed in a small box with packing peanuts and heavy bubble wrap! I bet newegg wraps theres in a lead box! damn those guys at monarch! If you are that scared then go with the Seagate deal on the forum. You can drop those and they are still solid.

HD is now 160
 
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