External/Internal HD Pricing

[zrikz]

Been shopping for either a 4 or 5TB Internal or External..

Why is it that 5TB Externals are cheaper than 4TB Internals? The externals are $10 cheaper than the 5tb internals as well.

 

[drescherjm]

Possibly larger demand for externals allows for a lower price. Also externals usually have a shorter warranty.

 

[AlienTech]

Depending, externals are not the same drive. Usually they use cheaper drives than the internals. You can find the same drives in both but that is not guaranteed. You might end up with the same drive but warranty is different. They wont honor warranty for externals if you only send in the drive. So buying drives on like ebay will only have the seller warranty and not the manufacturer.. The drive companies consider those drives as OEM. If you try really hard you can get the same drive in an external if you are willing to take a chance, usually when they first come out both drives will be the same but in a few years they will be different. Many people did drive farming and got good deals but not anymore.. If nothing else the firmware would be different even if the drives are the same.

As always... Buyer beware.. But I think now with USB interfaces instead of sata on the drive itself, soon all externals will be like that. It saves them a buck to do it that way.. As Esata has gone the way of the serial port it is now safe for them to have separate production lines as they are already doing things other ways so not much more trouble. even third party externals will end up that way as HD companies are buying out everyone else.

 

[SirMaster]

Here is 4TB internal for $120. You are seeing 5TB external for $110?

 

[zrikz]

5TB External, was 120 a day or two ago if I remember, 135 today: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JT0EGPW...lid=3RPSNPATZPQ1P&coliid=I3KD7GNQ5R31GF&psc=1

Here ya go, newegg / ebay daily deal, $115 http://www.ebay.com/itm/30138076627...p_id=117&ipn=icep&afepn=5337259887&rmvSB=true

 

[SirMaster]

Well to be fair, that $115 5TB External Seagate only has a 1 year warranty while the $145 5TB Toshiba that I've seen on sale for $140 several times before too has a 3 year warranty.

Also the Toshiba is a faster 7200RPM while the Seagate is probably slower 5900RPM or so.

 

[defaultluser]

Yeah, in the retail enthusiast marketplace, externals are in higher demand compared to internal drives. It's only taken a few years, but oh how the wave has overtaken us! Wide USB 3 availability was also the other driver of this sea change

But you do get a longer warranty with bare drives, and you get more options.

 

[doublejack]

It has to be the warranty. I know internal drives often spin faster and that comes with a bit of a price premium, but that has to be offset by the fact that external drives have a higher build cost. The enclosures aren't expensive, but they add to the parts cost. Then there is the cost of assembly.

Odds are that manufacturers figure with a 1y warranty on an external they won't have to replace many drives, while the longer warranty on internals means more will fail under warranty. So they are building that replacement cost into the drives kind of like a self funded insurance policy.

 

[Aesma]

The reason is commercial. Those internal drives aren't really intended to be sold to end users, there are boxed versions for that. The quantities sold are minimal so there is not much pressure on prices.

 

[drescherjm]

Well to be fair, that $115 5TB External Seagate only has a 1 year warranty while the $145 5TB Toshiba that I've seen on sale for $140 several times before too has a 3 year warranty.

BTW, Amazon has reduced the price of the 5TB Toshiba (PH3500U-1I72) back to $139.99 today (with free shipping option). Not sure how long it will be on sale..

B&H has it for the same price with no tax + free shipping.

John

 

[reddi]

AFAIK the external 5TB Seagate contains a SMR HDD. That's also a factor why the 5TB external is so cheap.