Intel X25-M 80GB SSD Drive Generation 2 - $234.99 w/FS

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What do you lose out on by buying oem/bulk instead of the retail box?
 
Slªde;1034894447 said:
What do you lose out on by buying oem/bulk instead of the retail box?

The bulk version comes without 2.5"->3.5" mounting adapter, but I think a velcro tape can do the job just fine.
 
I saw it at Mwave the other day for ~$250, and I was trying to decide if it was worth the extra $50 over the X18 G1. Then the Kingston 40GB caught my eye as a possible RAID0 solution for a little cheaper. The ZZF price for the G2 (and actually being in stock) and all the "best upgrade I've ever done" comments finally got me to bite.

I need to move my work laptop's new Win7 install from the temp drive to its original drive, so I'll probably clone it to the X25 as well, for some comparisons on a very level playing field.
 
Back up to 249.99 with the coupon, PLUS shipping. Bastards.

Techbargains already edited their post to reflect...
 
ZZF is a freaking scam site. They sent me a defective drive and decided to charge a 15% restocking fee, and did not inform me of that fee until it was too late to do an exchange RMA instead. No, they do not pay out on rebates either...check ResellerRatings. I know people like to complain more than not online, but when a good percentage of complaints are about the same thing then there is some truth to it I am sure.

After I pressed them on the 15% restocking fee, they informed me they would waive it if any only if I re-order the same SSD as a separate order. I paid $195 for the drive initially (and would eventually get $15 Bing CB but I assume I'd never see the $20 MIR after reading ResellerRatings), and the website lists the drive at $225 now. I'm not paying $30 freaking extra dollars because they will not let me exchange the drive now but they will take it back so that I can order a new one...:mad:

I cannot wait for PayPal to stick it to ZZF. If PayPal does not, then my credit card company certainly will.
 
Ouch, that sucks. Since when do they have physical presence outside of Washington?
 
Ouch, that sucks. Since when do they have physical presence outside of Washington?
Since this bullshit was signed:

"Effective June 1, 2008, Amazon.com LLC will begin collecting sales tax on items shipped to destinations within the State of New York as New York has enacted a new law requiring out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax based on advertising. Amazon has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this provision. However, as required by the law, we must still begin collecting New York sales tax beginning on that date."
 
Since this bullshit was signed:

"Effective June 1, 2008, Amazon.com LLC will begin collecting sales tax on items shipped to destinations within the State of New York as New York has enacted a new law requiring out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax based on advertising. Amazon has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this provision. However, as required by the law, we must still begin collecting New York sales tax beginning on that date."

Newegg doesn't charge tax on NY purchases. They did for about three months or so, then just stopped. Not sure why they stopped, but I'm glad they did.
 
Well duh, but do *you* see it at Amazon for the price of $244 just by searching Google? I didn't think so either...

The very first link that comes up actually. They're not in stock, but you can order one and they'll send it to you in a couple weeks.
 
the link doesnt bring me to the $234 drive, i see it priced as 269. Something wrong?
 
the link doesnt bring me to the $234 drive, i see it priced as 269. Something wrong?

They raised their price back up. See the second post.

ZZF also raised their price. It was still $230 AR earlier this afternoon, then went up to $250 AR toward the end of the work day, now it's $260 AR.
 
i believe zipzoomfly does not pay out thier rebates

ZZF is a freaking scam site. They sent me a defective drive and decided to charge a 15% restocking fee, and did not inform me of that fee until it was too late to do an exchange RMA instead. No, they do not pay out on rebates either...check ResellerRatings. I know people like to complain more than not online, but when a good percentage of complaints are about the same thing then there is some truth to it I am sure.

After I pressed them on the 15% restocking fee, they informed me they would waive it if any only if I re-order the same SSD as a separate order. I paid $195 for the drive initially (and would eventually get $15 Bing CB but I assume I'd never see the $20 MIR after reading ResellerRatings), and the website lists the drive at $225 now. I'm not paying $30 freaking extra dollars because they will not let me exchange the drive now but they will take it back so that I can order a new one...:mad:

I cannot wait for PayPal to stick it to ZZF. If PayPal does not, then my credit card company certainly will.


I've had good luck with 4myrebate.com, specifically including one from ZZF recently.
I ordered one of these in the last deal. I ordered 8/10 and mailed the rebate in 8/20. I got a confirmation email 8/31 that they had received it, and one 9/4 that it had been processed and approved. I've been pretty happy overall with the 4myrebate.com ones. Short of the online Easy Rebates, these are about the best you can do. As with all rebates, just make sure you follow their instructions carefully.
Online tracking of the whole process, and they had it processed within two weeks of me sending it in.


As for your defective drive, it sounds like some bad customer service. I don't know all the details, but it sounds like some confusion about your options. I assume that if you'd originally been given the option of a 15% restocking fee or an even exchange, you would've just taken the exchange. And if there was confusion about that, it seems like it should've been pretty easy for them to adjust it to do an exchange rather than a return. The only thing I could think of is that with the price hikes, they thought they could get more out of it than the cheap price you paid. But I doubt a regular CSR would care about something like that enough to treat a customer that way over it.

Currently, they only offer exchanges for defective units, no returns. This leads me to believe that they had a problem with people returning perfectly good drives and driving up ZZF's costs. Maybe with the return/exchange confusion at first, then "changing your mind" and deciding to exchange it, they figured you were just trying to test drive the SSD for free at first, and unfortunately made up their minds against you. Seems like you may have gotten screwed over by some bad customer service and other people being dumb/jerks. I'm not trying to discredit what you're saying, but my personal experience with them has been just as good as any other online store I've used.
 
I know how to look for pricing, you don't need to teach me how
to google search, and the price is gone now. That's why I had
asked for a link, since I couldn't find the mentioned price.

The price isn't "gone", you can still pre-order one from Amazon.
 
Still terrible price gouging on these drives. I'll wait to get one until they become at least somewhat reasonable.
 
Please post item link at Amazon.
Thanks.
I'd like to see some linkage on this too from Amazon. I'm not seeing it myself....



Well duh, but do *you* see it at Amazon for the price of $244 just by searching Google? I didn't think so either...
I have been all over Amazon looking at X25-M listings, and I don't see one for pre-order at that price. Could you post a link to it?

Don't bother with the price they put on the front. Look for sold by Amazon in "More Buying Choices". They never gouge prices, but obviously they run temporarily out of stock so don't expect it to ship right away (and they don't say when either). I have SSDSA2MH160G2R5 in my cart right now for $467 and SSDSA2MH080G2R5 for $244.

Edit: Direct links for the scroll-challenged:
160GB: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002IJA1EQ
80GB: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002IJA1EG
 
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should i get a 2nd one or is it a waste of money since there is no trim in raid
 
should i get a 2nd one or is it a waste of money since there is no trim in raid

Do you game or use up a lot of space on your SSD? If so, then I definitely would add another.

Even without TRIM, mine are bitchin' fast.
 
I'd like to see some linkage on this too from Amazon. I'm not seeing it myself....

I know how to look for pricing, you don't need to teach me how
to google search, and the price is gone now. That's why I had
asked for a link, since I couldn't find the mentioned price.

The price isn't "gone", you can still pre-order one from Amazon.

I have been all over Amazon looking at X25-M listings, and I don't see one for pre-order at that price. Could you post a link to it?

I found it through this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002IJA1EG/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Direct link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002IJA1EG
 
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I've had good luck with 4myrebate.com, specifically including one from ZZF recently.

Online tracking of the whole process, and they had it processed within two weeks of me sending it in.


As for your defective drive, it sounds like some bad customer service. I don't know all the details, but it sounds like some confusion about your options. I assume that if you'd originally been given the option of a 15% restocking fee or an even exchange, you would've just taken the exchange. And if there was confusion about that, it seems like it should've been pretty easy for them to adjust it to do an exchange rather than a return. The only thing I could think of is that with the price hikes, they thought they could get more out of it than the cheap price you paid. But I doubt a regular CSR would care about something like that enough to treat a customer that way over it.

Currently, they only offer exchanges for defective units, no returns. This leads me to believe that they had a problem with people returning perfectly good drives and driving up ZZF's costs. Maybe with the return/exchange confusion at first, then "changing your mind" and deciding to exchange it, they figured you were just trying to test drive the SSD for free at first, and unfortunately made up their minds against you. Seems like you may have gotten screwed over by some bad customer service and other people being dumb/jerks. I'm not trying to discredit what you're saying, but my personal experience with them has been just as good as any other online store I've used.

I see what you mean, that ZZF could construe it that way. Thanks for the insight on how they might be thinking...

But I did start out with an exchange request. After they told me how long it would take, I asked them to do a return instead. Then they mentioned the 15% restocking fee in the RMA email. They told me they would waive the fee if I ordered a new drive (after a price increase) and when I filed the PayPal complaint they offered to do an exchange again.

I went ahead and told ZZF that I would exchange, but I'm leaving the complaint with PayPal open until I get a working drive.
 
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