WD 8TB Easystores are Back for 150$

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Great price! but I personally never had good luck with externals... always went out on me in 2 years or less...
 
These have WD Reds in them that people pull out of the external case
This ~ Shucka'kahn :D
Though I'm pretty sure most of them are now the white label (which isn't an issue for most) comparable in almost every way to the WD Red down to the same firmware and 7 second TLER
 
This ~ Shucka'kahn :D
Though I'm pretty sure most of them are now the white label (which isn't an issue for most) comparable in almost every way to the WD Red down to the same firmware and 7 second TLER

except the apparent threshold for temperature is something like 111*F
at least, according to StableBit Scanner
haven't been able to verify/validate that number.

One or more disks are overheating:
  • WDC WD80EMAZ-00WJTA0 SCSI Disk Device - 113˚F (Maximum: 111.2˚F)
    • Model: WDC WD80EMAZ-00WJTA0
 
What does this mean in terms of warranty if you schuck them?
Keep the enclosures in a closet and put a piece of tape on it with the date. Put them back together if you need the warranty, if not after 3 years throw out the enclosures. IIRC the SN on the enclosure = the SN on the HDD inside.
 
except the apparent threshold for temperature is something like 111*F
at least, according to StableBit Scanner
haven't been able to verify/validate that number.
No one has supposedly its a HGST manuf drive too, mines in a constant airflow environment regardless, not an issue for me.
 
No one has supposedly its a HGST manuf drive too, mines in a constant airflow environment regardless, not an issue for me.

mine are all in icy dock 3-in-4 hotswap bays with 120mm fans on the front.
hot summer week of 80F (well, hot for Alaska), no AC because Alaska, and one of them triggered the alarm a couple times.

Keep the enclosures in a closet and put a piece of tape on it with the date. Put them back together if you need the warranty, if not after 3 years throw out the enclosures. IIRC the SN on the enclosure = the SN on the HDD inside.

yup. SN on box is SN on enclosure is SN on drive. At least it has been on my 7.
but I imagine the fact that FTC has since said "warranty void if removed" type stuff is illegal (eg opening your Xbox or PS4 to dust is out), I don't think they can legally deny a warranty claim by simply shucking it.
I have been known to be wrong before, though.
 
but I imagine the fact that FTC has since said "warranty void if removed" type stuff is illegal (eg opening your Xbox or PS4 to dust is out), I don't think they can legally deny a warranty claim by simply shucking it.
I have been known to be wrong before, though.

I've read rumors/stories of business users shucking them and getting WD to replace them without the shell (these were the red label days though).
If you're using it as a NAS drive, they could technically argue its outside the standard use case of an external personal USB drive, anywho :).
 
I've read rumors/stories of business users shucking them and getting WD to replace them without the shell (these were the red label days though).
If you're using it as a NAS drive, they could technically argue its outside the standard use case of an external personal USB drive, anywho :).
Yeah I think if you have a red label drive, then it doesn't matter because the red label = retail drive and they can't tell the difference. AFAIK no one has tried to do a warranty on a bare white label drive, so at least for my own peace of mind, I am just holding onto the white label drive enclosures till the warranty expires. They are easy to put back together as they are to take apart and there are no stickers to show if you opened the cases so that isn't even an issue. :)
 
Yeah I think if you have a red label drive, then it doesn't matter because the red label = retail drive and they can't tell the difference. AFAIK no one has tried to do a warranty on a bare white label drive, so at least for my own peace of mind, I am just holding onto the white label drive enclosures till the warranty expires. They are easy to put back together as they are to take apart and there are no stickers to show if you opened the cases so that isn't even an issue. :)
The serial numbers on the Red label drives come up as Easystore when you do the warranty check, so yes, they know that the drive is not a retail drive but an Easystore drive.
 
I've read rumors/stories of business users shucking them and getting WD to replace them without the shell (these were the red label days though).
If you're using it as a NAS drive, they could technically argue its outside the standard use case of an external personal USB drive, anywho :).

unless they sell the same model bare, regardless of OEM or retail.
They couldn't provide different use-case requirements for the same exact model simply based on how it was sold.
I wouldn't think, anyway.
wd80emaz is wd80emaz, regardless if it came as a bare OEM package or housed in an enclosure.

there was at least one person on reddit who warrantied an easystore through WD, and the enclosure had broken clips but warranty was not denied. fwiw
 
Picked one of these up at my local BB. The drive is an wd80emaz with 256mb of cache listed and 5,400rpm according to crystal disk info. Shucked it without a problem and i'm adding it to my Unraid server now. So far so good.
 
I finally shucked the one I got around Christmas, it works plugged into my PSU, I got a white label, was worried about the voltage issue.

If it works am I cool or will there potentially be issues with it not sleeping or something?
 
it'll basically work or it wont, the issue is that if there is power over the 3.3v rail it sends the drive a signal to sleep.
worst case some folks get the molex to sata adapter as thats a quick fix with no glueing needed
 
it'll basically work or it wont, the issue is that if there is power over the 3.3v rail it sends the drive a signal to sleep.
worst case some folks get the molex to sata adapter as thats a quick fix with no glueing needed
Sweet then I guess I'm good.
 
I apologize as I'm sure this has been explained, but can someone break down for me how the cheapest way to get an 8TB drive is to purchase one that comes with a whole bunch of extra stuff? Basic logic says there should be retail $140 8TB drives out there, though that is obviously not the case.

Also, 80 degrees in Alaska? Holy crap.
 
Currently on sale at microcenter showing same $150 price.. though only 1 per custumer.
 
I apologize as I'm sure this has been explained, but can someone break down for me how the cheapest way to get an 8TB drive is to purchase one that comes with a whole bunch of extra stuff? Basic logic says there should be retail $140 8TB drives out there, though that is obviously not the case.
Read about it here, the speculation is that they're essentially 2nd tier or refurbed drives, at least when they were red labels.

Edit: The new whites have the same fw and specs as the reds, personally I’m fine getting a refurb/2nd tier drive for 150$ (with a 2y warranty still) compared to the bare drive that only gets me 1 extra year of warranty anyway at almost twice that cost.
Right when I was walking out the door with a wad of fun money in my wallet.... Thank you sir
Bring your friends, gf, wife, mother etc.
 
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Read about it here, the speculation is that they're essentially 2nd tier or refurbed drives, at least when they were red labels.

Edit: The new whites have the same fw and specs as the reds, personally I’m fine getting a refurb/2nd tier drive for 150$ (with a 2y warranty still) compared to the bare drive that only gets me 1 extra year of warranty anyway at almost twice that cost.

Bring your friends, gf, wife, mother etc.

Sat night.. buy them dinner with the money you saved heh
 
I have so many of these at this point I just haven't found a way to justify more but the price is so good for my nas.
 
I have so many of these at this point I just haven't found a way to justify more but the price is so good for my nas.
Pretty much, even if the drives have 10-20% shorter life (which I don't think is the case) its still worth the cost reduction IMO.
 
Bring your friends, gf, wife, mother etc.
Sat night.. buy them dinner with the money you saved heh
Probably not wise to bring these two on the same trip. :eek: :ROFLMAO:

But on a serious note, any idea if this will connect to an XP machine? We use some older thin clients as file servers and have external 2tb drives we rotate out every so often, but it would be nice to have a single 8tb drive with all the 2tb volumes on it as well, even if it has to be multiple 2tb partitions. Thoughts?
 
Probably not wise to bring these two on the same trip. :eek: :ROFLMAO:

But on a serious note, any idea if this will connect to an XP machine? We use some older thin clients as file servers and have external 2tb drives we rotate out every so often, but it would be nice to have a single 8tb drive with all the 2tb volumes on it as well, even if it has to be multiple 2tb partitions. Thoughts?

That's a good question. No idea if winxp can handle the large partition format. Maybe reformat it in smaller partitions like you said on a new system and then try on the older winxp.

Wait to hear from others first if this will work.
 
I know 32 bit XP doesn't have GPT so max total you'd get out of the drive would be 2TB with that (even with multiple partitions it can only see that first 2).
I think they may have added a compatibility to the 64 bit late services packs, I can't remember 100% though.
 
I know 32 bit XP doesn't have GPT so max total you'd get out of the drive would be 2TB with that (even with multiple partitions it can only see that first 2).
I think they may have added a compatibility to the 64 bit late services packs, I can't remember 100% though.
This was my thinking as well unless GPT works for external drives or some other trickery is used such as 4k sectors reported vs 512, effectively increasing the limit from 2tb to 8tb, which I read somewhere earlier that I can't find now to post the link. :(

The answers on the best buy link for the product are very positive on it working, but I have my doubts:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/questi...e-black/5792401?searchText=xp&sort=BEST_MATCH

XP compatibility would be interesting to know as the 256MB cache on these would mean that most of our data would be a cache hit as the individual data files are quite small. (y)
 
I have 6 of these white label 8TB drives they are all about the same manufacturing dates, 3 came from one BB 3 from another BB. They actually have different boxes The only way I can describe it is 3 boxes are Green and White 3 were White and Green. All the drives were shucked and put into a single system as a Windows Storage Space with parity enabled. Two months of 100% uptime is too short to make any definitive statements but so far no issues have cropped up. Note: I still had to do the power supply pin mod to get them working (google it).
 
I'll pick up another of these sometime this year as I want to back up my Kodi drive (which is why I bought my first one of these). I assume there isn't any benefit of shucking this if it's just for backup purposes right?
 
I'll pick up another of these sometime this year as I want to back up my Kodi drive (which is why I bought my first one of these). I assume there isn't any benefit of shucking this if it's just for backup purposes right?
Not really any need to shuck the drive for just backups. If you do shuck the drive you do have to contend with removing 3.3v from the SATA power connector. It is used to disable the drive for enterprise use and your PC won't recognize it if 3.3V is applied.
 
Other than it being more secure internal and could have active cooling no, would likely be a little faster on a SATA vs USB connector not substantially though.
I'm expecting/hoping they go on sale for black friday for $140-150 so I can grab one or two more.
 
Not really any need to shuck the drive for just backups. If you do shuck the drive you do have to contend with removing 3.3v from the SATA power connector. It is used to disable the drive for enterprise use and your PC won't recognize it if 3.3V is applied.

I just used an molex>sata adapter. This would only be for occasional backups so if for some reason the current one crashes I don't lose all the MKV files. I too an looking at black Friday like last year. Although I would have had better luck after that as I paid I think $160 and they came down to either $130 or $140 sometime after that. Great deal regardless.
 
I just used an molex>sata adapter. This would only be for occasional backups so if for some reason the current one crashes I don't lose all the MKV files. I too an looking at black Friday like last year. Although I would have had better luck after that as I paid I think $160 and they came down to either $130 or $140 sometime after that. Great deal regardless.
The lowest its been is $140 during the BF deal in 2017 (but was a limit of 1), they've had several sales of $150 since then and are generally a limit of two (a manager let me take all 3 he had though in June).
They generally are regularly listed as "on sale" for $170 about 90% of the year which still isn't a horrible deal, having to pay tax is the only drawback.
Thats going to go away soon with online retailers though because of the new laws so might as well get used to it.
 
If you are using the USB3 interface there is very little perceivable difference in speed as opposed to connecting straight to a SATA connector. I wanted to build a self contained media server so I needed all the drives inside my PC case (CM Master Case 5 Pro). Now have 40 TB of storage for all my movies and TV episodes. I cut small pieces of masking tape to cover over the pads for 3.3V on each drive, plugged in the SATA power connector and they started right up. Had I left them all in their enclosures I would have run out of physical room for all those external drives and run out of power sockets for all those power bricks.
 
Mine is in an HTPC and my case only has room for 2-3.5 inch drives. Eventually I'll have a total of 4 so I can have 2 live media drives and 2 backups.
 
Mine plugged right into the sata power on a 10 year old PSU, no need for tape or any adapters.
 
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