Western Digital Elements 3TB Desktop External Hard Drive - $169.99 + Tax + Free Ship

Wish USB 3.0 would take off. External hard disks are where it could really shine.
 
how hard are these things to crack open? I'd get this for the drive to drop into my esata dock.
 
They are really easy. I have 4 Seagate 3tb externals and I cracked all of them open just to use with my Areca RAID Card. The externals are way cheaper than internals.
 
WozniakMac said:
They are really easy. I have 4 Seagate 3tb externals and I cracked all of them open just to use with my Areca RAID Card. The externals are way cheaper than internals.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered why they do that. Even before the flooding it was cheaper generally.
 
newegg.png

Seems like the average before the flood was $140-$150. Is this worth buying now or should I wait? I don't particularly need a hard drive, but my 1TB has only 200G left.
 
And remember kids:

External HDD's like this = 1 year warranty
Cracking open case and removing drive = VOID warranty. They will not accept a bare drive removed from case and sent in for RMA service.

Better pray to jesus for no click o' death
 
odditory said:
And remember kids:

External HDD's like this = 1 year warranty
Cracking open case and removing drive = VOID warranty. They will not accept a bare drive removed from case and sent in for RMA service.

Better pray to jesus for no click o' death
Click to expand...

Non-sequitor. A drive with a 5 year warranty can fail like a drive with a 1 year. The warranty does not cover data loss. The only thing the warranty does is potentially mitigate costs do to failure. All else is your responsiblity....
 
I did the open the case for internal hd on the WD element 2 tb last month sale at Staples for 89.99. There is a link to show where to press the tabs back to open the case at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZUMh_H3B_Y.

Many had reported that they received a WD Black Label but mine was a sata III Green drive when opened. It worked fine after removal and installation into my Main Case computer.
The case though would not boot up another SATA II drive I had. Dont know if it had to be only a SATA III drive or another 2TB Sata III drive. So now the case just sits there empty.

Hope this information helps someone.

Rob in Mesquite,Tx
 
Rob, was it a WDbdrive you tried, I'm pretty sure wd cases will only work with wd drives.
 
vsboxerboy said:
I think he's just saying in terms of getting a replacement drive.
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Ding ding ding. It goes without saying that length of warranty has nothing to do with the prevention of data loss, which should begin with backups the moment you put anything of worth on a drive.
 
djgizmo said:
Rob, was it a WDbdrive you tried, I'm pretty sure wd cases will only work with wd drives.
Click to expand...

I wonder how the sata controller is hard coded to the WD drive though.. how would it have known the original drive wasnt back in there?

rob in Mesquite,Tx
 
odditory said:
Ding ding ding. It goes without saying that length of warranty has nothing to do with the prevention of data loss, which should begin with backups the moment you put anything of worth on a drive.
Click to expand...

I learned that the hard way.. With a SSD.
 
djgizmo said:
Rob, was it a WDbdrive you tried, I'm pretty sure wd cases will only work with wd drives.
Click to expand...

nop, i've few WD cases which i tried with different drives including hitachi, Seagate and samsung and they all work fine for me, though i only did 1 ad 2TB and couple 160GB but they all work fine for me with WD external cases.

there are some newer caes which doesn't have sticker where it says void if removed, means they don't have anything like that (even inside) as they think we can't open them without breaking the case, so it's all good. (the Fantom drives has void if removed sticker) i haven't seen it on WD or Seagate drives.
 
Seems the price went up by $20, showing $189.99 for me. However, it's also "Limit 5 per customer" now.

Tempted,...,, thanks OP!
 
Hmmm. both NewEgg and B&H have the Seagate 3TB for about $180 shipped ($169.99) right now. So for a pair, for me in WA there's a ~$27 savings over the WD.

Also, the GoFlex has a 2-year warranty.

(Search google shopping for "Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 3TB")
 
prometheum said:
no it doesn't...
Click to expand...

Your Use of the Product

WD will have no liability for any Product returned if WD determines that:

The product was stolen from WD.
The asserted defect:
is not present,
cannot reasonably be fixed because of damage occurring when the Product is in the possession of someone other than WD, or
is attributable to misuse, improper installation, alteration (including removing or obliterating labels and opening or removing external covers (unless authorized to do so by Western Digital or an authorized Service Center)), accident or mishandling while in the possession of someone other than WD.
The Product was not sold to you as new.
The product was not used in accordance with Western Digital specifications and instructions.
The product was not used for its intended function (for example, desktop drives used in an Enterprise environment).
 
It would be a shame to loose 3TB at once with a drive failure... I think I prefer more small drives to one big one.
 
is attributable to misuse, improper installation, alteration (including removing or obliterating labels and opening or removing external covers (unless authorized to do so by Western Digital or an authorized Service Center)), accident or mishandling while in the possession of someone other than WD.
Click to expand...

Yep.

It's pretty much a no-brainer that removing the drive voids the warranty.
 
YamahaAlex37 said:
It would be a shame to loose 3TB at once with a drive failure... I think I prefer more small drives to one big one.
Click to expand...

Your logic makes ZERO sense. Why, when a drive dies..would you lose information? You have a backup...right? Anybody who keeps a single copy of digital information that cannot be re-produced is just asking for a boot to the head.

If you have 3 drives vs one...with no backup, you are 3x more likely to lose information...even if only a 1/3rd of it. However, if you have 2 drives, each with the same information...the only way to lose information would be to lose both within the same opportunity window; in most cases that is an enviromental disaster. In that case, your logic is moot since you would be subject to the same issue with multiple drives.
 
next-Jin said:
I've always wondered why they do that. Even before the flooding it was cheaper generally.
Click to expand...

Probably because they use their cheaper,less reliable drives in them. The failure rate for externals seem higher,after my experience with them I think I'll just wait for prices to drop,get a good internal drive and put it in an enclosure.
 
It makes sense if WD pops in refurbs in those external enclosures and give a limited limited waranty. Most carry externals from place to place so it would be "logical to have higher drive failures" and WD can blame it on the customer. Earn back your production costs and raw materials right? Typical Hole1ass managers come up with these schemes and have a hard laugh.

Sorry for kicking this but had two questions;

1. can anyone comment on the controller/disk hardcoding thing. Is it true?

2. These external drives mostly put hdd's up for vertical operation. Don't hdd's need a pocket of air for the heads to float on ie. positioned horizontally? Well I guess not DUH but..., would vertical operation somehow wear a drive out more?
 
did you really just bump this 4 year old [H]ot|DEALS thread... try posting in the HD section if you're asking technical questions, I don't think you'll find an answer here
 
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