This was posted 8 years 8 months ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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WD 4TB - External for $176, Internal for $184 (Delivered) @ eBay Futu_Online

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WD 4TB - External for $176, Internal for $184 (Delivered) @ eBay Futu_Online
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LDrDollar on 25/08/2015 - 12:27 ebay.com.au (184 clicks)
Last edited 25/08/2015 - 21:38 by 1 other user
CTREAT20

Cheapest Western Digital 4TB GREEN internal / external HDDs I can find (delivered), from Futu_Online on eBay with the 20% off eBay coupon.

Use the eBay coupon CTREAT20 at checkout for 20% off: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/208273

External WD 4TB $176 delivered.

Internal WD 4TB $184 delivered.

Don't forget CashRewards for 2.5% cashback!

You can certainly find cheaper Seagate same-size drives out there however they will be using SMR technology resulting in lower overall performance. This deal is for anyone specifically after WD drives.

edit: It has been brought to my attention that the 4tb Seagate comparative mentioned is in fact not SMR. Still a great deal for the WD-inclined! (know your stuff)

Computing 4TB Computer Peripheral External Hard Drive Western Digital

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closed Comments

  • elitistphoenix on 25/08/2015 - 12:34

    Wtf. Why wouldn't you just but the external and rip the HDD out for an internal?

    • Grok on 25/08/2015 - 12:36
      +3

      Warranty?

      • Utopian on 25/08/2015 - 13:29

        Can't infringe your rights on the drive-itself.

        • DrDollar on 27/08/2015 - 21:27
          -1

          Yes, it can :) - Read further comments below.

    • Clear on 25/08/2015 - 13:01

      RPM in these drives are usually slower than desktop ones.

  • DrDollar on 25/08/2015 - 12:37

    I used to do that all the time. In some cases the drives are different however I do not believe so for this one. If you rip the external housing apart to get to the drive, you might void any warranty on the drive inside. I play it safe and just grab the internal drives nowadays unless the externals are considerably cheaper.

    • Utopian on 25/08/2015 - 13:29

      No pun intended?

    • Gnostikos on 25/08/2015 - 14:50
      +2

      If you rip the external housing apart to get to the drive, you might void any warranty on the drive inside.

      External HDDs serial numbers differ from internal HDDs, even where the models are identical so you can't claim an RMA on an external HDD and pretend you bought it as an internal as the S/N will be a giveaway that it was originally an external; but generally removing HDDs from OEM enclosures doesn't break any seals/void stickers for most Seagate/WD enclosures (although you can damage the fragile plastic), so it is possible to rip an enclosure open, use the drive internally and then still send it back for an RMA should you run into an issue by simply sticking it back in its original enclosure. I've done this in the past and the HDDs passed inspection and were successfully RMA'ed.

      The one thing you want to do (if possible) to avoid giving up any evidence of having used it internally is thoroughly format it (multiple pass zero fill), as you won't be getting your original drive back ever (stated warrant T&C of every HDD manufacturer) and secondly, if you connect a drive full of data back to the enclosure, the enclosure's drive controller on the logic board uses hardware encryption (default for almost all external HDDs) and will present the drive as being in RAW format, in need of reformatting to a proper file system, when plugged into a PC and thus unreadable (despite the fact that connected internally all the data will be accessible). Inspection may find this out when they connect the drive via the enclosure and then open it and connect it via SATA and then refuse RMA.

      • Utopian on 27/08/2015 - 23:40

        How do you format a dead drive?

  • incipient on 25/08/2015 - 13:31
    +2

    The 4tb green is $189 at MSY if anyone prefers brick and mortar (not on sale, just standard price)

  • Mossy on 25/08/2015 - 18:43
    +1

    Check out the WD 3TB Red history, you can just about pinpoint the ebay sales dates because Futu bumps the price up each time.

    • Grubsy on 26/08/2015 - 14:25

      Curious, does eBay pay the 20% to the seller or the seller's take the 20% off?

      Some of these items would be a great price in the 20% sale if they sellers didn't bump the price up each time.

      Have noticed the same with the Seagate 8TB Archive Drives

      • DrDollar on 26/08/2015 - 19:13

        I would think it would be the seller taking the "hit" otherwise eBay would be policing (somewhat) to ensure sellers are not bumping their prices up too much during the sale and hence costing eBay what could be a very considerable amount of money if they were to essentially subsidies the sale difference.

        I could see the potential for eBay partly funding it, however unsure if this occurs.

        • Mossy on 26/08/2015 - 21:16

          Pretty sure ebay fund it. Don't forget, the more items a seller sells, the more they pay ebay fees. Also, when buying from places like Dick Smith and Good Guys previously, their receipt has the full price not including the 20% off.

        • DrDollar on 26/08/2015 - 22:01

          @Mossy: Interesting but the eBay fees are only around 10% of the sale price so eBay subsidizing 20% will negate their profit from the sale itself?

  • fredblogs on 25/08/2015 - 18:43

    @DrDollar are you sure all Seagate 4TB's are worse performance than this?

    • Gnostikos on 25/08/2015 - 19:06

      Shingled Magnetic Recording is only used in the Seagate Archive 6TB/8TB models (and they don't sell for around $200 anyway).

      The Seagate Barracuda 4TB (model number: ST4000DM000) is the drive inside the Seagate Expansion Desktop series and it is faster than the WD Greens, but that's not saying much since just about anything is. It's still a slow 5900RPM drive that's best suited towards pure storage purposes.

      • fredblogs on 25/08/2015 - 19:09

        Still fine for playing videos, no?

        • Gnostikos on 25/08/2015 - 19:13
          -1

          Yes, that's what I meant by pure storage purposes. NAS/File Server/Media Box, etc.

          Given both the WD Green/WD Elements and Seagate Barracuda/Seagate Expansion are essentially the lowest-end, budget offerings from both manufacturers and both series of HDDs have shoddy histories and have been plagued with poor reliability, I'd say just get whatever is cheapest at the time you're buying and make sure you have backups. Greens have a 3-year warranty versus the 2-year for Barracudas; not sure about externals.
          Current it seems this deal for WD is a winner given the going rate for Seagate Expansion 4TB currently is ~$200. Historically I've seen them and bought them for as low as $144 however; so like I said, go with whatever is cheapest at the time.

          I'd have zero faith in either a WD Green or a Seagate Barracuda to keep important data safe for many years.

        • DrDollar on 25/08/2015 - 21:35

          @Amar89:
          Good points and apologies for the assumption on the Seagate 4TB drive being SMR. This WD green drive is still cheaper than the Seagate alternative today, not to mention it is also more reliable.

          You can certainly trust a WD green drive for storing important data depending on the use case, like any product. I have had many of these green drives (~12) for years and yet to see a failure in one of them. Oldest dating back ~4 years. I made the switch to WD after too many bad experiences with Seagate drives failing.

          Just my experience however!

          If you are looking for reliability and performance, get a WD black.

          If you are after RAID and reliability, get a WD RED.

          If you are after the cheapest and reliable storage (seagate not an option), get a WD green unless you are in a RAID configuration. You can still try your luck depending on the RAID hardware and how it is going to manage power for the green drives. Obviously this would be for cheap pure storage only, no performance.

          Just my 2c.

      • 7hours 44min ago on 27/08/2015 - 15:08

        I just got the 4TB Seagate Backup Plus Desktop. Plan is to use it in a friends media centre to stream HD videos to his NUC. Mistake?
        Oh and I know that a NAS is the better option but he needs to power down every night so I figured a USB drive would be more amiable to that sort of treatment.

        • DrDollar on 27/08/2015 - 21:32
          +1

          That will still be plenty fast enough to stream HD video.

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