2nd Post. Please be k…. kick ass with the votes and kickbacks (nudge nudge wink wink).
From MSY:
Asus 2.5" USB3.0 500GB External HDD
Not sure when this ends as there is no end of promo date, "when it's sold out" i guess.
These seem to be fairly rare to find. Shopbot has 1 listed at $90.20
Ouch!
Perram imposed penalties “at the lower end” of the range: $55,500 on MSY; $37,000 on MSY NSW; $18,500 on MSY QLD; $37,000 on MSY SA; and $55,500 on MSY WA.
According to Federal Court documents, the maximum penalty for MSY’s contraventions was $1,100,000.
"Although MSY initially failed to “grasp the seriousness of the matter”, Perram said it undertook a “vigorous, complete and adequate response” following commencement of court proceedings."
Good to hear, good to hear. I feel much better about buying at MSY now.
Does MSY have a Branch in WA?!!??! since when o.o
Since years ago, iirc the Cannington branch has been around for less than a year.
wait, nothing for vic?
MSY originated in victoria, the caulfield store IIRC. So the "MSY" referred would be the Victorian branch.
Ah ok. Their headquarters are in clayton, if that's the one you were after?
I'd noticed those signs and always thought that it's actually illegal for them to say that. Rather surprised to see they actually got fined for them.
And yet if Woolies or Coles were to break the law (not this one, any other one… like maybe unfair pricing and competition against fruit'n'veg shops and butchers close by) you can guarantee they will NOT be taken to court or at the most will get a slap on the wrist.
The ACCC is one of the biggest jokes going around.
It's all about getting sufficient evidence to make a case. It's not against the law (thankfully for this websites readers!) to undercut competitors prices or to sell at a loss (even if the aim is drive competitors broke) It's free market competition that actually keeps prices down.
The problem comes when a company has too much market share and limits need to be placed before not after an oligopoly is created (I'd say at least 3-4 similarly sized competitors is optimal for the best outcome for consumers). Also behaviour like this from Woolies/Coles is restraint of trade and prevent competitors like Aldi from expanding. The ACCC definitely can improve things in relation to the amount of real estate Woolies/Coles have amassed and "locked up" also. Again it's better to think ahead and make rules before rather than retrospectively. Expansion is quite predictable.
South Park summed up consumer behaviour/logic beautifully in the Walmart episode. Here's the tail end :-)
Also look at how a 4c petrol voucher has completely shaken up the petrol industry due to consumer psychology.
that first paragraph describes predatory pricing, if the ACCC can get enough evidence(which is not always easy) they can try to prove the company is anti competitive and fine them, doesn't happen that often because predatory pricing looks a lot like active competition between sellers
I always figured this when seeing their signs in store, and hearing about warranty policy.
As true ozbargainers, it pays to know your warranty rights.
These drives are still available although my local store just ran out… but will have some again next week.
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/37887
edit: dont know why there are clowns negging me, i posted the link because i remembered the op and his first post
sorry mate, i neg coz though you posted link & thinking it was dupe
can't revoke @comment
So he gets a + on your behalf :)
not dupe, lol 3 months old!
delete you :)
dreamscape - provide the correct link to the duplication please, otherwise we may delete your post and your vote - thats only fair. You are getting into a habit of negging deals with very little info and thats not in the spirit of the site. Maybe reading this might help
dreamspace - don't just neg without any supporting evidence
don't neg at all for a dupe….. just use the report button…..
This is the Asus AN300, there's a brief but sufficient review here (incl. speed tests): http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=932790
Potential drawbacks:
5400RPM
Very short cabling
Needs 2 USB ports when connected via USB 2.0
Below average speeds for USB 3.0
Also, knowing MSY, they probably have it exclusively in a different colour from what's shown in the stock photo.
Strange that you write this, it would appear that you don't have a great deal of experience with this kind of device?
Almost ALL portable drives, especially 2.5" ones are 5400rpm. Some are even slower! I'd like to see a link to a mainstream 7200rpm 2.5" portable drive.
With portable drives, a short cable is usually an advantage. Most come with cables about 400-600mm long. If you want longer, then just buy a longer one.
The number of ports needed depends on the device it's connected to… the reviewer even states that they only needed to use a single port.
I don't consider 88MB/sec read and 70MB/sec write are particular "slow", especially for a small laptop drive. What are you comparing it to?
+1
Brian775 has kindly pointed out (post below) that there is a Samsung S2 2.5" drive that uses 7200rpm, and gets faster transfer speeds of almost 100MB/sec in the same benchmark. I think it's much thicker than the Asus however…
http://www.myce.com/review/samsung-s2-portable-3-1tb-usb3-2-…
Considering that Samsung 5400rpm 3.5" drives also pull similar speeds (90-100MB/sec), it may be that the interface controller rather than the drive itself is what's holding this Asus one back?
For example, there is a PQI 320GB drive that's 2.5" and 5400rpm, yet pulls 93.5MB/sec. So, this Asus drive isn't the speediest out there, but it's still almost 3 times faster than the USB 2.0 speeds we are generally used to.
Only comes in Brown, at least at Pascoe Vale.
Nice to see my review getting some love :-)
You will note in my review that I had no problem using in on USB2.0 with only one cable.
About your below average speed comment, the speeds i achieve are what I would expect from a direct SATA connection of a 2.5" 5400rpm drive.
Also I got mine from MSY when they were running the same promo in January.
Well, I copied a few large .avi files across to mine and Windows was reporting a rate of just a whisker under 100MB/s, the lowest it dropped to was in the 80's from time to time, probably as it was copying the next file. That's on a pretty modern laptop though with Seagate Momentus Hybrid HDDs, which might have helped. I know it's not a definitive test, but it was pretty darned quick.
price is ok, not red hot.
I was able to buy 500gb 2.5" external HDD for $50 around new year peroid. (4 months ago)
500gb is no longer enough for me nowaday so I'll pass on this one.
USB2 or USB3?
it was USB2
Let me explain:
- for external HDD, I use 2.5" HDD and USB 2 is fast enough for me.
- USB 3 would be nice but not important.
- for serious storage, I use 3.5" internal drives with Mobile Rack.
this one is on USB3 so yes this one would be good for many people.
my bad!
delete sorry found answer
Good price for a USB3.0
This was in today's Daily Telegraph:…
Tech firm fined over warranties
"A TECHNOLOGY company that trades with the tagline "the name you can trust" was fined $203,500 for false and misleading conduct and ordered to pay costs.
The Federal Court in Sydney fined MSY Technologies Pty Ltd and four of its companies for making false and misleading statements about warranties.
…
Justice Perram said that misrepresenting warranty rights to consumers was an unacceptable commerical conduct and illegal"
Sorry, I should reply to "llama".
The Samsung s2 3.0 series use 7200rpm harddisk.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Samsung-S2-Portable-HDD-Has-U…
They are available in MSY as well, 500GB for $69 and 640GB for $85.
It seems to only use one usb port on usb2.0 mode. I haven't found any reviews to confirm that.
Thanks - according to this review…
http://www.myce.com/review/samsung-s2-portable-3-1tb-usb3-2-…
that Samsung S2 pulls almost 100MB/sec on read and write in teh same benchmark. I think it's a larger (thicker) drive, but still 2.5".
It is already mentioned in the first comment in the deal.
ARRRRRGH! I paid $129 EA for 2 of these a few months back!!!
Looks like a great deal!
will it work with mac os. 10.4?
Well, that all depends on whether a Mac can read and write files to a USB port. Last time I checked (many years ago) all the modern Macs had USB ports… so I reckon you'll be OK. :-D
Why do you ask that question?
Format it to HFS or FAT32 and it will work.
or even better, exFAT
MSY generally have the some of the best prices for most computer gear, unless you buy from a distributor or wholesaler as a company, but I'm a little hesitant after reading about the court case. Who knows if they will be around in 6 months?! But its a good deal anyway.
Well how on earth do you think they're making their profit margins with such low prices?
Zero customer service, support and RMAs for a start.
So true with no customer service. They didn't let me get a refund for a faulty Belkin N ADSL2+ modem/router, even though I told them I contacted Belkin and they could not solve the problem. So, I told them I had a reference no. for the call, and so they said 'If you had told us from the begining, with the reference no. we would of course let u swap it.' LOL this was at mitcham btw. And yes, I got my full 63 dollar cash refund after being turned away from the next offers they made, two billion modem/routers close to 100 bucks. =S
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/254934,msy-fined-for-misleadin…