Was looking for an external drive on the weekend, and found this WD My Book Essential 2TB USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive at Dick Smith. Price seemed pretty good.
In store they had it labeled as $149 on sale, but it scans at $129. JB has it for $167. Staticice shows this as the best price available.
DSE online also has free delivery for orders over $100, so this is effectively $129 delivered.
Anyone know whether the drives and cases can be seperated easily on these WD models ?
It is able to be separated, easy is maybe the wrong word,
you need to jimmy the clips open with a flat blade screwdriver and they will sometimes snap, If you wish to restore the HDD back inside the case it might never be the same
Even if you could remove the drive, why would you bother when you can buy a bare drive WITH WARRANTY for well under $100?
http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=wd20ears&sp…
It confuses me why people ask this question on almost every portable HDD deal?
They want to know if they can pop a larger drive into the external case at some point.
Simple, because i need a 2tb bare drive for my work PC, and then i want to put the 750gb im taking out and use in this case, which just happens to be a nice looking, USB3 external case that i can continue to re-use as i continue to swap drives every 6months.
The way i see it, I have just bought reputable brand name, empty USB3 case for $30.
Not too confusing ?
Not confusing. Many other posts have mentioned using the Portable as a source for bare HDD's, which doesn't seem economically viable to me.
I assumed you wanted to do the same thing - I never considered putting an old drive back into the newly-pirated case. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
Yeah, I have a question.
1/ Why do you need 2TB on a work PC? Like, what work do you do that requires 2TB, if I may ask?
2/ Why would someone swap hard drives every X months? Like, would you write new data on the new HDDs or the same data, for backup purposes?
Maybe, maybe not. It's common practice now to integrate the USB electronics on the drive so there isn't any SATA interface in between. Saves the mfr money. I'll see if I can peek into my model and see if there's a SATA connector. But I'm not going to open the case on your account. :)
Too hard to see inside, the slats are slanted. But it look like the USB connector is soldered to a circuit board that is somehow connected to the drive. Hard to say either way. Maybe you might find pictures of a disassembled drive on the Net.
Also I don't see any screws holding the case together so you might have to destroy the plastic case to get at the drive and then what you will do after putting a smaller capacity drive in, glue it together again? Good luck.
i don't know is $129 that cheap for 2Tb?
http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=2Tb+externa…
For a USB 3.0 external drive it is pretty good.
USB2 vs USB3 = big difference in transfer speed and corresponding price.
Yep, but only if you have a USB 3 port on your motherboard or an add-on card :)
I wish you hadn't posted this,
I just got a USB 3.0 mobo and already have a 2TB external (USB2.0 though),
After my new PC purchase I am supposed to be saving money but can hardly resist, want so bad
Just making sure, USB or AC powered?
lol fail eBay listing attempt at $149: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Western-Digital-My-Book-2TB-Exter…
$14.90??? That seems very cheap…about to get ozbargainized
all gone or ended
I wonder how easily the seller will be able to get out of that situation, given it is clearly a mistake. Interesting!
I just bought one, i'll keep you posted
I've bought one as well, no chance I'm paying for it atm though. I just wanted to add to the sellers face emotion when he returns to his computer.
I paid (paypal), curious to see how it gets handled. Not expecting to get a hard drive though.
sold out
You have requested an outdated version of PayPal. This error often results from the use of bookmarks.
whether paypal saved me or saved him. lool
got a feeling its the scammer trying the trick like last time's hd from china.
lol, posting and handling alone would kill most of his scammed profits?
heh… yeah and given he has 2 feedback he'll probably just run away :P
Ah well, if it is then no harm done using PayPal
PayPal is just a hassle though
True, but if your after a few HDDs can't hurt to try, nothing ventured nothing gained
you will be sent a cheap piece of crap via recorded delivery….
You won't know that, and will sign for it….
which will show it's been received….
then you will have to do a paypal dispute for a 'sent wrong item'….
they will tell you to send it back, (at your expense), to the seller….
you won't bother…
(or maybe you will, it won't be received though)….
I'd be kissing your money goodbye…..
I cancelled my payment after I saw the faux feedback on eBay, I'm happy to watch here and see the experience of others or contact from the seller
Pretty much all 3.5" external drives are AC powered.
he sold 99 in the last 2 hours.
methinks he was ozbargained big time, ha ha.
Nice find TheSly, thanks.
OW also have it inc free delivery
http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/Dat…
but they seem to offering a 3 year warranty compared to the DSE 2 year (checked on box in picture)
maybe an OW typo?
Handling is $4.95, making it $133.95.
good point, i forgot about handling with OW.
DSE it is then.
Does this model have the built in software that you can't get rid of?
This model has changed from previous WD's I've used. They used to mount a seperate drive with the software, which was annoying as it wasted drive letters, and used to auto run too. This one simply has the software on the drive when you plug it in, and it's up to you if you wish to run it. I just left it on there in a separate folder and it doesn't auto run at all.
Was in JB today and saw they have the same drive in the 1Tb version for $129.
Good to know . Those autorunning partitions are a pain in the arse and virtually impossible to get rid of .
I wouldn't say "virtually impossible" - quite easy, in fact: http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3835/
These partitions are indeed virtually impossible to remove . They can be easily "hidden" but not removed .
My friend went to Officework to beat the Price. He get $122.55 with same model.
Must ask them have stock available, then ask them to beat the price with Dicksmith.
Don't ask to beat it first, they mostly tell you "no more stock"
Cheers.
argh looks like Officeworks updated their price to $129 as well so price match doesn't apply!
oh well, still a bargain!
the funny thing is their 1TB version is $129 as well?!
Yeh I bought a few before I saw andy19363's comment on the recorded delivery scam. I have a bad feeling I won't be getting a hard drive
Seller has 100% feedback dating to April 08 so that's heartening?
assuming it's not a hacked account….
Probably a hijacked account.
The scammers are not particularly interested in teh money (which Paypal will refund) - what they are probably doing is harvesting Names, IDs and Emails for future phishing attempts.
Beware - just because an email (seemingly) from Paypal or Ebay "addresses you by your full name", does NOT make it safe to click any links inside it!
The scammers are not particularly interested in teh money (which Paypal will refund)
but nobody will jump through the hoops to get their money back……
you have to send the item back to the seller before they will act further…. and most people will be reluctant to lay out more money for that to happen.
Ahhhh crap. What a way to start the week. So should I open the package before signing for it, if it isn't what they said it is, should I refuse to sign for it? Or is there not much point
Send what back to them? Almost 100% of the time, no product is ever delivered.
That is one of the most common scams on eBay at the moment. They set up an eBay Store and list a popular item at about 20% normal market price. Paypals payments are usually never even accepted (unclaimed).
Furthermore, there is a significant percentage of people who are paranoid of Paypal, so if the scammers get some Bank Deposits out if it then that's a bonus.
This particular one might be different, I am only speaking generally.
z00m - I'd open it in front of Post Office staff if you can. If it arrives :-)
personally…..I suspect you would be more likely to get some recompense by a 'non delivery' dispute…..
Almost 100% of the time, no product is ever delivered.
You will get a small item of plastic jewellery….
non-delivery makes things much easier to dispute…..
Dick Smith wants to charge shipping at checkout.
1 Items-Subtotal (Includes GST of $11.73)
$129.00
Total shipping
$7.50
What Gives ? ("DSE online also has free delivery for orders over $100")
Maybe send them a message via the site. I walked into a store to get mine, so can't comment on if they actually charge you once you checkout.
It should say this: Shipping Discount -$7.50
It will add the shipping and then discount it on the bottom.
i bought 2 but haven't paid yet.
hopefully it's hot off a truck and not a mistake or scam.
so uhh.. why did I get negged for this?
wasn't me, but despite the fact it's most likely a scam as per discussion, chadiwrx also posted the same link over 2 hours ago.
hehe so why did i get negged? :P
anyway i actually bought one when it was posted before, but i do actually regret it now after reading these comments :(
you're just asking to be neg'd to oblivion I hope you know…..
Oops, didn't mean to pos you. Button too close to neg.
free international shipping too! lol
I think someone must hacked into his account and posted this deal. Too good to be true.
<edit>
No, this is not true of the 2TB USB3 model. I have one so I know. It's just software that's put in a folder on the single preformatted NTFS partition. I could have deleted the folder, but I simply reformatted the partition ext4 for Linux.
Nice find, especially with the free delivery.
Just picked one up :)
I usually make my own external drives so I can resell the old drives and keep the casings I like as I upgrade my storage each year, but I did end up buying one of these a few months back (at a much higher price) and I'm quite pleased with it.
Thanks TheSly for an excellent find.
Just picked one up at the Greensborough store for the $129 and was amused to see that it was ticketed at $149 (by memory) but it came up properly at the register, commented that it was a good price and was told it retails there at $175 or so.
They had the 1TB version at $129.99 which was about the same as at centrecom at $129 - nice to see DS is getting competitive :)
The staples one is much better. Worth having a look guys.
UMMMM - one per customer and only 1TB - not much use if you want 2TB preferably in a single unit :/
Just bought one as well, they only had the 1TB version on the shelve so I asked the sale person for the 2TB version. He was a bit confuse as to why the 1TB and 2TB model was exactly same price (especially since the 1TB version was on "special") but it scanned at $129, great deal.
I'll buy two of these when they hit $99.
nice find, let's see how long it lasts !