This was posted 3 years 1 month 27 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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WD 12TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive $280.20 + Shipping ($0 with Prime) @ Amazon US via AU

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WD 12TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive $280.20 + Shipping ($0 with Prime) @ Amazon US via AUAffiliate
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Taegukgi on 26/02/2021 - 19:43 amazon.com.au (2167 clicks)
Last edited 26/02/2021 - 19:45
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Looks like an all time low price for the 12TB.

  • Fast data transfers
  • High-capacity add-on storage
  • Plug-and-play ready for Windows PCs. Compatibility - Formatted NTFS and compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. Compatibility may vary depending on user’s hardware configuration and operating system
  • Western Digital quality inside and out
  • 2-year manufacturer's limited warranty
  • Stream from ibi to your TV with Fire TV, Roku, Google Chromecast and more.
Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.
Computing 12TB Computer Peripheral External Hard Drive Western Digital

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closed Comments

  • Jenbrook on 26/02/2021 - 19:49
    +2

    5400 rpm

    • CountDuckula on 26/02/2021 - 19:53
      +1

      Depends what you're using it for I guess, fine for storage but not so much for games. Even WD Reds are 5400 (red pro are 7200).
      I've got one connected to a rpi4 with libreelec, 7200RPM would only be louder.

      • Whisper Quiet on 26/02/2021 - 21:11

        Yeah I strictly use these drives for backups. Tried putting games on them previously but had trouble loading constantly.

      • So lo on 26/02/2021 - 21:45
        +1

        I got 4x shucked WD Elements 10TB drives connected via USB to dual-SATA adapters to a rpi4 in software RAID5…

        via the USB2.0 ports. And its perfectly fine for my use case.

        • Zorlin on 27/02/2021 - 08:36
          +5

          Raid5? Are you suicidal? Hope you've got backups…

          • padman on 27/02/2021 - 09:09

            @Zorlin: What's wrong with Raid 5?

            • So lo on 27/02/2021 - 09:32
              +3

              @padman: If you lose 2 hdds simulataneously it's all gone. Also, if you hit an uncorrectable read error during rebuild then it's all gone.

              Do not use RAID thinking it's a backup. Your RAID partition is simply a partition.

              My personal data:
              -On laptop
              -Synced to cloud that includes rollback versions of files.
              Periodically archived and manually copied to:
              -USB SSD
              -Different cloud service
              -RPI4 raid5

              Other data on my rpi comes from thr internet, so if it is lost, then getting a newer copy in the latest codec format is probably better anyways.

              So, again, perfectly fine for my use case.

          • So lo on 27/02/2021 - 09:34
            +3

            @Zorlin: Everyone should always have backups.

            RAID stands for Not A Backup.

            • Zorlin on 27/02/2021 - 13:08
              +1

              @So lo: Hah, yeah pretty much.

              I like to tell people that raid is at best an availability solution, not backup or data safety.

    • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 20:12
      +7

      these are 7200rpm labeled as 5400. Reddit checked it with spin sound recordings

      • [Deactivated] on 03/03/2021 - 10:50
        +1

        I was wrong, its 5400 rpms. Data on Helium, RPMs, and other info for WD drives. Table

    • Nom on 26/02/2021 - 21:33
      +1

      Good, less heat produced and probably more reliable if it's really 5400 👍

      If it's fake labelling as per Reddit post above, then boooooo 👎

      • So lo on 26/02/2021 - 21:47

        I have 4 of their 10TB models:
        - 3 of them are labelled EZAZ
        - 1 is labelled EMAZ… and pulls twice the wattage and runs ~10*C hotter. :'(

      • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 22:06

        Well, 7200 hellium vs 5400 air?

  • Shina on 26/02/2021 - 19:53

    Can anyone please guide me about life expectancy of these kind of hard disk ? Is that true that they usually last three to five years?

    • phatsteve on 26/02/2021 - 20:01
      +1

      Warranty would probably be 2 years.

      WD Black drives (not this one) have 5 years.

      I’ve had WD drives for 10 years without issue.. I also seem to have Seagate drives die on me after like a year.. maybe I’m cursed.

      While external drives are advertised as backup drives, they’re handy.. but not a backup.. if the drive dies that’s it. Subscribe to some cloud storage if you want some safe backups.

      • B-Man02 on 26/02/2021 - 20:08
        +3

        "I’ve had WD drives for 10 years without issue.. I also seem to have Seagate drives die on me after like a year.. maybe I’m cursed."

        Exactly the same for me.
        Had 3 hard drives die on me. All were seagates. Wont use another one ever.

        • cryptowiz on 26/02/2021 - 20:55
          +6

          Up to 2018 I was running around 30 hard drives in my household (a NAS, a Drobo, plus several desktops with 3 or 4 drives each along with offsite backups) and equally split between WD and Seagate. I had three drives fail in the warranty period. A WD Black after a few years, a WD Blue that was brand new but half the platters weren't working (so returned to the store) and a Seagate Barracuda which also failed after a few years.

          Western Digital wanted the drive mailed to Singapore for replacement under warranty, Seagate wanted theirs sent to Botany. Local postage was one quarter the price and I got my replacement two weeks faster so I have no issue with Seagate. They just have a better and cheaper warranty return policy.

          I'm not saying one is better than the other, both companies have had bad batches over the years.

          Oh, if you really want a really great drive you need to time-travel back to 1991 when I bought a Quantum 240MB (yes, MB) drive for $1,200. It was still working 24 years later.

          • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 22:08
            +2

            @cryptowiz: Legally the manufacturer is responsible for the cost of return postage. Insist they reimburse you if it happens again.

            • Trance N Dance on 27/02/2021 - 01:45
              -1

              @[Deactivated]: Only if the cost of return shipping is unreasonable.

              • [Deactivated] on 27/02/2021 - 08:37
                +2

                @Trance N Dance: No, if returning the goods would entail significant cost then the supplier must arrange transportation. Otherwise the consumer is responsible for returning the goods, and may claim reimbursement from the supplier.

                Read schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

                • ChiefAJ on 27/02/2021 - 22:04

                  @[Deactivated]:

                  Read schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

                  Which part? There are 303 sections!

                  http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/caca20…

                  • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2021 - 09:00
                    +1

                    @ChiefAJ: Yep, I was just giving @Trance N Dance an idea of what law school is like since we had to read most of it.

                    It's covered under s 272 in this case since it's a manufacturer. The preceding few sections would be if it were the supplier they were returning the item to.

          • FutureMe on 26/02/2021 - 22:14

            @cryptowiz: Ha, I remember paying $1200 for my Quantum 240MB drive back then too.

            • DanielP2 on 27/02/2021 - 00:31

              @FutureMe: i had a quantum fireball ST 6.4GB, but i guess that was quite a few years later

              no idea what it cost tho, it was in a pre built system. It never failed tho, just ended up getting discarded when the capacity became completely irrelevant.

        • sicinadan on 27/02/2021 - 06:16

          I’ve had WD drives for 10 years without issue.. I also seem to have Seagate drives die on me after like a year.. maybe I’m cursed."
          Same here, 2 Seagate went to the bin after 2 years /….

      • Praeto on 26/02/2021 - 21:08
        +2

        My family have 5 Synology NAS between us. 16 x WD drives and 4 x Seagate. All the Seagate drives have died and been replaced with something else, and 1 WD out of the 16 have died.. in the last 9 years.. My experience is only anecdotal, but I've had lots of seagate drives over the years and none of them are still working.

        • OkayFray on 26/02/2021 - 21:46

          Not to mention EXOS can be pretty loud. I bought one but it's soon to be retired as my off-site backup drive

      • Budju on 27/02/2021 - 01:03

        Do you treat your drives like dirt? The last drive that died on me was from my Compaq Presario circa 1999. I own about 15 drives - maybe I'm blessed.

        • Trance N Dance on 27/02/2021 - 01:45

          You are blessed

        • raybies on 27/02/2021 - 01:56

          Mine was 2001; Seagte 2.5 7200rpm in a laptop… it didn't fully die, it just did weird things like the motor was stuck.

          I think ^ might be running raids, in possibly non force ventilated environments.
          I'm more of an rsync person, and don't raid… think of it more as availability zones.

    • zan5hin on 26/02/2021 - 20:18
      +1

      Both of my 4TB WD My Book externals have died.

      Now I'm rocking internal 3.5" Seagate 8TB Ironwolf which runs hot, and a 14TB Helium based one that is cool and both haven't skipped a beat.

      Still considering this deal, tempting. I paid $580 for the 14TB with Aussie warranty, 12 months ago, I didn't shuck it.

      I think these cases they put them in are crap and make the drives run too hot, hence why my drives failed. Back in the old days before external hard drives were a thing, I would put 3.5" drives in external third party cases, and the best ones had fans, like the Antec MX-1 enclosure.

      These companies selling external hard drives without putting in a $3 fan makes me think they are treating them like 2-year or 3-year razor blades.

      If I was guaranteed helium drive, I would get this.

    • The Magic Pudding on 26/02/2021 - 20:26
      +2

      I wouldn't rate my view particularly high, some impressions from an internet guy.

      The drives in these large WD externals are better than your cheap 2TB Greens, so it's said.
      Personally I'd hope for them to last 5 to 10 years.
      After a few years a drive might be put in a cupboard but still serves as redundancy.
      These spinning drives get it easier in my systems these days, the SSDs do nearly all the hard work.

      I shucked an 8TB some years ago that still works, I've had a 10 for a couple of years that I left in its case, which works fine but it slows the boot process considerably.

      A shucked drive can fail.
      The power adapter of external drive can fail.
      The external drive case gizmotronics can fail.

      Dead on arrival or after a day is a thing.

      • Ulysses31 on 26/02/2021 - 21:33

        ^ almost word-for-word, my situation, experience & opinion.

    • Tambani on 26/02/2021 - 20:59

      Shucked a bunch of these for my NAS two years ago. They've taken a thrashing and no problems to report.

    • kurdoxan on 26/02/2021 - 22:11

      I recently bought from Amazon US, now I see some errors when I copy files in it. I checked it with WD dashbord SMART tool and it shows an error "Failed with error code:2". Not sure, what it is. Anyone have experienced this?

      • turtlesinmypants on 26/02/2021 - 22:36

        Try raising RMA with Western digital direct. They should advise you of where to ship it to for replacement.

  • Evostar on 26/02/2021 - 19:53

    Helium Red? /prays

    • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 20:02
      -3

      Nope

      • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 20:11

        Definitely helium, I have 3

        • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 20:36
          -6

          They’re whites. I have one.

  • Lachie010 on 26/02/2021 - 19:58

    Is it shuckable?

    • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2021 - 20:00

      Yes

  • ozbbcuk on 26/02/2021 - 20:03
    +1

    Bought this last year but not too happy with speed and etc

    • Chenzo on 26/02/2021 - 20:15

      What transfer speeds do you get?
      I grabbed one last year too. I consistently get about 100MB write.

      My one is a WD120EMFZ inside

    • Ulysses31 on 26/02/2021 - 21:34
      +1

      Genuine question: What speeds did you expect?

  • petry on 26/02/2021 - 20:04
    +1

    14tb at 346

  • thedean on 26/02/2021 - 20:07

    Anyone shucked one recently?
    apparently you either get cool helium, or lately hot enterprise drives.

    • SteveBuscemi on 26/02/2021 - 21:01
      +4

      I’ve shucked WD120EMAZs, WD120EMFZs and WD120EDAZs in the last 12, 6, and 1 months respectively. All from Amazon US.

      Haven't noticed much difference between them other than TLER being off by default on the EDAZ. All are running at 38°C in the Synology, the lone remaining Seagate Ironwolf sits at 42°C.

      • thedean on 26/02/2021 - 21:22

        really helpful thanks.

  • TDLSU on 26/02/2021 - 20:33

    Thanks OP. I had ordered them at 290 2 days ago. You just saved me $20.

    EDIT - Maths because I purchased two of these.

  • Heaps for Cheaps on 26/02/2021 - 20:35

    As good of a deal these are, one of mine fell sideways, so a tiny drop, and it died… I just replaced with a 8TB SSD.

    • mudvin on 26/02/2021 - 20:50
      +3

      Well all externals based on 3.5 mm drives would be the same. They only additional protection they have is a small rubber pad around, so pretty much 0 drop resistance while running. The smaller capacities run laptop (2.5 mm drives) which fare a little better.

      SSDs are great for speed if you can afford it (and very drop resistant), but beware they are unproven for long term storage, many reports of sudden data loss after not powered up for many months, especially with older drives.

      • Heaps for Cheaps on 26/02/2021 - 22:45

        Hmmmm, I didn't know this, thanks for the info!

    • Ulysses31 on 26/02/2021 - 21:39

      Of course.
      Almost a kilo whack on the side of fine electronics spinning at more than 5000rpm.

  • charlie123 on 26/02/2021 - 20:49

    How do you guys add drives for Plex servers? I run it off small factor PCs so not sure how to add.

    • Chenzo on 26/02/2021 - 20:59

      just add a new library in plex and point to the USB drive.

      • charlie123 on 26/02/2021 - 21:02

        Thank you. Keeping this plugged in power is not an issue right? Thanks again

        • Chenzo on 26/02/2021 - 21:12
          +1

          Yeah, keep it on, however, plex is pretty forgiving. Just make sure it's on when you try to scan for media or play from it. Also check your plex auto scan settings. You probably want to turn that off unless your usb is always on and connected.

        • Trance N Dance on 26/02/2021 - 21:24

          If you plan on using the drives in the enclosures 24/7 you might run into overheating problems.

        • Chenzo on 27/02/2021 - 08:31

          Granted, when slamming the drive it gets hot, but when idle it gets closer to your standard internal disk.

          Stuff around with your power settings and you could potentially set an idle power down time for the disk.
          I haven't bothered doing that, but I sleep my PC after 2 hours idle time anyway.

  • chuneeperformance on 26/02/2021 - 20:59

    This shucked I get 280MB speeds - ,7200rpm from last year

  • Vool on 26/02/2021 - 21:05
    +3

    Well I am running out of porn storage.

    Vool on 26/02/2021 - 21:05 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
  • spackbace on 26/02/2021 - 21:21

    Hmm $23.33/TB… Not bad

  • dfg555 on 26/02/2021 - 21:23

    still waiting for 16tb @ 399

    • petry on 26/02/2021 - 21:31
      +1

      14 at 346 no good then

  • L0zBargain on 26/02/2021 - 21:38

    https://diskprices.com/?locale=au&condition=new&disk_types=e…

    Cool, best external price per TB!

  • Godric on 26/02/2021 - 21:45

    Waiting for 14tb sale again ;/

  • Nugs on 26/02/2021 - 21:51

    was just looking for a HDD three hours ago, had an old 3TB die today
    .

    • Karijini on 26/02/2021 - 22:02
      -1

      Can't go wrong with this one then.

    • zn7726 on 26/02/2021 - 22:07

      Gee my 3tb was found dead this morning! Mine is a seagate drive in a htpc/download box.

      • Nugs on 03/03/2021 - 12:30

        FFS - "delivery by fastway"
        turns out it is a dead port on motherboard, old 3TB working fine after swapping ports
        .

  • johnmelb on 26/02/2021 - 22:26
    +1

    It's not an all time low, it has been lower in 2020.
    It's a good price though.
    Technically the deal was already posted here , just an additional price drop

    • [Deactivated] on 27/02/2021 - 08:31

      That linked deal is locked, I can't edit it or mark it expired anymore. I can't even report it to get the attention of the administrators.

      It seems stock availability changes regularly and so does the price.

  • Phreebee on 27/02/2021 - 00:03

    I assume this would only come with a US power cable. It’s a hassle to use a bulky US to Australian plug converter IMO.

    • Rakibul on 27/02/2021 - 00:17

      What abt warranty?

    • johnmelb on 27/02/2021 - 00:40
      +4

      Just get a free one from WD support.

      Sign Up for a Western Digital account (if you do not have one)
      Once signed into the site go to https://support-en.wd.com/app/account/profile or just click "Update your Profile"
      Fill in all the relevant fields like your address, then register your new WD 12TB drive "Register a New Product" you will find the information as a sticker on the rear of the external drive case
      Then create a "New Support Incident" and then select the following options

      Product Type Other WD Products
      Operating System Windows 10
      Category Warranty & Replacement
      Serial Number [Enter this info found on the sticker near the rear of your external HDD drive case]
      Firmware Version [Leave Blank]
      Summary Require Correct Power Adapter
      Description Hello, I recently purchased the WD 12TB Elements Desktop External HDD through Amazon.com.au however the item came with a US type power adapter. Could you I please receive an AU type adapter for this drive. Thank you. My Address Information: [List your address]

      Western Digital support are really good at responding to your enquiries and will send out the correct power adapter for free but expect a longer wait time due to COVID-19. I know pre-COVID it was delivered within 10-14 days.

      Credit xecutor

      • [Deactivated] on 27/02/2021 - 08:33

        Can confirm, requested Australian power pack from Western Digital, and they posted one to me for free.

      • Ulysses31 on 27/02/2021 - 20:52

        They're turd at warranty, though. Coming from someone with an amazing track record with their products.

        I had a 2x8tb crap itself. Bought on German amazon. They deleted my question on RMA about when they'll send me the prepaid freight sticker I'd read about, or they send from Sydney for me. Their rules stated one RMA per device, and 14 day time to arrive at their destination (Phillipines/Vietnam) and they ran the clock down on me… So I was left paying for express airmail. Cost like $140 on discounted rate. Still shts me.

        • [Deactivated] on 27/02/2021 - 21:08

          Why didn't you just return it to Amazon?

          • Ulysses31 on 28/02/2021 - 18:49

            @[Deactivated]: Is that an option? Then I’d be sending to Germany?
            Being a WD product, I went to WD.

            Really haven’t bought much off Amazon, and no warranty/seller issues

            • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2021 - 08:55

              @Ulysses31: Amazon would've reimbursed you to post it back to them (as they're legally required to do). They have excellent customer service with returns.

              • Ulysses31 on 01/03/2021 - 19:14

                @[Deactivated]: I’ve learnt a lot this week. Thanks.

                Maybe I got used to MSY bad habits of pushing a customer onto the OEM.

        • johnmelb on 27/02/2021 - 22:06

          I can't speak about warranty, since I've never had to return one under warranty.
          I would also have spoken with Amazon in that case.

          If WD says they can close the case if it doesn't arrive in 14days, then you open a new case? As long as it's under warranty I would think you can open a new case.
          I would be upset about such attitude too.

          • Ulysses31 on 01/03/2021 - 19:13

            @johnmelb: By memory, you registered the product serial number, and only had one opportunity at RMA, then it’s blanked out. Some rubbish like that.

            My experience isn’t very clear, sorry. It was around 3-4 years ago.

  • Rakibul on 27/02/2021 - 00:17

    How do you get warranties for US imports?

  • johnmelb on 27/02/2021 - 00:44
    +3

    Maybe dealbot can add this to the deal. It's valid for both us and UK imports:

    How to get a free AU power adaptor from WD support.

    Sign Up for a Western Digital account (if you do not have one)
    Once signed into the site go to https://support-en.wd.com/app/account/profile or just click "Update your Profile"
    Fill in all the relevant fields like your address, then register your new WD 10TB drive "Register a New Product" you will find the information as a sticker on the rear of the external drive case
    Then create a "New Support Incident" and then select the following options

    Product Type Other WD Products
    Operating System Windows 10
    Category Warranty & Replacement
    Serial Number [Enter this info found on the sticker near the rear of your external HDD drive case]
    Firmware Version [Leave Blank]
    Summary Require Correct Power Adapter
    Description Hello, I recently purchased the WD 10TB Elements Desktop External HDD through Amazon.com.au however the item came with a UK type power adapter. Could you I please receive an AU type adapter for this drive. Thank you. My Address Information: [List your address]

    Western Digital support are really good at responding to your enquiries and will send out the correct power adapter for free but expect a longer wait time due to COVID-19. I know pre-COVID it was delivered within 10-14 days.

    Credit xecutor

    See also here

  • starwarsfreak on 27/02/2021 - 01:03

    i have 3x 12tb shucked and hooked up to my computer.. bit the bullet and bought a 14tb yesterday, maybe i should have waited and got another of these.

    had to use a sata adaptor for these as my pc would not detect them due to the 3.3v pin issue. tiny inconvenience but not a biggie.

  • pennyless on 27/02/2021 - 07:54

    Might have to hang out for another 14tb $299 deal, HD prices only go one way.

  • penanzer on 27/02/2021 - 09:26

    Best to check if these WD HDDs use hardware encryption because I had an 8TB raid 1 mirror WD duo HDD fail and I could not take the drives out and use them normally as it was hardware encrypted, totally useless backup solution. Be aware and go check if this is encrypted first, also check if you already use WD backup solutions because mine was junk.

    • JBxrm on 28/02/2021 - 14:50

      Yeah, best for these I think is to shuck and research the 3.3v pin workaround (tape or sata adapter), then reformat and run a full test - all before loading any data on it. If you try to shuck later you might not be able to access anything because of encryption. If you're careful you can also keep the shell for warranty. Great for a Plex NAS/DAS libraries at this price per TB. Not so great for your most important paperwork (use cloud).

  • the Unforgiven on 27/02/2021 - 12:43

    I was going to say it is $297.38 now, but the deal has expired at $280

  • Nugs on 03/03/2021 - 12:33

    anyone else "won"
    Mine is getting delivered by Fastway
    .

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