best price it's been accordingly to CCC
Comes down to about $21.36 per tb.
Yes it can be shucked, however might require the pin trick.
CamelCamelCamel.
What's the pin trick?
Wow those cheeky bastards
Awesome!
The way he cut that box really triggered me.
Dodgy, just buy an internal drive geez
If it works, it works. At the end of the day, it's a very tiny and inconsequential compromise for getting better value per TB. I'd rather spend the price difference on more hardware, than gift a statistically insignificant blip to WD company shareholders at the end of the quarter.
ummm…internal WD of same size is starting at $685 (prime sale)…this is only $385 and comes with the enclosure, power supply, etc
Too big of a price difference for me to even consider buying internals
For anyone who is lazy like me… Instead of tape or whatever you can also use molex to sata power adapters to achieve the same thing… I had to do it with my 2 x 18's from Amazon US, but my 2 or 3 others from the UK I didn't have to
Sorry I'm a noob, can you elaborate on this method ?
Nothing to really explain, check out the other comments. For 2 drives I couldn't power up via normal sata power cables off my PSU I used molex to sata adapters (not cheap shit ones that can catch fire) and it works… I wanted plug and play vs cutting a wire or cutting a small strip of tape to go over the pin on the drive. All solutions work if you do it correctly. Ultimately you may not even have to, like I said I've got 3 of these that simply worked and 2 that didn't and required me to do something.
You just have to be reeeeally careful about which Molex to SATA cables you use. You absolutely must buy crimped cables and NOT molded (ie. they’re usually the cheapies) otherwise you run a very real fire risk. Peoples’ houses/workplaces have literally burnt down because of molded cables. You can Google for how to tell the difference.
Molded Molex to SATA = lose all your data (and possibly your home or life)
Didn't realize they were a fire hazard. Check my computer and found a 1-to-2 SATA molded one. It's probably okay since I've been using it for years but I'll get around to replacing it tomorrow since there's already sticky tape around the Molex end cause the pins for one of the SATA cables was slipping out.
Yeah …
Once again, just cut the 3.3v cable altogether (name one thing that actually uses it ?), and problem solved.
even if you find something (waiting … ) most psu's have multiple sata cables, so leave one intact and cut the others ?
I don't know why everyone tries to make this more difficult than it has to be. Manufacturers have always avoided using 3.3v on sata because that would make it incompatable with adapters (no 3.3v on molex). Sata 3.3 redefines Pin 3 as Power Disable (Rather than 3.3V). So if you dont have Sata 3.3 power supply (most of us) and dont need power disable (again, most of us), just cut the wire!
no need to cut any cables..
just put some tape on the pin is the easiest and no need to permanently cut any cables
what is so hard about putting a bit of tape on the pin?
no need to get any molex x to sata adapters and risk a fire hazzard.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/8ixw2e/molex_to_s…
Have had and used adapters for years, have never had a single problem
@KRiSX: again it is not hard to put on some tape on a pin
and no need to buy any molex to sata cables (which makes the cable management more messy and risk fire hazzard)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyy_WOSdVc
just cos you never had a problem does not mean there is no fire risk with these adapters as mentioned in that thread
there is no risk of anything happening if you use the tape method.
you can use any tape to cover the pin
no need for kapton tape etc..
@pinkybrain: I'm not debating if it's easy or hard, I simply didn't want to do it in my case and had quality adapters on hand from past builds so it was a no brainier and worked perfectly. I think we can stop banging on about it now.
Did you check if they just worked?
I just shucked and chucked in a 18TB without mods. I even bought the kapton tape and didn't use it.
Of course I did, that's how I knew I needed to do something
you don't need kapton tape
any tape will work
Is this a 3.5" drive?
Yes
What drives are usually contained inside the WD Elements enclosures? Does it change based on the capacity?
white label
SMR or CMR?
Which drives are SMR, if you know?
Mine had a White Label WDC_WD180EDGZ
If you read the label on the drive itself, it'll probably say US7SAR180 which is a WD Ultrastar DC HC550 enterprise drives
Keep in mind while the registraion(?) number is the same, the performance is quite a bit slower as the firmware throttles drive performance on the WD180EDGZ/shucked drives vs the unmodified HC550 (i have both)
Also, the 3.3v pin is configured for spindown, so need to do the old tape trick
Bought 2, November last year i bought one of these for $469 so this price is awesome.
I brought two for $450 ish black Friday deals last year, but due to comedy of errors got 3 for $900. I win. Lol
crazy price, haven't seen HDD lower than $25/gb for a while
don't need ..
but what does ozb think the chance of getting a lower price in the next year is
if we don't get any further shortages….it's likely, but i wouldn't wait a year for a couple of dollar price drop
I would bet that you would not see a significantly lower price in next 12 months.
It is a crazy price, I don't think it was ever under ~$430.
@tm001: i reckon we will. 1 of the potential outcomes of just overcoming the recent shortages is an oversupply (a result of them trying to catchup), and when involving supply and demand can lower the price. Nvidia, apple, and AMD are already starting to see this problem with their orders with TSMC, they have all over ordered on 5nm chips and trying to reverse/hold off their orders. This same problem is starting to happen across the board with electronics.
I'm in no way guaranteeing a price drop, but it wouldn't surprise me.
The 1990s called. They want their 28.8 modems back.
crazy good price, glad to see hdd prices returning to the old usual 2019 and prior
This price sets a new benchmark for me
Don't need but bought 2. Thanks OP
Had to happen a month after I bought a pair of 16TB HDDs
yeah gotta hold out for those prime sales man…also, depending what your using them for it's always good to keep 1 spare in stock
My NAS was at 85% capacity and I had been holding out for a while already.
Nevermind, no use getting too worked up about it.
Yeah don't stress over it, there will always be a better deal, just a matter of time
nice. didnt think it was going to get better than the 14tb deal earlier
I almost bought 2 of those …
Bought 2 of these instead.
Needed 1. Ordered 2. This is a great price!
you should get another one, for parity ;-)
Can save some cash by buying the Amazon giftcards from the ShopBack app to buy this. Does anyone know what the drive inside is these days? CMR?
Good thing I didn't went for the 14GB drive, thanks OP, only issue is Amz only available on home delivery not to parcel locker for this item. :(
done instant buy
i have been after a good priced drive for months now
Oh god, I don't need it… I don't need it… I don't…
Bought 6.
did u get stung import duties?
seperate orders.
6 !!!
lots of p0rn
you mean pr0n ;-)
You mean Linux ISOs? Actually, scratch that, I guess that is p0rn…
I didn't actually buy 6. I already have too many hard drives. Sorry for the misdirect.
6 is a believable number, you should have said 7.
thinking of shucking and put inside the 8bay icy box, kinda need 3 for drivepool and snapraid (1 for parity) but will blow it over $1000, i think there's import duty if it's over 1k. anyone know?
You could split it into two orders I guess. Postage is free after all.
oh my.. i'm living dangerously !! i'll do it !! :)
Isn't duty only applied to goods you don't pay GST on? Since it's purchased through Amazon.com.au, you're paying GST.
How does the warranty work for these UK drives? If you shuck them what are the odds of getting repair under warranty.
Personally I have had a few WD shucked drives fail and WD did not honour warranty (no surprise really)
Shucking and using in a PC or NAS is technically using the drive for unintended purpose and they can say it would void warranty. But generally they are pretty good. If you use as intended WD will warranty the drive locally. They will even send you an AU drive adapter for free.
ALWAYS thoroughly test before shucking. After that - I never send failed HDD for replacement anyway if I cannot delete data from it.
Whats the best way to test them before shucking?
Download h2testw
Fill it
Read it
(On a fast PC with good USB3 controller you might see that finish in 28 -> 40 hours)
Run HDDScan tool, perform a SMART FULL test.
Run HDD Sentinel, see the report.
If it says PERFECT 100% - then you're safe to carefully shuck.
Do not shuck beforehand, makes your life easier on return
and yes, faulties Occur, I got 8 HDDs last week, 1 is dead.
@hamwhisperer: Hey I know this is an expired thread but I hope you can answer these questions.
Question1: Am I suppose to run all 3 programs or just choose 1 of the 3?
Question2: Which version of HDD Sentinel do you use for that report? Because other than the trial, Standard and Pro versions are not free.
@CheapieSniper: You format the disk (partition wizard free) - NTFS is fine.
H2TestW - run it in a machine with windows update DISABLED (my god this got me bad) and be sure your hard drives are in a safe location where they won't get knocked over - it must be a USB3 port at USB3 speeds.
(Yes, you can do multiple hard drives at once)
H2TestW will take HOURS - likely nearly 2 days.
Crystal DiskInfo or HDDScan will run a LONG smart test (1 days)
Finally
HDD sentinel (latest, free trial) will let you view the disk - it'll hopefully say "THIS DISK IS PERFECT" something like that
and finally….
When you shuck the hard drives, you may require the "3.3V trick" - they may not work in your PC - you put stickytape over 3 pins carefully and it's fine after that.
@hamwhisperer: Thank you so much for the detail reply, good sir!
I've never done this before so I wanted to make sure I get the steps right. This is one hell of a long process to make sure the drive is healthy!
I appreciate the extra key tip (Windows Update) to negate any interferences. Cheers!
@CheapieSniper: It's very important you're thorough, this way you know you're safe to use.
Windows update lost me 50 hours of testing last week.
@CheapieSniper: To answer 1) Just running a full drive scan with HDD sentinel is the recommended method of /r/datahoarders - no need to run additional software on it before shucking
2) Just download the portable version of pro, you get a full feature 30 day trial
And as others have pointed out make sure you go into Windows update and pause your updates before you start the process.
@Agret: Nope, don't do this.
That will run a single read surface scan of LONG SMART.
Better to full write, full read, then LONG SMART
Then you know with certainty the sectors can accept writes, reads.
@hamwhisperer: Hello Ham, I just got 5 drives from this deal and ONE is dead. Could you advise how should I go? return it by Amazon UK or contact local WD? Thank you.
@estimator: Amazon can only refund overseas items, if you are lucky you might be able to get a service rep who can match the original price with a delayed refund upon shipment of the replacement order.
If you go to WD for RMA, I think you might get a refurb drive though.
@estimator: No harm trying chatting up Amazon, I had pretty good success rate with similar situations, although the price difference is nowhere near this big.
@truetypezk: Thanks, mate. I just applied the refund. Amazon will refund with the promotion price. It is resasonable, but I feel a little sad, when I see it is $800+ now lol.
@estimator: They will definitely refund the original price you have paid for. What I mean is if you contact their customer rep to place a replacement order, they can later refund the price difference to you.
Alternatively, the easier but slightly questionable way to do it is to just place a new order and return the DOA one under this new order.
@truetypezk: I tried to choose the replacement, but there is only refund option. Maybe it was sold on Amazon UK not AU? Anyway, thank you, I will try to apply the replacement next time.
@estimator: Yes Amazon can't replace faulty items sold in the global markets. What I mean by "replacement order" is a new order you place by letting a service rep know about your issue and some of them will agree to monitor the order and issue a partial refund to match the original price after the new order has shipped. However not all reps are able/willing to do that, so I would suggest just doing it the second way to save yourself and the rep some time and headaches.
Mhdd from a dos bootable
JB TV sale plus Prime day has officially sent me broker than broke
not for 1 x 18TB HDD
Price per TB is what matters, buying smaller size drives would be more expensive to get the same storage amount.
I bought two before and both were not working. returned. should I try again?
No, you are a statistical anomaly.
Crayons and thick paper for you.
Yep. The chance of two DOA drives is really low btw, most likely a bad batch you got there.
whats DOA?
btw I bought one again last try
Dead on arrival
Be careful if ordering more than 2 drives, tries to sting you with import fees.
Do seperate orders?
Bingo!
Split into batches of 2 to 2 different addresses.
![[Prime] WD 18TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive, $384.43 Delivered @ Amazon UK via Amazon AU](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/48/712348.jpg?h=c1296983)
Solid price. Been using one in my NAS since Black Friday. Personally didnt need to do the pin trick but I've heard some people have. Packaging was definitely lacking though