[OT?] FYI: WD 250 GB drives $49 + $5

[jkinz at kinz.org (Jeff Kinz)]

On Mon, Dec 05, 2005 at 08:53:01AM -0500, dsr at tao.merseine.nu wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 05, 2005 at 08:08:38AM -0500, Jeff Kinz wrote:
> > Dunno if this of any interest to folks here but I just saw this:
> > 
> > Good price, questionable provenance?
> > 
> > This is an FYI with a neutral recommendation.
> 
> I wouldn't use these as primary system drives. If you're

I agree.  Thats why I specifically noted they were refurbs and gave a
neutral recommendation.  

If there was some info about why they have a ton of identical drives as
refurbs I might give it more consideration.  For example, if they were
bought at auction from a bankrupt PC maker or whatnot.

Woot only sells one item per day, 3 units max to any buyer.  Typically
(it seems) they have a ton of the day's catch in stock which is the
only reason I think these "might" be refurbs for strictly logistical
reasons, which would imply that they don't have any reliability issue,
just economic ones.  But thats only a guess and not one I would feel
secure enough about to use these drives for anything but experimental or
fun only type applications


Ed Frankenberry, (yes, that's really his last name and I doubt he 
anything to do with the cereal),  pointed out that these have ATA/100
and not the faster ATA/133 capability.  Thats one potential reason for
them to be turned out of inventory.....

Or they may have all been part of a manufacturing run known to go bad in
seven months.... hence the six month warranty


> building a MythTV box or an MP3 jukebox -- something where
> you're not overly concerned about the safety of your data --
> these are probably an excellent fit. 
> 
> Lately I've been happy with WD Caviar Special Edition drives --
> 8MB cache and a 3 year warranty -- and Seagate drives with a 5
> year warranty.
> 
> -dsr-
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-- 
Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA.
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