cheap(ish) laptop hard drive

[falafel]

I'm looking for a great deal on a bare laptop hdd. Something in the range of 250GB to 500GB. I've looked at places like Fry's, newegg, tigerdirect, amazon, compusa, etc. They have decent prices, but nothing that's made me pull out my wallet on the spot.

Does anyone have a recommendation for possibly a no-frills place online where I could get a good deal? I'm a cheapskate at heart

[Non Sequitur]

I always get them at Fry's. You won't find them much lower anywhere else.

[falafel]

I always get them at Fry's. You find them much lower anywhere else.

Do you mean I "won't" find them much lower?

Fry's had a crazy deal on a couple of hard drives, but they sold out in a day.

[Non Sequitur]

Do you mean I "won't" find them much lower?

Fry's had a crazy deal on a couple of hard drives, but they sold out in a day.

That's what I meant.

[falafel]

Techbargains.com is a pretty good aggregator... I subscribe to their RSS feed.

Here is their Cheap Internal Hard Drive Deals, Discount Internal Hard Drives, Internal Hard Drive Sales page.

Good luck!

cheers.

Thanks, I'll keep my eye on that.

[old_gregg]

are you looking to put it in a laptop or an enclosure?

[falafel]

are you looking to put it in a laptop or an enclosure?

Well, its sorta a laptop.... but its definitely not an enclosure. In other words, I need a 2.5" drive.

[Non Sequitur]

Well, its sorta a laptop....

Sounds like you got an HP.

[falafel]

Sounds like you got an HP.

lol. Not this one, but I can laugh because that's what my last one was.

[falafel]

So I ended up buying a drive from Frys.com. It was the cheapest drive I could find, and the reviews of this particular drive were very good. Newegg had a comparable price (once you added the tax from Frys), but I'd have to wait for shipping, so I decided to place my order at frys.com and pick it up later that day at the local store. I ordered it, using my credit card, and went to the store on the way home from work.

When I got there, I gave them my printed out claim ticket/receipt. The one they forwarded in my email. The woman at the counter looked confused, but then went back to the cage to get it. I was in a bit of a hurry. She came back a few mintues later and asked me when I bought the drive. I said "about two o'clock." "Two o'clock yesterday?", as if that would explain some things. "No, two o'clock today." "Okay..." and she walked away again for another 10 minutes.

She finally came back with a small package (no box). This was a bare drive, so I wasn't too concerned. I was concerned about getting home on time, however. She rings it up and tells me the price and asks for the cc I used online. I ask "why? I already paid for it online." She told me that they just ask for my credit card online to hold the product. That sounds fishy, but her buddy next to her confirms. So I buy it, take the bag, and run out the door.

When I get to my car, I pull the drive out of the fry's bag. The drive is in a small plastic bag that has been cut open. The drive's just sitting in side. There's a sticker on the drive that says "Tested by...." with some writing in pen and a recent date. In other words, this is an open box item. No way this is new. And I didn't agree to buy an open box item, nor did anyone tell me that this was an open box item.

Already late, I turned around and went back in the store and went straight to customer service. I tell the guy there that I didn't agree to buy an open box item and I want to exchange it for a new one. He says okay, and walks to the cage. When he comes back, he explains this was the last one, and that I should have received an email telling me that it was the last one and that it was opened. I hadn't checked my email for a while, so I didn't know if that was true. Either way, I didn't want this opened drive. He says he'll check if they have another one.

He comes back from the cage and says they don't have another one of that same drive, but they have other comparable ones for similar prices. I asked what "similar" meant, and he told me either $69.99 or $79.99. The drive I bought was $79.99, but it was the cheapest price I could find anywhere for a 500 GB size drive. I told him that and that I doubted he had a 500 GB drive for $69.99. He said they did. I said okay, bring it to me.

He comes back with a Western Digital drive, and guess what, its not $69.99. Its not $79.99 either. Its $89.99 (which isn't too bad, but I'm annoyed at this point so I'm not buying it, plus tax will push it closer to $100). I tell him that I could have bought the drive I wanted from newegg, but I came to fry's for convenience. He looks at me like he doesn't speak english. So I just tell him to give me my money back and I leave, 45 minutes later and no drive. I check my email that night and there's nothing about how the drive is opened box.

I understand that people sell out of stuff and that inventory isn't perfect, blah blah blah. I'm pissed here b/c I felt like they tried to pass off an opened product on me, without telling me, for the price of a new one. When I wouldn't take that, they lied and said they'd get me another one for the same price, when in reality they just tried to sell me a more expensive one.

So I'm pissed. I would write Fry's off forever, but it is so cheap that I know I'll be back. I guess I should have stuck with my instincts and gone with trusty-old newegg.

[falafel]

My guess is that newegg will have a bunch of stuff on sale starting Thursday for Black Friday. You'll probably be better off waiting anyway. You may already know this, but I recommend that you do not buy the Western Digital brand. I try and buy only Seagate stuff. In a previous life I was co-owner of a web hosting company and we bought literally thousands of hard drives. It was our anecdotal observation that the Seagate drive failure rate was - by far - lower than any other brand.

For my PS3, I bought a Seagate Momentus 7200 PRM 320GB drive from newegg and it has worked great (the drive is no longer available on newegg... sorry). The drive is fast, quiet, and reliable. When I performed my upgrade, I followed these simple steps and took a couple of pictures along the way (see attached).

Good luck and welcome to the world of PS3 ownership.

cheers.

Thanks SG! I'm actually surprised to hear that WD is not very reliable, given their market share (or what I imagine is their market share).

Since you're so knowledgeable, is there is a big difference in a 7200 and 5400 drive? I've been looking at the 5400s since they are obviously cheaper. Also, all of those have only a 8mb cache. Am I making a mistake I'll regret by buying a 500GB 5400 rpm drive with only a 8MB cache?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Thanks SG! I'm actually surprised to hear that WD is not very reliable, given their market share (or what I imagine is their market share).

Since you're so knowledgeable, is there is a big difference in a 7200 and 5400 drive? I've been looking at the 5400s since they are obviously cheaper. Also, all of those have only a 8mb cache. Am I making a mistake I'll regret by buying a 500GB 5400 rpm drive with only a 8MB cache?

Ditto to what SG said regarding WD vs. Seagate. But you could always connect your your WD drive externally and let it double as a drink warmer for your coffee/hot chocolate.

Go with the 7200 rpm. Nothing worse than a slow hard drive.

[falafel]

Ditto to what SG said regarding WD vs. Seagate. But you could always connect your your WD drive externally and let it double as a drink warmer for your coffee/hot chocolate.

Go with the 7200 rpm. Nothing worse than a slow hard drive.

But that adds $$... I'm trying to do this on the cheap. If 7200 is really needed, I'll do it, but I'm hoping to slide by with 5400. Is that a mistake?

A quick search reveals this site, which seems to to suggest that for the PS3 the faster drive isn't necessary. I hope that's right.