? about buying HD's online

Vampyromaniac · May 27, 2002, 06:34 AM

I'm considering buying a new hard drive.
Lots of OEM/whitebox/bare drives out there for less money.

What do you guys think of these: bargain or risky business?
Anyone buy one and have a particlarly remark-able experience?
Should the brand name carry any weight on such a decision?

As of now I'm quite tempted to buy a certain IBM 80GB for <$100, but I just get a funny feeling when I think of my naked drive arriving in only a static bag . . . .

thanks for any input

Zardon · May 27, 2002, 08:23 AM

well alot of people wouldnt buy IBM due to the amount of bad press they have been getting lately with faults. but I can say that ive always bought IBM and have yet to have a problem. buying a drive online need not be risky, as long as you use a well known company for the purchase and are sure of the guarantee that they are supplying with the drive.

JavaFox · May 27, 2002, 08:50 AM

I agree with Zardon -- buying online is great if you're buying from the right people. Check out ResellerRatings to read up on a company's rep.

As far as brand, Maxtor has never done me wrong (WD and IBM have, plenty of times). In fact, I've only SEEN one dead Maxtor, ever. Seagate's recent drives are very excellent, as well.

Zardon · May 27, 2002, 09:01 AM

yeah ive a maxtor 40 gig drive, really quiet, reliable as well. ive also 2 western digitals in raid mode on my KR7A board, they also perform well. but I have to say the IBM 60 gig drive I have is the best performer of the lot. a little louder though than the others, which hardly matters, as my rig sounds like a friggin boeing anyway

Mr V · May 27, 2002, 03:30 PM

Yeh, it does feel a bit weird, thinking that youve spent all that money and you get no fancy box or razmattaz, but it goes straight into the case anyway so it dont really matter that much.

It still feels as good to me when I put a new drive in and see how much new Material (he,he!) I can fit on it; especially considering now im gonna be doing some capturing from video so I`ll need a new 60/80/100 Gig meself soon.

Im with Zardon on the IBM, got a 40 Gig runs great. IBM are getting a lot of bad press from people on the `net generally thou, so it may be still worth keeping an open mind and looking at the others.

Good Luck!

Vampyromaniac · May 28, 2002, 03:23 AM

Cool, thanks for all the replies, and the ResellerRatings site....

LOL, I knew someone would bring up the IBM reliability story...
Well, I'm either gonna get the OEM 80GB IBM 120GXPfrom z-buy.com, or else there's a Western Digital on sale for $100 at the local Circuit City, the WD800BB (2MB cache) That one's retail, of course, but I think the IBM performs better.

Well, if anyone HAS bought an OEM drive online, please let me know if your experience was particularly good or bad, and I guess I'll have to make up my mind.

Thanks

~~Crash Override~~ · May 28, 2002, 03:33 AM

depending on where you are id say your best bet would be this HD

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...ry=1304&DEPA=1

scroll down until you see this

MAXTOR Quiet Drive 80GB 7200RPM Model # 6L080L4 -D740X OEM , DRIVE ONLY

choppy9er · Jun 2, 2002, 01:35 PM

I have bought a Maxtor 60 gig,two Ibm 75 GXP 46.1gig and just purchased a 120 GXP 41.1 gig that I love,it is so quiet and really fast.I like IBM the best ,have never had any trouble.Its just how the seller packages the drives when they send them.All I bought online.Choppy

May 27, 2002, 06:34 AM	#1
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	? about buying HD's online I'm considering buying a new hard drive. Lots of OEM/whitebox/bare drives out there for less money. What do you guys think of these: bargain or risky business? Anyone buy one and have a particlarly remark-able experience? Should the brand name carry any weight on such a decision? As of now I'm quite tempted to buy a certain IBM 80GB for <$100, but I just get a funny feeling when I think of my naked drive arriving in only a static bag . . . . thanks for any input __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

May 27, 2002, 03:30 PM	#5
Mr V DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Wherever , whenever....... Posts: 30 Rep Power: 0	that naked feeling.......... Yeh, it does feel a bit weird, thinking that youve spent all that money and you get no fancy box or razmattaz, but it goes straight into the case anyway so it dont really matter that much. It still feels as good to me when I put a new drive in and see how much new Material (he,he!) I can fit on it; especially considering now im gonna be doing some capturing from video so I`ll need a new 60/80/100 Gig meself soon. Im with Zardon on the IBM, got a 40 Gig runs great. IBM are getting a lot of bad press from people on the `net generally thou, so it may be still worth keeping an open mind and looking at the others. Good Luck! __________________ On the planet of the Baritone women..they sing LOOOOWW.... bout stuff they knoWWWWW....they sing OOOOOHHH.. and laugh at you.....A-ha-ha-hahaaaaaaaaaaaaa-a!

May 28, 2002, 03:23 AM	Thread Starter #6
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	Cool, thanks for all the replies, and the ResellerRatings site.... LOL, I knew someone would bring up the IBM reliability story... Well, I'm either gonna get the OEM 80GB IBM 120GXPfrom z-buy.com, or else there's a Western Digital on sale for $100 at the local Circuit City, the WD800BB (2MB cache) That one's retail, of course, but I think the IBM performs better. Well, if anyone HAS bought an OEM drive online, please let me know if your experience was particularly good or bad, and I guess I'll have to make up my mind. Thanks __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Jun 2, 2002, 01:35 PM	#8
choppy9er DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Weatherford,Texas Posts: 42 Rep Power: 0	Hardrives Online I have bought a Maxtor 60 gig,two Ibm 75 GXP 46.1gig and just purchased a 120 GXP 41.1 gig that I love,it is so quiet and really fast.I like IBM the best ,have never had any trouble.Its just how the seller packages the drives when they send them.All I bought online.Choppy __________________ Gigabyte K8NS Ultra-939 AMD 3000+Winchester 512 Patriot XBL(2x512) Thermaltake Venus 12 (2) Maxtor D740X 40gig Highpoint Rocket Raid PCI Striped Sapphire Radeon 9500 Softmodded Soundblaster Audigy Antec Truepower 480 Liteon 16X DVD Liteon 52/24/52 CDRW Chieftech Server Case

May 27, 2002, 08:23 AM	#2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	well alot of people wouldnt buy IBM due to the amount of bad press they have been getting lately with faults. but I can say that ive always bought IBM and have yet to have a problem. buying a drive online need not be risky, as long as you use a well known company for the purchase and are sure of the guarantee that they are supplying with the drive.

May 27, 2002, 08:50 AM	#3
JavaFox E Pluribus Unum Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 3,203 Rep Power: 0	I agree with Zardon -- buying online is great if you're buying from the right people. Check out ResellerRatings to read up on a company's rep. As far as brand, Maxtor has never done me wrong (WD and IBM have, plenty of times). In fact, I've only SEEN one dead Maxtor, ever. Seagate's recent drives are very excellent, as well.

May 27, 2002, 09:01 AM	#4
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	yeah ive a maxtor 40 gig drive, really quiet, reliable as well. ive also 2 western digitals in raid mode on my KR7A board, they also perform well. but I have to say the IBM 60 gig drive I have is the best performer of the lot. a little louder though than the others, which hardly matters, as my rig sounds like a friggin boeing anyway

May 28, 2002, 03:33 AM	#7
~~Crash Override~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Location: Olympia, WA Posts: 2,448 Rep Power: 0	depending on where you are id say your best bet would be this HD http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...ry=1304&DEPA=1 scroll down until you see this MAXTOR Quiet Drive 80GB 7200RPM Model # 6L080L4 -D740X OEM , DRIVE ONLY