Brand New Or Refurbished External HDD?

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thegraves29

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Jan 30, 2010
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Hello All,

I am posting here as I'm having a hard time deciding on whether or not I should buy this certain external HDD brand new or refurbished. The reason I am buying a new external in the first place is that my current one (WD My Book 640 GB Essential Edition) is kaput, therefore I need a replacement (the sooner the better I guess). My current drive was originally just given to me for free (NIB) around the same time one of my desktop internal hard drives finally died on me (Seagate Barricuda 7200); the My Book drive has worked fine for about 4-5 years but now it works when it wants to so now I'm trying to save my data. I really just want to make sure I choose wisely as I have been through the whole losing personal data scenario when my Seagate Barracuda crashed (bad PCB Board).

Anyways, the external HDD I am currently looking at is:
WD - My Passport Ultra 1TB External USB 3.0/2.0 Portable Hard Drive.

Here are the pros vs. cons.

The Pros Buying Brand New:
3 Year Warranty (For Peace Of Mind?)
Available Today (Local Best Buy)
Desired Color

The Cons:
Higher Price (On Sale = $60 + Tax)

--------------------------------------------------

The Pros Buying Refurbished:
Cheaper Price (From An Online Retailer With The Current Sale Being Already $10 Cheaper Then Best Buy + My Accumulated Rewards + Free Standard Shipping = $10 + tax)

The Cons:
Refurbished (Been Doing Research So It's A Hit Or Miss)
Only 6 Month Manufacture Warranty
Sold Out Of 1st Desired Color

P.S. Will be used with a Dell Latitude Laptop, storing mainly personal files such as pictures, videos, music, video games, some school work, manuals, etc.

Thanks in advance!
 
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A
Unless cost is of paramount importance to you and you're willing to take something of a gamble, I would strongly support Boogieman's advice not to purchase a refurbished USB external HDD unit.

Aside from that, my chief reason for responding to your query is to present another option for your consideration.

In my opinion you would be much better served by purchasing a USB external enclosure + a HDD for your backup strategy rather than a commercial "one-piece" unit.

The advantages of doing so are significant. First of all, virtually any USBEHD enclosure you purchase will accommodate both 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" drives. That's a real advantage since you gain the flexibility of accommodating both laptop/notebooks as well as desktop PCs. Then...
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Hey there, thegraves29.

Basically when looking for a new drive I wouldn't second guess getting a new one instead of a recertified HDD. On the other hand, the budget plays a big role in this choice, but my advice is that you get a brand new drive if you can afford it. You could also check the WD Elements drive, it's a bit more budget friendly - WD Elements Portable
Aside from that, I'm really sorry to hear about the problems you're experiencing with your current external drive, the My Book HDD. Once you've been able to backup your data, you should download DLG (Data Lifeguard) and try to test it, to see what results you'll get. Here's how to do it How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows. You could also try it with a different USB cable as well.

Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions whatsoever.
Boogieman_WD
 
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ArtPog

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Unless cost is of paramount importance to you and you're willing to take something of a gamble, I would strongly support Boogieman's advice not to purchase a refurbished USB external HDD unit.

Aside from that, my chief reason for responding to your query is to present another option for your consideration.

In my opinion you would be much better served by purchasing a USB external enclosure + a HDD for your backup strategy rather than a commercial "one-piece" unit.

The advantages of doing so are significant. First of all, virtually any USBEHD enclosure you purchase will accommodate both 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" drives. That's a real advantage since you gain the flexibility of accommodating both laptop/notebooks as well as desktop PCs. Then you can purchase the precise HDD that YOU want, not the HDD that's installed in the commercial product. Rest assured the drive you purchase will invariably prove superior to the commercial product. And you can select whatever disk capacity YOU want. Another advantage is that the HDD you install in the USBEHD can always be easily removed and internally installed in a PC should that need arise.

Still another significant advantage is the fact that by using a separate USBEHD enclosure + HDD you will have UNLIMITED capability to utilize any number of different HDDs/SSDs for whatever purpose(s) you deem necessary or desirable.

All in all there are really no downsides to purchasing a USBEHD + HDD in comparison to purchasing a commercial one-piece product. And you will have an enormous choice as to the USB enclosure that appeals to you. One type is the so-called "docking station", see for example http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=blacx&N=-1&isNodeId=1 and that's just a small sample of what's available.

There are plenty of other types of enclosures. Right now, (as another example), we're using the Orico 6518US3 model. See...
http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-6518US3-Super-Docking-Station/dp/B00CBPB4PM
Newegg also carries this model. Again, there's a virtually unlimited models to choose from.

And it's child's play to install and/or reinstall a HDD in & out of a USB external enclosure - whatever the type.

I should mention that many users employ a SATA-to-USB adapter device for connecting a SATA HDD or SSD to a USB port. Here's one example...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232027&cm_re=SATA_to_USB_adapter-_-12-232-027-_-Product
Although I'm aware of many users who are satisfied with this type of device frankly, we're not. By & large our experience with these type of devices has been quite negative - we've found them to be defective or erratic in operation. We just don't use them any more. But I have to say that many users are perfectly satisfied with these devices.

 
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rkzhao

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New, there's plenty of potential mechanical issue that can't be refurbished so it's really not worth risking it. And, warranty is always nice to have.

Besides on price, unless this is the only thing you plan on using your accumulated rewards on, it sounds like there really only $10 that you're saving which is definitely not worth going refurbished. Heck, I'd pay the $10 just for color.

I also like ArtPog's suggestion. Typically speaking, the actual drives you find in externals are going to be bottom barrel stuff. Just good enough for backup and external use. Having an HDD USB adapter of some kind is nice anyways since you can use it to pull data off your internal hard drive in case something happens to the laptop. It might not be as pretty or have all the fluff of an actual external package though.
 
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ArtPog

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Re the SATA-to-USB adapter devices I mentioned in my post. Apparently Newegg no longer carries the model I linked to. Here's a current sampling of those type of devices...http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=sata+to+usb+adapters&N=-1&isNodeId=1
 
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thegraves29

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Ok, so no to refurbished.

You know, to be honest, money is not an issue. I'm just a thrifty shopper always looking for the best deal/s. I just spent some time this morning doing research and I've actually decided on going with the WD My Passport Ultra Metal Edition for $69.99. Was interested in the My Passport Slim but seeing as there is a low supply for that specific drive (not even being sold on the WD website) and the Passport Ultra Metal has the main key feature of the Slim (metal casing) and is only 0.02 thicker then the slim, there's really no point in getting the slim; even the speed/read/write test show similar specs.

But thanks for the heads up on Data Lifeguard, I will def. be looking in that!



Another no to refurbished!

But what you have posted, this option I like. I certainly wish I would have known about this sooner. It's definitely now your suggestion versus purchasing a WD My Passport Ultra Metal Edition (simply because the latter is the quicker option at the moment, would have to begin research on what HD I would purchase for use with the docking station, unless you have some quick recommendations or guidance). A question I do have however is, would it be wise to travel with this docking station, the ORICO one you have that is? By the way, I do very much like how it is horizontal and not vertical, just looks safer I guess.
 
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ArtPog

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We have three of the Orico devices and all of them have performed flawlessly. Their dimensions are 7" long, 4 3/4" wide, and about 1 1/2" tall (at its highest point).
We have occasion to travel with them to other locations from time-to-time and with a HDD or SSD installed in the device we've never encountered a problem. Naturally one can carry the drive separately if desired since it's no problem simply sliding the disk in the unit for connections to the data & power connectors. The USB data cable is about 3' long so that should be adequate in most situations.

One thing else we like about this unit is that the power switch (button) is situated on top of the unit. So it's easy for the user to switch the unit either on or off. Many of the USB enclosures on the market mount the power switch on the back (rear) of the unit which I find quite inconvenient.
The power button is flush-mounted; I would have preferred a raised button. Also the power LED is not particularly bright; I would have preferred a brighter light. But those are relatively minor quibbles.

Many users prefer the so-called "docking stations". They're fine if one likes that style - (we have three of them hanging around that are rarely used). My chief problem with them is their bulk although I have noticed the newer models are getting more compact in size. It's really a matter of user choice, By & large they all do the job.
 
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