Return to Forever: What Did You Pay Before the Flood?

[eXistenZ]

Straightforward: Prices jumped by November 2011, and we are all waiting to see prices return to pre-Thailand flood levels. What are those levels?

Please post your Product / Price / ~Date here.


I'll start:

WD Blue 500GB / <$50 / October @MicroCenter


BTW Has anyone ever seen sales on WD Black 1TB?

 

[wavetrex]

It's all a scam.

The flood wasn't that bad, the factories were basically intact (airtight, watertight), only the supply routes were disrupted.

But if people pay at these high prices, why lower them?
Capitalism 101

 

[eXistenZ]

But if people pay at these high prices, why lower them?

So. Then. Let's. Document. Those. Lower. Prices.


That's the OP (Original Post), as in "actual subject of the thread".

 

[bucknutty]

I like the conspiracy theory.. There was no flood, just a little rain. Honeslty though, I always used WD, I fix a lot of computers and use alot of hdds. I do not see my self using WD any time soon.

any way, there are more but these are the only ones I can find exact records for.

11-2-2009 WD Black 750GB WD750IAALS $79.99
4-6-2010 WD Black 750GB WD750IAALS $79.99
7-9-2010 WD Blue 640GB WD 6400AAKS $69.99
6-10-2011 WD Scorpio 500GB WD5000BEKT $59.99

 

[RedJaron]

Bought a drive right before the flood, 2TB 5K3000 for $80 USD.

 

[Pinhedd]

I bought 4 2TB WD Caviar Black drives for a 4 bay external raid enclosure at 79.99 each before the flood occurred. Since then I've just been buying SSDs. If I need platter drives for any reason I'll just cannibalise some of the dozens of 15K RPM SCSIs that I have sitting around

 

[bucknutty]

I need to keep better records.. I got a few more..

8-15-2009 SAMSUNG Spinpoint M7 HM250HI 250GB 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive $34.99
2-10-2009 Western Digital Caviar Blue WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 $36.99
10-20-2008 Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb $74.99

 

[Hawkeye22]

I think it's a scam...

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/HDD-thailand-floods-prices-drop-expensive-supply-problem,15909.html

 

[bucknutty]

Just looking at my prices is very interesting

A WD black 750 gig was $79.99 in November of 2009
The price was the same in April of 2010.
Now in June of 2012 that drive is $169.99 That’s a lot more than the 10-20% all the articles are stating. What’s up?

 

[fantastik250]

I guess I was super fortunate. On December 2010, I got a 1TB WD Black for $89.99.

 

[eXistenZ]

OK Followup Question: Are they still running / not?

Just looking at my prices is very interesting
A WD black 750 gig was $79.99 in November of 2009
The price was the same in April of 2010.
Now in June of 2012 that drive is $169.99 That’s a lot more than the 10-20% all the articles are stating. What’s up?

Actually, another model [?] of WD Black 1TB is $119 (and there's that one for $169). Maybe that 'exact' model is the one that's $169.

 

[bucknutty]

OK Followup Question: Are they still running / not?




Actually, another model [?] of WD Black 1TB is $119 (and there's that one for $169). Maybe that 'exact' model is the one that's $169.

The 750gb WD black that is now advertised for 169 is not the exact same model as the one I bought years ago. The specs are identical, even the read write speeds, other than the sata 3 support. All of the newer drivers support sata 3 6gbs, my older drives are only sata 2.
Whats the point of sata 3 on mechanical drives if they have the same seek time and read writes?

All of the drives i listed still work and are used in every day computers.

 

[arethusa]

I got a 3TB MyBook (WD Caviar Green) for around 120. That was a year and three months ago. Now they're finally "down" to 180ish, and I thought we'd have 4TB versions by now.

 

[mobrocket]

its all a scam
i dont even think hard drives are real...

 

[greenrider02]

I was finding 3TB drives for as low as $110 before the flood. 2TB @ $70, 1TB @$50.

What I'm seeing now is that the large capacity drives (2+ TB) can occasionally be found for that 10-20% markup they claim (Ive seen 3TB as low as $130, 2TB down to $100), but smaller drives (1TB and below) are still marked up significantly, 70-100% for most, if not more for "special" drives.

I don't understand the market for "special" enthusiast HDDs anymore when SSDs are finally getting to $0.80/GB or less for a good find.

So yeah, it's sort of a scam, i.e. market collusion (illegal), which these manufacturers have been accused of before...

 

[RetiredChief]

From what I'm reading looks like prices will not be truely down to pre-flood pricing untill late 2013.

Boils down to supply and demand. I get the impression that supply has increased, but is still outpacesd by "pent-up" demand. Until that 'demand drops you can expect prices to remain above preflood pricing.

For what it's worth newegg still has the samsung F3 1 TB drive for $80. I prefer the Sata II 1 TB F3 drives over the WD 1 TB Sata III drive. Last week ordered two 1 TB F3s - Need as I checked my stash, and two of the WD 640's were DEAD.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

YES SSDs prices have come way down, But just can not afford a 1 TB SSD yet - LOL !!!

 

[fantastik250]

1tb SSD, now that would be awesome to have

 

[RetiredChief]

Hey two 512 Gigs in raid0 - ONLY $420 x 2 - lol
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148444

 

[eXistenZ]

Best answer selected by eXistenZ.