this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
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A few days ago, I noticed someone posted a similar question about a specific hard drive on this subreddit. Sadly, I haven't received any responses about their experience. So, I'm hoping to get some advice from the community on whether anyone has dealt with the seller I'm interested in. I'm in the market for reliable 18 TB drives to upgrade my media server and NAS backup.

I got some new IronWolf Pro series HDDs when there was a good deal on Newegg for $340 Canadian, as I didn't want to pay full price. However, I'm looking to save some money here and there, though I understand that some might not agree with that. I've already spent most of my budget on setting up a strong system for my storage and services.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated, especially if you know of options that work well for Canadians or are available from American companies, with the caveat of dealing with import fees. Thanks in advance!

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[–] MilkyT92@alien.top 2 points 10 months ago

These days the Black Friday sales are just returns to regular prices after pre-BF hikes.

[–] PatochiDesu@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

i cant afford a 300 dollar harddisk xD you guys are super rich

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

What even is a renewed hard drive though...

[–] aaron416@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

A classic move for Black Friday is that retailers will mark up to mark down. If you like the price for this, I say go for it.

[–] AutomaticDriver5882@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

What do you store that needs that amount of data?

[–] ortui@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

A Renewed Hard Drive? Strong pass 😅

[–] teeweehoo@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I would avoid vendor branded drives like this, they may be running custom firmware. They'll probably work, but may not - it's a gamble.

[–] thecal714@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I got some 18TB X20 refurbished drives for $180 recently. They have a warranty from both eBay and my credit card, so gave them a go. Looks like they ship to Canada.

[–] mister_gone@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago
[–] BadBreath911@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I will warn you... Exos drives are LOUD.

[–] Revv23@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Maybe it's because I'm old, - they don't seem any worse to me than a typical drive of the 00's. And certainly nothing like anything we heard in the 90's.

[–] exit_eh@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

These were $275 a few days ago. Wait for the price to come back down

[–] Nicklordzero@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Hey everyone, since I can’t edit the post. I’m noticing some people commenting with the server parts deal website and as much as I’ve already looked on that website multiple times I’ve had a lot of friends comment that the shipping and duties fee are a little high for what I’m comfortable with paying.

To paint a picture I’m just simply looking for a Canadian dollar friendly option as I’m pretty much on a small budget as I’ve already spent close to $1000 on just two brand new pro series drives.

I’m used to seeing a lot of people say that I can buy this drive for “$80 - 150 cad” at (website here) or (website there) but after doing a lot of research, I haven’t really had much luck finding anything close to what I’m looking for. You either have to shift through a lot of sketchy sellers hard drive Chia miner drives or occasional as is conditioned drives.

Where is case scenario? If I don’t find any good deals in Canada? I’ll probably just take the duties fees and buy From server part deal

[–] zeptillian@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Yes. It's better to wait and get new drives with a full 5 year warranty on sale than to get these refurbs now.

[–] CyDmn@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

https://waterpanther.com/search?type=product&q=20tb

I bought several HDDs from Water Panther. Took a little while for the package to arrive in Canada, even though they ship from California and I'm in BC. No problem whatsoever with the drives, and they were the cheapest I could find.

[–] b0xx0@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I know you swiped on that image, too

[–] PowerTripper@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The idea of putting all of my faith in one drive, with that amount of data on the line, scares the living daylights out of me.

[–] Mysterious-Park9524@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I agree. Not one drive alone. Need to have a RAID array.

[–] agentdickgill@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Serverpartdeals.com

[–] l8s9@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

That’s a big bullet to bite, unless you need the capacity right now right now… I say wait. I need more storage too but my wallet doesn’t like those prices.

[–] pabut@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Does anyone other than me think large drives (multi terabyte) is to big of an egg basket?

Or am I just old?

[–] Walt750@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

How many are you buying?

[–] PossibilityOrganic@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Fyi theses are the same exos disks for $180-200

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRQWW4JR

[–] Handsome_ketchup@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

"Amazon renewed"

Considering Amazon's spotty track record when it comes to hardware, I wouldn't be eager to jump on that one.

[–] Fragtrap007@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago
[–] devo00@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I’ll never trust an HDD again.

[–] reercalium2@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Amazon prices are higher on Black Friday

[–] spyboy70@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I just shuck WD Easystores, they're so much cheaper. Got my 5x 14TB's for $179/ea a year or two ago. Curious to see what the Black Friday sales will be on 18's. With the difference in price, if you're buying a few, you can just grab a few more and shelve them until a production one craps out. For a media server, they're probably fine. If you've got serious data, then maybe the white labeled Red drives aren't the best? I dunno. Never had issues. https://shucks.top/

[–] AotearoaNic@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Checkout EastDigital on eBay. I get brand new 16TB Exos drives for $320nzd, around $190usd.

[–] kevin75135@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Be careful with EMC drives. A lot of them have firmware that only allows them to work in an EMC system.

[–] adelaide_flowerpot@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

30% APR ?? Gee thanks Amazon

[–] Nicklordzero@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah it’s funny. Amazon stopped doing their 0% apr plans and stuck with a company that does payment plans. I guess a lot of folks have been taking advantage of it so now they use a secondary company … pretty scummy tho

[–] RileyKennels@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

If you didn't already buy, I HIGHLY recommend you go to serverpartdeals.com and get a manufacturer refurbished drive from them. Not only do they have the best most secure packaging for hard drives, but often the best deals and a truly excellent track record.

[–] za_badwolf@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I know it sounds crazy but used can be the best… I got a hgst after seeing 1000s at my job still spinning at 100 after 5-7 years , some longer

[–] tharilian@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Bought the exact same drives on October 1st.

Two drives for 250CAD each + tax/import fees.

Came out to 574 CAD and then I had the pleasant surprise of getting an email about 2 weeks later saying there was an error with the import fees, and they reimbursed me 48$.

They work great. If I remember correctly one had like 8h of power on time and the other one was a bit more, like 30h or so.

[–] BlitzYTech@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Just got those basically brand new (20 hours per disk) on ebay for 2/3 the price):
Dell 18TB SATA 6Gb/s 512e 7.2RPM DP/N 0KPVDN New pull brack 8 170,00 0 % 1.360,00 EUR

Would suggest to just search on other places if you are willing to buy renewed

[–] ploop180@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

pricey for 18tb i seen similar pricing for 20tb

[–] Melodic-Network4374@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Having no experience with buying used drives, what does "Amazon renewed" really mean? I find it difficult to believe amazon has tooling and machinery to do any real repairs/refurbishments of drives.

[–] gammajayy@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Get a refurbed 20TB for $200.

[–] Street_Bet3956@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

You could always take a vacation in the USA and pick up your drives but I guess you still have to convert dollars. But you could make up for the difference by bringing down some of those Canadian drugs all those Americans vacation in Canada for.

[–] mthomp8984@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I don't have suggestions for you, but for some reason I'm doubting that this would be part of a Black Friday sale. While you, I, and a bunch of the responders may be interested, it's still pretty limited. A smaller, more main stream drive, probably SSD, is much more likely to be on sale. That said, I know the feeling of "I want it now" but it's only 15 days until Black Friday or 18 until cyber Monday. I'd check the historical exchange rate for end of fall-start of winter and wait if it looks steady or better.

[–] procheeseburger@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Today: $319
BF: ~~$399~~ $319

[–] arianeira@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

i paid 194 usd each for 6 recertified seagate exos last black friday from server parts deals. they run fine raid z2 no doa almost a year later i was told to avoid the dell or off brands. looking at getting another 6 drives this year may not be seagate could be wd have to see pricing but seems at least on server parts deals prices are creepingup

[–] BabaYaga8761@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago
[–] tjsyl6@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I recently picked up 10, 12TB SAS drives from manufacturered Feb-March of 2022 with 400-600 hours of use for $80.00 each off eBay. Not a single one has any issues. Keep your eyes peeled before dropping that much on a single drive bro.

[–] Reid0nly@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Just buy brand new or use ServerPartsDeal. I hate having to deal with the shitty import fee's but at least it's a competent business that will give you a legit decent warranty! Unlike Retail Era who's owner became a low life scammer. Canada sucks for most home lab equipment, so I feel your pain...

[–] cyberk3v@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Never buy things on capitalist id107 Black Friday, overpriced end of line crap that'll be cheaper a month later and even cheaper in January sales.

[–] bcjh@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

RemindMe! 3 Years

Can’t wait to see these $30.

[–] Nicklordzero@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago
[–] Technical-Whole-4769@alien.top 0 points 10 months ago

Nothing quite like losing 18TB worth of shit in one go