These are shuckable and they most likely have Ultrastar inside.
About this item
* High-capacity add-on storage.Specific uses: Business, personal
* Fast data transfers
* Plug-and-play ready for Windows PCs
* WD quality inside and out
Thanks to @jedmeister, can be had for US$256.5
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1604997-REG/wd_wdbwlg…
Update : Out of stock at Amazon, still available at BHphotovideo
CamelCamelCamel.
Apparently these are just rebranded HC550's, which do not require the pin mod… but DYOR
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R25CMJT5MLQOJU/re…
Nah, this deal is still the gold standard https://www.cheapies.nz/node/40143
That said, it's widely believed that was probably a pricing error Amazon decided to fill. Also, probably in part since they're internal drives and even with Seagate's packaging it's still not as robust as an external, a bunch of them arrived DoA and at least for Kiwis, this generally either mean paying to send them to Seagate or returning them to Amazon for a refund and missing the deal. Still for those who did get their HDs without problem it was an excellent deal probably not going to be repeated any time soon. Frankly I probably should have gotten more than I did.
Even if we can buy 30TB+ HAMR drives in the future, I suspect it'll be a while before we get similar $/TB to that previous deal. Even more if the NZD remains low and given the state of the world, I wouldn't be surprised if it does.
Kicking myself for only getting one 12tb.
I got 2x16TB but only one was for me. Took too long to decide and the 18TB was out of stock but probably should have gotten 3 or 4 instead of 2 either way anyway. (I think the 20TB was still available but decided wasn't worth the extra /TB.)
I was originally going to get several of the Barracuda/SMR 8TB as I decided I was fine with the SMR and I'd recently got a computer which could fit them. Then when the Barracuda went out of stock the other ones were still quite a good deal but not as good so I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend so much but in retrospect should have realised not likely to see anything as good anytime soon.
Bit the bullet and bought 2. Current price per TB in NZD as of 19.11.2023 from Amazon listings:
| Size (TB) | NZD | Price per TB |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | $348 | $19.33 |
| 16 | $437 | $27.31 |
| 14 | $434 | $31.00 |
| 12 | $400 | $33.33 |
| 8 | $267 | $33.38 |
| 6 | $217 | $36.17 |
| 10 | $397 | $39.70 |
| 4 | $170 | $42.50 |
I'm not seeing the same prices you are? How'd you get to $348 NZD for 18TB?
Don't forget to factor in GST, real price/TB is more like $24 NZD.
Includes GST?
The NZD price is purely the list price on Amazon's page (so no gst / shipping / etc)
It's cheaper here…and no GST added either.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1604997-REG/wd_wdbwlg…
Shipping kills it. Total is around US$282.
If you get 2 it's US$514, which is cheaper. Can't get 3 as it will be more than $1000nzd
I don't believe you are correct. This is my checkout page…
Subtotal: $229.99
Shipping: $26.50
You Pay: $256.49
And, no GST either, so this is more than 15% cheaper than the amazon deal.
You can't go over $1000 though.
Correct. Didn't go all the way to final checkout. Yes cheaper by $7.
Still it's not 15% cheaper.
@ace310: I need to read better haha. Not much difference at all, but if you do go over $1000 then Amazon is better.
Bestbuy are selling the 18TB for $200 but they don't ship to NZ. I'm waiting for Friday to see if a similar deal comes up on B&H / Amazon.
@jedmeister: My understanding is, there won't be further discounts on this drive. Normally, I have seen prices going up during black friday/cyber monday when you see significant discount just prior to that. In saying that you might get deal on different drive.
@jedmeister: Didn't expect them to be doing 18TB at that price so soon, thought we'd see 16TB first. Unfortunately from my experience the Easy Stores (at BB) tend to have deals like that at least a few months before we see anything similar to Elements (at Amazon etc). IIRC this happened for the 10TB, 12TB and 14TB.
For whatever reason WD seems to give them the best deals sooner. It may be part of the reason they made the Easy Stores in the first place so they can offer them at better prices sooner and don't have to worry about others they supply complaining if hey have MFN type clauses or whatever. (And I guess they can also more easily monitor and see if a lot of them make it to the resale market and complain to BestBuy.)
Still it might mean we'll be seeing 18TBs at about this price on Amazon sometime in the next 6 months.
Nice!
Thanks OP - have ordered one. Cheers
Interesting, seems you can get an Australian power supply for free there. More details here https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/13167999/redir
Has anyone ever tried this here? We tend to get shafted on those sort of things e.g. I know people are forced to send their HDs back to Hong Kong (or something) for warranty unlike Australia where they can send them locally (although it sounds like sometimes they have forced them to send them elsewhere). OTOH, it seems they're sending them from outside Australia anyway so maybe you can get them?
Note that as I understand it, you will likely need to register it with WD for this including supplying a receipt/proof of purchase. This might reduce the warranty since it will be recorded as from when you purchased it.
When they only have the serial number, WD tends to add 3 - 6 months (I've seen this myself for 15? years or longer) from when they ship the drives to the wholesaler or retailer to account for the time it spends in the supply chain. Since Amazon drives don't tend to spend very long before they're sold, this generally means you get slightly longer than you should if you only go by serial number.
If it isn't long enough, you can always show your receipt/PoP when it comes to making a warranty request so it's sort of a net loss. However might be worth it for the proper NZ plug PSU if you don't have any spares. Especially if you don't even have proper travel adapter and are relying on those cheap Chinese crap.
I have done this for multiple drives from WD - you fill out the form with the serial number and they send you the adapter. Super easy. I think it took about 2 weeks to show up
Thanks never knew you could do this. I have at least one drive that is still under warranty I think, although over a year old, I'll see if I can do it with that one
is this deal still going? I'm not able to add to cart :(
Looks like expired.
thanks for the reply… this is now showing as $540 NZD :(
ah well, will keep my eyes out
Did you try to checkout? Price is still lower then amazon.
Select I'll handle tax myself.
https://www.cheapies.nz/comment/204002/redir
My total currently in USD
Subtotal: $229.99
Shipping: $26.50
Duties & Taxes: Due Upon Delivery
You Pay: $256.49 (~ NZ$427)
@ace310: Ah, cool thanks.
I had the more expensive shipping clicked… but also mine is showing duties/fees of ~$70 NZD.
i only need it for PS5 games, so might just look for a cheaper one. thank you though!!! :)
@Cselbert0612: Yes you need to select the I'll handle tax myself. I don't recommend you chose the other options because while I don't encourage GST avoidance, frankly I have strong doubts tax is actually going to the NZ government when you chose the other with B&H Photo. It's really unclear what they're doing.
Back in stock at Amazon! Purchased 2x
Any shipping update on your Amazon order?? Mines is expected Boxing Day but not shipped yet.
Nah no updates either. They haven't even charged me yet :/
Interesting experience. I placed an order for 2x through Amazon on the 18th Nov, total coming to $903.65 NZD (shipping, tax,etc). The order is still the "ordered" state and no money has been deducted. ETA says 22nd Dec to 1st Jan…
I ordered the exact same 2 drives via B&H on the 20th, paid $877.00 NZD (shipping etc) and they freaking arrived today from the states via DHL… So yeah. Go B&H for cheaper and faster
Any shipping update on your Amazon order?? Mines is expected after Boxing Day but not shipped yet.
Thanks for reminding me! Current status is still on "Ordered", ETA is "Arriving December 22 - January 1" and payment is still to be taken from my account…
Interesting, and when did you place your order? And has payment been taken?
I ordered on the day that Ace posted.
Nope. But that's not unusual. I find they (sometimes) take payment once shipped.
Better ship soon to get here by Boxing Day
@L3tstaxth1s: Fair enough, haha well this could be an interesting race! I also bought mine on the same day as OP's post.
Wow, that's the best deal I've ever seen on a hard drive! If only I actually needed more storage…
For shucking, does anyone know if these have the 3.3v pin issue/feature that stops them working with a regular PSU?
Easy enough to work around if it does but thought it's worth mentioning in case someone gets on of these and it doesn't seem to work.