Factory "Recertified" drives?

[piratejabez]

Forumites-
For obvious storage volume and backup reasons, I need some new drives.  I only have one right now (with DVD backups), but am about to invest in at least two more.  However, I really don't have much money to spend, so I've been attracted not only to special rebates but also discounted "recertified" external hard drives (from Western Digital's website).  Though not the latest models, they're good deals.  I'm rather tempted, but approaching with caution.  Does anyone have any advice/cautions about these drives?  Should recertified drives be avoided at all costs, or lovingly embraced?  The recertified drive would likely be a backup drive.

Thanks,
Cory Schoolland

PowerBook G4, 1.5GHz; OSX Tiger

[jswayze]

Cory,

I wouldn't use anything but a brand new drive. A "recertified" drive was sent in for some sort of problem - maybe it was nothing, maybe it was something intermittent that the manufacturer couldn't duplicate. Unless you're certain it's a new mechanism I'd steer clear. It's just not worth the risk.

I've found some good deals on eBay for new unopened OEM drives. Check out barefeats.com for speed tests, but look for drives that are 6 months old or so. Unless you need a 400GB behemoth you should have no problems finding something reasonably priced. In fact, I just received a new drive yesterday - it's a 250 GB SATA drive that I paid $100 shipped. You can probably even do better than that if you look hard enough.

Good luck!

Jeff

[peterkrogh]

400 GB Seagates are on sale at Best Buy for $159 right now.  Can't do much better than that.  Stay away from refurb drives.
Peter

[jimtron]

Other good sites for deals:

http://www.dealmac.com
http://www.techbargains.com
http://www.newegg.com
http://www.ecost.com

[Rick McCleary]

Another site that is very responsive with good prices:
www.zipzoomfly.com

Use only new, factory-sealed drives.  The prices are so low these days that the money you'd save by using a "refurbished" drive is negligible; it's false economy.

[piratejabez]

Thanks, everyone; that's just the stuff I needed to hear.

Cory