What the hell is up with hard drive prices?

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deactivated-5c8e4e07d5510

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#1 deactivated-5c8e4e07d5510
Member since 2007 • 17401 Posts

Go check out Newegg and look at the hard drive prices, it's ridiculous.

120 dollars for a 500 GB drive?! Like 6 months ago I bought a 1 TB drive for 80 dollars.

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LordsLoss

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#2 LordsLoss
Member since 2006 • 2584 Posts
I thought the price raise was just overseas?
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deactivated-5c8e4e07d5510

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#3 deactivated-5c8e4e07d5510
Member since 2007 • 17401 Posts
I thought the price raise was just overseas?LordsLoss
Nope, it happened here in the US as well I guess. Why the price raise though? :?
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LordsLoss

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#4 LordsLoss
Member since 2006 • 2584 Posts

I don't know. I live in America so I'll just say it's either Obama or the terrorists...that seems to be the normal response to anything where I live lol (I live in the South)

EDIT: Check out this thread http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/28923001/problem-in-thailand-regarding-hdds?tag=topics%3Btitle

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Socijalisticka

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#5 Socijalisticka
Member since 2011 • 1555 Posts

[QUOTE="LordsLoss"]I thought the price raise was just overseas?Guppy507
Nope, it happened here in the US as well I guess. Why the price raise though? :?

Flooding in Thailand.

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adamosmaki

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#6 adamosmaki
Member since 2007 • 10718 Posts
hard drives prices going up due to flooding in Thailand ( 40% of HD are made in factories in Thailand ) http://www.pcworld.com/article/242807/prices_going_up_on_laptops_and_hard_drives_thanks_to_flooding_in_thailand.html
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SickStench

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#7 SickStench
Member since 2010 • 495 Posts

These prices will probably never go down once they realize how beneficial it is for them to keep them, and how easy it was to justify the price increase.

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gmaster456

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#9 gmaster456
Member since 2008 • 7569 Posts

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ? Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

DeViLzzz
Buying a used hard drive is just asking for trouble.
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PC_Otter

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#10 PC_Otter
Member since 2010 • 1623 Posts

These prices will probably never go down once they realize how beneficial it is for them to keep them, and how easy it was to justify the price increase.

SickStench
Interesting, I was watching Tekzilla on Revision3.com yesterday, and they were talking about the HDD price increase due to the flooding in Thailand. They hinted at the idea of Intel, being all big and powerful it is, could pull something crazy and release high capacity SSDs at heavily reduced prices (even at losses) in order to take advantage of the HDD price hikes. Yes, while HDDs would still be drastically cheaper per GB, it could put a dent in the sales of the old tech, while Intel could take out other players in SSD production. It would also increase the foothold of SSDs in the laptop market, as they can drastically improve the performance of a computer while of course benefiting power usage performance.
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LordsLoss

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#11 LordsLoss
Member since 2006 • 2584 Posts

I have heard from very reliable sources that the prices will not go down until February. They have been going up by about 5-10 dollars a day. One of my friends own a technician company and he is building computers and servers for a University. Right now his quotes only last 24hrs since the price of each unit with an HDD in it keep going up every day on his end. He said it will be until February for the prices to go down. It also sucks for people building a computer now.

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C_Rule

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#12 C_Rule
Member since 2008 • 9816 Posts
[QUOTE="DeViLzzz"]

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ? Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

gmaster456
Buying a used hard drive is just asking for trouble.

I'd rather pay double for a new HDD, than half for a used one.
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PBSnipes

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#13 PBSnipes
Member since 2007 • 14621 Posts

Interesting, I was watching Tekzilla on Revision3.com yesterday, and they were talking about the HDD price increase due to the flooding in Thailand. They hinted at the idea of Intel, being all big and powerful it is, could pull something crazy and release high capacity SSDs at heavily reduced prices (even at losses) in order to take advantage of the HDD price hikes. Yes, while HDDs would still be drastically cheaper per GB, it could put a dent in the sales of the old tech, while Intel could take out other players in SSD production. It would also increase the foothold of SSDs in the laptop market, as they can drastically improve the performance of a computer while of course benefiting power usage performance.PC_Otter

That is literally the exact opposite of what Intel wants to do. Their focus is on the enterprise market since the margins are so much better -- the last thing you'd do to maintain those fat profit margins is flood the market with cheap SSD 320s and 510s. I could see someone on the consumer side like OCZ, Crucial or Samsung take the plunge, though.

That's also the reason why HDD prices won't stay high: consumer hardware is a commodity market. If your competitors are selling a near-as-makes-no-difference identical product, short of forming a cartel there's no way to raise your prices and expect consumers to still buy your product.

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broken_bass_bin

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#14 broken_bass_bin
Member since 2009 • 7515 Posts

Holy s***! I knew nothing about this!

3 months ago, the cheapest hard drive on ebyuer was ~£20.

Now, it's £59, and that's for a recertified Hitachi! Back then, that was enough for a 1TB WD Caviar Black!

The hell is going on :o

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jm92590

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#15 jm92590
Member since 2004 • 375 Posts

Wow, of course this happens right when I need a second drive for fraps! The spinpoint F3 I payed 60$ for is now 140$... Ugh.

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James161324

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#16 James161324
Member since 2009 • 8315 Posts

Wow, i pay 60 for my 1tb.

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Qixote

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#17 Qixote
Member since 2002 • 10843 Posts

Still, drives are much cheaper than they were about 10 years ago. I recall once paying a couple hundred dollars just for 4 gigs. Same goes with dvd/cd drives.

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msfan1289

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#18 msfan1289
Member since 2011 • 1044 Posts

[QUOTE="DeViLzzz"]

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ? Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

gmaster456

Buying a used hard drive is just asking for trouble.

"cool i bought a used hard drive for $30!"

2 weeks later...

"SMART: SATA 4 Status fatal: Back up and replace.


O.O

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NamelessPlayer

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#19 NamelessPlayer
Member since 2004 • 7729 Posts
*just learns of this, checks Newegg to see if the prices are true* HOLY CRAP. You guys weren't kidding. Good thing I got my two Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJs for $50 each, and my Seagate 2 TB drive for $70. (All brand new, of course.) I just hope the prices go back down eventually and none of these drives fail.
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#20 Elann2008
Member since 2007 • 33028 Posts
[QUOTE="LordsLoss"]I thought the price raise was just overseas?Guppy507
Nope, it happened here in the US as well I guess. Why the price raise though? :?

You sir, need a reality check.
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#21 Elann2008
Member since 2007 • 33028 Posts

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ? Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

DeViLzzz
It's not going to be a on a regular basis. It just so happens there's a flood in Thailand. Surely, you don't think this...
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JigglyWiggly_

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#22 JigglyWiggly_
Member since 2009 • 24625 Posts
Haha yeah I read about this when it first happened. I was thinking of stocking up like 10 hds and selling them on ebay... But then I realized that's too much work.
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#23 marcthpro
Member since 2003 • 7927 Posts

according fudzilla In Europe the price of Western Digital Caviar Green 2000GB, 64MB Cache, SATA II (WD20EARS) went from € 67 on October 22nd to roughly €150 euro for a drive with shipping. It is certain that HDD prices will go down, but it might take a few months before supply stabilizes and the prices go down reasonable levels, i.e. a pretty affordable €67 for a 2 TB drive.

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deactivated-5c8e4e07d5510

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#24 deactivated-5c8e4e07d5510
Member since 2007 • 17401 Posts

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ? Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

DeViLzzz
Buying a used spinning-platter drive is a bad idea. Hopefully the prices drop soon, I was kinda in the market for another TB drive...
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#25 Grey_Eyed_Elf
Member since 2011 • 7970 Posts

I was about to buy another 1TB HDD but the price more than doubled here in the UK.... I was going to get a 1TB Western Digital 6Gb/s that I got with my current rig about 3-4months ago for around £60 on sale and now the same drive on the same site is £169.

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#26 JohnF111
Member since 2010 • 14190 Posts

[QUOTE="DeViLzzz"]

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ?

Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

Guppy507

Buying a used spinning-platter drive is a bad idea. Hopefully the prices drop soon, I was kinda in the market for another TB drive...

Its about as bad an idea as buying a used car, hard drives made in the last 10 years are seriously reliable but obviously there will be failures due to their being billions of them. I don't see the issue with buying a used drive as long as the ad on whatever site you say states that it's in perfect working order. I still got my old 80Gb from a PC i bought years ago in my server, works great.

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#27 JohnF111
Member since 2010 • 14190 Posts

I was about to buy another 1TB HDD but the price more than doubled here in the UK.... I was going to get a 1TB Western Digital 6Gb/s that I got with my current rig about 3-4months ago for around £60 on sale and now the same drive on the same site is £169.

Grey_Eyed_Elf
Thats a rip off, whoever is selling that at £169 is just down right milking it, scan.co.uk has the same thing for £99(not that it matters even that is a too much).
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#28 Grey_Eyed_Elf
Member since 2011 • 7970 Posts

[QUOTE="Grey_Eyed_Elf"]

I was about to buy another 1TB HDD but the price more than doubled here in the UK.... I was going to get a 1TB Western Digital 6Gb/s that I got with my current rig about 3-4months ago for around £60 on sale and now the same drive on the same site is £169.

JohnF111

Thats a rip off, whoever is selling that at £169 is just down right milking it, scan.co.uk has the same thing for £99(not that it matters even that is a too much).

No they aren't... Its £147 on Scan.

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fishing666

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#29 fishing666
Member since 2004 • 2113 Posts
oh well i don't need a hard drive. i can buy 120gb ssd for $200 and 240GB ssd for $400. that's way better than $150 for 1terabyte hdd
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#30 Tim_Millington
Member since 2007 • 1615 Posts

http://www.techspot.com/news/46128-flooding-causes-spike-in-hdd-prices-asus-might-run-out-this-month.html

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kris9031998

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#31 kris9031998
Member since 2008 • 7554 Posts
Damn, was planning on building a rig but i'll wait for black friday since the HD i was gonna get was marked up all the way to $200...
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#32 DieselCat18
Member since 2002 • 3006 Posts

*just learns of this, checks Newegg to see if the prices are true* HOLY CRAP. You guys weren't kidding. Good thing I got my two Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJs for $50 each, and my Seagate 2 TB drive for $70. (All brand new, of course.) I just hope the prices go back down eventually and none of these drives fail.NamelessPlayer

Same here...I bought several of the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB HDD when Newegg had them on sale for $50 bucks last month. Now I wish I had bought more. This reminds me of when the memory prices were cheap, then went up before coming back down again. I hope when this all gets sorted out it may have an effect on SSD prices becoming cheaper along with HDD prices dropping back down to what they were....but for now can you say Sticker Shock !

I also read (think it was on Tom's Hardware) how this will have an increased price effect on tablets and netbooks ...but I'll have to go back and double check that.

*+

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superclocked

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#33 superclocked
Member since 2009 • 5864 Posts
Nice SSD's (500MB/s read) are only about $100 now. So for me, it's just an excuse to get something better...
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#34 C_Rule
Member since 2008 • 9816 Posts
Nice SSD's (500MB/s read) are only about $100 now. So for me, it's just an excuse to get something better...superclocked
That's only get you like 60GB. Waste of time and money, imo.
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MegaMatt91

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#35 MegaMatt91
Member since 2011 • 462 Posts
The HDD I bought 6 months ago was $69, it is now $139.
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#36 superclocked
Member since 2009 • 5864 Posts
[QUOTE="superclocked"]Nice SSD's (500MB/s read) are only about $100 now. So for me, it's just an excuse to get something better...C_Rule
That's only get you like 60GB. Waste of time and money, imo.

I guess it all depends on the user really. I want speedy load times. Even little programs take too long to load on these old hdd's, since I have to wait for the hdd to spin up. I'm going to use these for storage and pickup a Samsung SSD when the price is right...
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#37 C_Rule
Member since 2008 • 9816 Posts
[QUOTE="C_Rule"][QUOTE="superclocked"]Nice SSD's (500MB/s read) are only about $100 now. So for me, it's just an excuse to get something better...superclocked
That's only get you like 60GB. Waste of time and money, imo.

I guess it all depends on the user really. I want speedy load times. Even little programs take too long to load on these old hdd's, since I have to wait for the hdd to spin up. I'm going to use these for storage and pickup a Samsung SSD when the price is right...

But at least get something that will comfortably fit Windows and your programs. I'm considering getting an SSD for my next build, as prices have come down a bit. If I do get one, it'll be a 120GB, which I think is a fair balance between capacity and cost.
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#38 GTR12
Member since 2006 • 13490 Posts

[QUOTE="Guppy507"][QUOTE="LordsLoss"]I thought the price raise was just overseas?Elann2008
Nope, it happened here in the US as well I guess. Why the price raise though? :?

You sir, need a reality check.

The US is overseas for me ;)

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wis3boi

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#39 wis3boi
Member since 2005 • 32507 Posts

Is it really hard for people to just buy some used hard drives from a store locally or from people locally in your classified ads ? Do it and don't buy these drives at inflated prices so we are not paying this on regular basis in the future.

DeViLzzz
might as well buy a used cheese pizza
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istuffedsunny

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#40 istuffedsunny
Member since 2008 • 6991 Posts
Don't count on Black Friday sales... I noticed hard drives are absent from all of their recent newsletter ads BTW I think you'll find SSDs are overrated... I owned an Intel 320 for 6 months before I realized all you really need to do is partition your OS to the HDD's innermost area. A couple Java-based programs still load kind of slow but I rarely use them
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#41 kraken2109
Member since 2009 • 13271 Posts

So glad i bought my new HDD a month ago then.

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#42 PC_Otter
Member since 2010 • 1623 Posts

[QUOTE="PC_Otter"]Interesting, I was watching Tekzilla on Revision3.com yesterday, and they were talking about the HDD price increase due to the flooding in Thailand. They hinted at the idea of Intel, being all big and powerful it is, could pull something crazy and release high capacity SSDs at heavily reduced prices (even at losses) in order to take advantage of the HDD price hikes. Yes, while HDDs would still be drastically cheaper per GB, it could put a dent in the sales of the old tech, while Intel could take out other players in SSD production. It would also increase the foothold of SSDs in the laptop market, as they can drastically improve the performance of a computer while of course benefiting power usage performance.PBSnipes

That is literally the exact opposite of what Intel wants to do. Their focus is on the enterprise market since the margins are so much better -- the last thing you'd do to maintain those fat profit margins is flood the market with cheap SSD 320s and 510s. I could see someone on the consumer side like OCZ, Crucial or Samsung take the plunge, though.

That's also the reason why HDD prices won't stay high: consumer hardware is a commodity market. If your competitors are selling a near-as-makes-no-difference identical product, short of forming a cartel there's no way to raise your prices and expect consumers to still buy your product.

I didn't think of the enterprise issue, but the idea of killing your opponents in the desktop market struck me as a bad idea as lawsuits over monopolistic practices would start coming in. Anyways, are not the SSDs Intel produces and sells kind of, you know "meh"? If that's the case, that would be bad for us consumers, if Intel killed off the quality SSD makers by marketing cheap alternatives.