Author Topic: Refurbished or used internal hard disks 3½ 6TB-12TB (Read 19,065 times)

Contro · « **on:** January 17, 2019, 07:54 PM »

Do you know about this ?
Have you bought a refurbished HDD ?
What is your experience ?
Best international links to buy a used hard disk ?

Thanks a lot.
Best Regards

Shades · « **Reply #1 on:** January 18, 2019, 01:42 AM »

The bigger the drive, the bigger the back you need to have for when (not if) it fails.

Second hand drives I would only use for data/content I am prepared to lose. In my (anecdotal) experience I have had nothing but trouble with refurbished stuff. Not worth the few bucks shaved of the purchase price. Maybe that has something to do with this part of the world. I am certain that the South American continent gets the rejects from the production lines for the (Western) European/US markets.

mouser · « **Reply #2 on:** January 18, 2019, 05:12 AM »

Yeah I can't see using them for anything but as redundant storage, when you were absolutely prepared to have them crash without loss of important data.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #3 on:** January 18, 2019, 03:47 PM »

I'd rather play real-world roulette.

Contro · « **Reply #4 on:** February 01, 2019, 12:09 AM »

Mmm.

This is a NO !!!!!!!!!

A local technics tells me that refurbish in english is a repaired hard disk. Not simply a used hard disk.
Usually I don't see a test about the rest of the life of that hard drive.
Then I have an inquietude ....... Can anybody trick the information about the age of the hard disk or number of used hours like someones trick the count kilometer in a car ?

Best Regards

wraith808 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 01, 2019, 03:38 AM »

Refurbish doesn't necessarily mean repaired; it can mean something as simple as someone bought it and then returned it, they checked it and put it back out. But I personally wouldn't take a chance.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #6 on:** February 01, 2019, 01:25 PM »

Don't know if they ship internationally, but ServerSupply.com has great prices on (new/used) drives of all kinds.

They currently have a 12TB SATA-6gbps 3.5" 7200rpm drive new for $395 (USD) - Sorry can't link to it the wat their site is designed, but it's really easy to find.

I'm not a fan of refurb drives either, but I have had occasion to use one or two from SS in a pinch because nobody else had any flavor of X in stock.

Contro · « **Reply #7 on:** February 04, 2019, 01:20 PM »

Quote from: Stoic Joker on February 01, 2019, 01:25 PM

Don't know if they ship internationally, but ServerSupply.com has great prices on (new/used) drives of all kinds.

They currently have a 12TB SATA-6gbps 3.5" 7200rpm drive new for $395 (USD) - Sorry can't link to it the wat their site is designed, but it's really easy to find.

I'm not a fan of refurb drives either, but I have had occasion to use one or two from SS in a pinch because nobody else had any flavor of X in stock.

I will take a look.
I see quicks changes in hard disks market. The ssd are lowing the price and probably only the very big conventional mechanical hard drives will be sold.
You can get for 100 dollars a 1 TB SSD in ebay , aliexpress, .....

Contro · « **Reply #8 on:** February 04, 2019, 01:24 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on February 01, 2019, 03:38 AM

ServerSupply.com

Understood.

4wd · « **Reply #9 on:** February 04, 2019, 11:13 PM »

Quote from: Contro on February 04, 2019, 01:20 PM

You can get for 100 dollars a 1 TB SSD in ebay , aliexpress, .....

Only really good for WORM-like (Write Once, Read Many - or more accurately, Write Minimally, Read Many) application I've found, eg. Steam Games library, data that doesn't get modified much, etc

I have a few of these types of SSD, (Netac, Ramsta, etc), ranging from 360GB->720GB, (a mix of 2D and 3D Flash technology - supposedly), and they are all DRAM-less designs, real world performance is variable.

Read performance can be anywhere between 290-520MB/s, write performance varies all over the place depending on what you're writing, (small/large files), but I've found it about on par with a good HDD for sustained writes, (sometimes worse).

Main use I have for them is:
Games library
Reasonably robust portable storage, (stick them in a case)
Ephemeral data, (I don't care if it disappears)

Certainly wouldn't trust anything non-replaceable, not backed up, or use them anywhere performance was a requirement.

Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSDs can be had for under AU$200 and prices may drop further given the recent emergence of QLC NAND technology, (which oddly enough, has similar characteristics - limited write performance, maximum read performance compared to something like the 860 EVO).

Contro · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2019, 10:06 AM »

Quote from: 4wd on February 04, 2019, 11:13 PM

Quote from: Contro on February 04, 2019, 01:20 PM
You can get for 100 dollars a 1 TB SSD in ebay , aliexpress, .....

Only really good for WORM-like (Write Once, Read Many - or more accurately, Write Minimally, Read Many) application I've found, eg. Steam Games library, data that doesn't get modified much, etc

I have a few of these types of SSD, (Netac, Ramsta, etc), ranging from 360GB->720GB, (a mix of 2D and 3D Flash technology - supposedly), and they are all DRAM-less designs, real world performance is variable.

Read performance can be anywhere between 290-520MB/s, write performance varies all over the place depending on what you're writing, (small/large files), but I've found it about on par with a good HDD for sustained writes, (sometimes worse).

Main use I have for them is:
Games library
Reasonably robust portable storage, (stick them in a case)
Ephemeral data, (I don't care if it disappears)

Certainly wouldn't trust anything non-replaceable, not backed up, or use them anywhere performance was a requirement.

Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSDs can be had for under AU$200 and prices may drop further given the recent emergence of QLC NAND technology, (which oddly enough, has similar characteristics - limited write performance, maximum read performance compared to something like the 860 EVO).

Are good to installa the windows operating system ?
Or are very cheap ? What do you think ?
How can I determine these features ?

Best Regards

Contro · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2019, 10:42 AM »

A link in ebay-amazon or aliexpress to a good and cheap ssd ?

4wd · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2019, 11:47 AM »

Quote from: Contro on February 05, 2019, 10:06 AM

Are good to installa the windows operating system ?
Or are very cheap ? What do you think ?
How can I determine these features ?

Reeino 960GB SSD for $83

Critical review of Reeino SSD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLMCWdrL5pI

You decide if your data is worth anything.

NOTE: I'm not recommending these SSDs one way or the other, do your research.

tomos · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2019, 09:08 PM »

Quote from: Contro on February 05, 2019, 10:42 AM

A link in ebay-amazon or aliexpress to a good and cheap ssd ?

this is not a recommendation -- I saved these links a while back, but have done no further research on the drives:
Replace your slow hard drive with these $25 SSDs (PCWorld)
gets 4.5 stars on UK amazon with 400 reviews -- seems like a good result. I usually check out the negative reviews to see if they give more info.

They under 30€ for 128GB on amazon.de with delivery via amazon, so returns should be easy enough.

Just for the OS 128 or 256 would be enough for me. Make regular images of OS. Might be okay...

EDIT// lol there seems to be a lot of SSDs on offer on amazon at that price...

4wd · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2019, 11:46 PM »

For your OS get a decent SSD: Samsung 850/860 EVO, SanDisk Plus, or equivalent for a normal SATA SSD.

Samsung 970 NVMe M.2 for a more modern board with M.2 slots, (or use it with a PCIe adapter if you have PCIe v3), and your machine can boot off it.

128GB is more than enough for Windows 10 and quite a few programs, however, you may want to go bigger as SSDs generally work better if they have ~25-30% free space, (eg. don't get a 128GB SSD if your OS drive is currently using 100GB).

I've used one of these "cheap" SSDs as my OS drive, (Ramsta 480GB), they are slow compared to the Samsung I now have and the SanDisk I used to have.

Contro · « **Reply #15 on:** February 07, 2019, 11:06 PM »

I am sad.
But the interesting point is to hear to the person knows.

At the present time is the same than buying

https://es.aliexpress.com/store/product/12-v-100ah-battery-18650-rechargeable-Li-ion-power-inverter-with-CE-RoHS-approved/513919_32695564166.html?spm=a219c.12010108.1000016.1.3ca95e61ZNmTRU&isOrigTitle=true

I try to obtain information about this article and the interior with the 18650 rechargeable Li-ion feature. But I only obtain an invitation to chat in whatsapp. I declined such invitation.

Contro · « **Reply #16 on:** February 07, 2019, 11:09 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on February 05, 2019, 11:46 PM

For your OS get a decent SSD: Samsung 850/860 EVO, SanDisk Plus, or equivalent for a normal SATA SSD.

Samsung 970 NVMe M.2 for a more modern board with M.2 slots, (or use it with a PCIe adapter if you have PCIe v3), and your machine can boot off it.

128GB is more than enough for Windows 10 and quite a few programs, however, you may want to go bigger as SSDs generally work better if they have ~25-30% free space, (eg. don't get a 128GB SSD if your OS drive is currently using 100GB).

I've used one of these "cheap" SSDs as my OS drive, (Ramsta 480GB), they are slow compared to the Samsung I now have and the SanDisk I used to have.

4wd please indicate the features I have to search for , not the maker.
That would give me freedom.

What are the features I have to search for a SSD to get a good drive ?
Universal language will be the best. I know is difficult but sure we can get our dream : good, cheap and beatiful....

tomos · « **Reply #17 on:** February 08, 2019, 11:30 AM »

^Contro, what are the features you want -- cheap appears to be most important to you. Judging by Amazon reviews (not very scientific) the SSD I linked to above is about as dependable as a traditional HDD. The Samsung 4wd refers to gets 4.8 stars (out of over a thousand reviews) which is *very* high for any type of HDD. Seems to me the few euros more are well spent.
As said above, you should image your OS regularly anyways, that way you could chance a cheaper SSD -- you might be lucky, it might be okay.

Contro · « **Reply #18 on:** February 09, 2019, 10:31 AM »

Ejem. What do you think about this ?

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/2-en-1-OTG-USB-Flash-Drive-256GB-USB-3-0-de-almacenamiento-de-memoria-de/32968859213.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.274263c0ZRWOJH

Real or imaginary ?

Ath · « **Reply #19 on:** February 09, 2019, 11:08 AM »

Quote from: Contro on February 09, 2019, 10:31 AM

Ejem. What do you think about this ?

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/2-en-1-OTG-USB-Flash-Drive-256GB-USB-3-0-de-almacenamiento-de-memoria-de/32968859213.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.274263c0ZRWOJH

Real or imaginary ?

It's real, but not suitable as main storage.
And how long you'll have a device that will support micro-USB? My current phone has (and most newer phones will have) USB-C connector...

4wd · « **Reply #20 on:** February 10, 2019, 04:32 AM »

Quote from: Contro on February 09, 2019, 10:31 AM

Ejem. What do you think about this ?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-in-1-USB-3-0-Type-C-USB-Micro-USB-SD-TF-Memory-Card-Reader-OTG-Adapter-Cool/264013985876

I have one, USB, USB C, and Micro-B - put your own uSD card in or plug in a normal flash drive, USB HDD, etc.

Contro · « **Reply #21 on:** February 11, 2019, 12:49 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on February 10, 2019, 04:32 AM

Quote from: Contro on February 09, 2019, 10:31 AM
Ejem. What do you think about this ?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-in-1-USB-3-0-Type-C-USB-Micro-USB-SD-TF-Memory-Card-Reader-OTG-Adapter-Cool/264013985876

I have one, USB, USB C, and Micro-B - put your own uSD card in or plug in a normal flash drive, USB HDD, etc.

This is a wonderful adapter !!!!!. But the usb-otg pendrive I propose have 256 GB storage !!!!!! for a minimum price !!!!4

4wd · « **Reply #22 on:** February 11, 2019, 01:12 PM »

Quote from: Contro on February 11, 2019, 12:49 PM

But the usb-otg pendrive I propose have 256 GB storage !!!!!! for a minimum price !!!!4

It's also a no name brand selling for less than 10% of the cost of a trusted well known brand name 256GB USB 3.0 flash drive.

The words "too good to be true" come to mind.

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

At the moment it looks like the cheapest possible storage option at the cost of your data.

As someone who is rather fatalistic when it comes to my own data, (ie. Shit happens), there are some roads even I won't travel down in the pursuit of cheap storage.

Contro · « **Reply #23 on:** February 11, 2019, 01:27 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on February 11, 2019, 01:12 PM

Quote from: Contro on February 11, 2019, 12:49 PM
But the usb-otg pendrive I propose have 256 GB storage !!!!!! for a minimum price !!!!4

It's also a no name brand selling for less than 10% of the cost of a trusted well known brand name 256GB USB 3.0 flash drive.

The words "too good to be true" come to mind.

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

At the moment it looks like the cheapest possible storage option at the cost of your data.

As someone who is rather fatalistic when it comes to my own data, (ie. Shit happens), there are some roads even I won't travel down in the pursuit of cheap storage.

I know I know, but really helpful will be take in consideration the technical features.

By example :
This article - independent of the fabricant - is not good for these technical reasons. Inadequate velocity, no warrants or garanties, and so on. IN this way I can make my own opinion, but not only because is an unknown maker....

4wd · « **Reply #24 on:** February 11, 2019, 11:43 PM »

Warranties & Guarantees - They are an indication of the faith manufacturers have in their product, that's all. They mean close to, or absolutely, zero when it comes to your data.

SSDs sold on Chinese retail/wholesale sites are cheap for a reason, they frequently use sub-standard components, are DRAM-less (slow), QC is questionable, and you have little to zero chance of getting any rectification under warranty in a decent time frame, (if at all) ... but ... they are cheap, fast read storage for data you don't care about and as such they have their place if you recognise them as such.

Just a note here: I have nothing against these Chinese sites, most of my stuff comes from them but you have to know what you are getting and set your expectations accordingly, (mine are non-existent).
As I said, I have a few of these cheap SSDs and they're great as a fast USB drive, game drive, or anywhere else I don't care what happens to the data, (even though I just installed one in a security NVR).

If you want known reliability, (and a warranty that might actually mean something), then you basically need to purchase brand name products from Samsung EVO, SanDisk Ultra, WD Blue, Kingston, Crucial MX, Seagate , Toshiba, etc - if all you are interested in is specs then look at what they offer to see what you should be looking for.

1TB Samsung EVO or QVO SSDs can now be had for <AU$200 (~US$140) if you look around - your main problem is you live on an island and I would think that shipping costs are going to be a big factor in any decent SSD/HDD you buy online or locally.

DRAM-less SSDs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybIXsrLCgdM