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Is ordering an HDD from Amazon risky?

Lotus
By Lotus
in Storage Devices
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I know HDDs are very shock sensitive, and shipping them can lead to problems if they're dropped or suffer some other kind of physical shock. Is ordering an HDD from Amazon an okay move, or should I just go to my local store and pick one up in person? It's been a long time since I've gotten an HDD, but I just recently got my living room PC up and running and it's 250GB SSD is nearly full already and I haven't even put a full load of games on it yet.

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For the HDD to get to the retailer it still has to get shipped

Thats that. If you need to get in touch chances are you can find someone that knows me that can get in touch.

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Posted

I know HDDs are very shock sensitive, and shipping them can lead to problems if they're dropped or suffer some other kind of physical shock. Is ordering an HDD from Amazon an okay move, or should I just go to my local store and pick one up in person? It's been a long time since I've gotten an HDD, but I just recently got my living room PC up and running and it's 250GB SSD is nearly full already and I haven't even put a full load of games on it yet.

if the price difference is that high, I'd rather go get it from the store.

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Yes very much so, they dont seem capable of packing a HDD securely and often just throw it in a cardboard box / sleeve with no protection except from the anti-static bag.

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And how long ago was that?

 

about a week ago.

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My family has ordered quite a few hdds online and we haven't had any problems

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The only time i've bought an HDD from a brick and mortar store, it was DOA. FedEx and USPS have taken pretty good care of ~95% of my packages.

 

Shouldn't be an issue for you.

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Price is actually in favor of Amazon, and I know a retailer has to have it shipped to them as well but I've seen how drives are packed and sent to retailers and it is WAY better than how amazon packs things.

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Yes very much so, they dont seem capable of packing a HDD securely and often just throw it in a cardboard box / sleeve with no protection except from the anti-static bag.

Was just gonna say that's how I got my 500GB WD Blue from them.

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So, was it from some random seller, or was it shipped from and sold by Amazon? What about Amazon fulfillment?

 

Yup it was shipped directly by Amazon, it got sorted out in the end but I doubt the packers care.

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Depends if you're buying directly from Amazon or an individual seller. If directly from Amazon, then I'd say that you're good to go.

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Amazon's packaging can be very bad at times and they're constantly given shit for it, at least they used to anyway.

 

I think it's a smaller problem than people make it out to be though, HDDs aren't nearly as fragile when they're off, but it wouldn't hurt them to reassure customers by packing them decently.

 

Personally, I only buy HDDs from amazon if they're cheaper than other places (which rarely seems to happen these days) and from Toshiba as Toshiba seems to be the only manufacturer that hasn't given up with retail packaging.

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Amazon's packaging can be very bad at times and they're constantly given shit for it, at least they used to anyway.

 

I think it's a smaller problem than people make it out to be though, HDDs aren't nearly as fragile when they're off, but it wouldn't hurt them to reassure customers by packing them decently.

 

Personally, I only buy HDDs from amazon if they're cheaper than other places (which rarely seems to happen these days) and from Toshiba as Toshiba seems to be the only manufacturer that hasn't given up with retail packaging.

 

 

Assuming it's not a bare OEM drive, which recently went on sale and I have one currently in shipping, but even then I've found packing sufficient. To OP: if it's from amazon directly or a highly-rated seller on Amazon (99%+ with many reviews), then you're likely fine. And if there is a problem, no one can compete with their customer service and I speak from experience being a customer since 2004. Anker has superior-to-most support as well, but that's irrelevant here.

γνῶθι σεαυτόν

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I have purchases a bunch of hard drives from Amazon in the US over the last 5 years, and air shipped them to me in the Philippines, and all of them worked without issues. Amazon, plus the shipping charge is less than buying from the local places. PH has a tax on normal imported electronics of 100 percent. The cost of Amazon plus shipping avoids that tax, and is cheaper...

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 PH has a tax on normal imported electronics of 100 percent. The cost of Amazon plus shipping avoids that tax, and is cheaper...

And i was thinking french taxes were stupid... 100% , seriously they are against hardware or what ?  <_<

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And i was thinking french taxes were stupid... 100% , seriously they are against hardware or what ?  <_<

PH politics and 'economics' are based on the old Spanish Conquistador ideas. If it has to be imported, and you want to buy it, tax it - a lot... I don't really know why, but after buying a few things and shipping them the 'normal' way, and getting a tax that matched the original purchase price.

 

This also applies to used cars. No matter the age of the car, if you bring it into the PH, the tax is the original purchase price. I have heard of other such craziness.

 

The 'ordinary' Filipino is unlikely to order such things. So the tax is on rich Filipinos and foreigners. And rich Filipinos will have some way to avoid the tax.

 

Annoying

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~snip~

 

Hey there Lotus, Happy New Year!
 
The drive always gets shipped, no matter the retailer. Newer HDDs have their heads parked when powered off so vibrations won't cause it to fall on the platter and cause damage. All drives have warranty on them so in cae you get a DOA drive that is damaged from the shipping you should be getting a replacement drive soon after. :)  I would say that you are safe to order your drive online. 
Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions!
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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