What is going on with HDD prices ?!?!?!

[p_l]

Nope, didn't buy 'em to speculate. 'Sides, they're already hitched up.

[lacywest]

The Walmart in my town had a some hard drives for laptops on the clearance ... endcap ... normal low prices ... for persons with laptops ... they'd make nice gifts ... I am surprised they were there to be seen and not already bought up ... about 2 or 3 were hanging on the hooks.

The bigger USB hard drives that sell for 80 or 100 Bucks ... were selling for 140 bucks and up.

[edDV]

The Walmart in my town had a some hard drives for laptops on the clearance ... endcap ... normal low prices ... for persons with laptops ... they'd make nice gifts ... I am surprised they were there to be seen and not already bought up ... about 2 or 3 were hanging on the hooks.

The bigger USB hard drives that sell for 80 or 100 Bucks ... were selling for 140 bucks and up.

They aren't going to fire the buyers or promoters on this Thai flood. You just need to pay more.

[magillagorilla]

.......... time to go buy some DL-DVDRs I guess. Maybe I'll drop all my cameras down to 720p, that'll eek out some space.

[dragonkeeper]

.......... time to go buy some DL-DVDRs I guess. Maybe I'll drop all my cameras down to 720p, that'll eek out some space.

That's pretty much what i've been doing. I still continue to rip movies as i buy them but no longer adding them to the HTPC (unless I delete something first) I'm burning them to disk once HD prices come back with in reason I grab a few TB of space then load the HTPC up, it will be a pita loading a years worth of movies from disk but what can you do.... Current space on my HTPC is reserved for recording TV shows, documentaries, etc.

[Tom Saurus]

It seems to be still better to pay 170 bucks plus tax for a 2 TB drive then buy 5 spindles of 100 blank DVD-Rs at 43 bucks a piece plus shipping and handling and taxes. When you factor in all the work of burning that many discs to back up the same amount of data, the hard drives are still a better deal. I wonder if the days are soon coming when 10 TB hard drives are going to be the norm, with all the advances in nano technology, it can't be that far off.

[jagabo]

It seems to be still better to pay 170 bucks plus tax for a 2 TB drive then buy 5 spindles of 100 blank DVD-Rs

Since I was in need of disk space and worried that prices might get worse, I went ahead and bought a 3 TB drive for $150 when I saw it a few days ago.

I wonder if the days are soon coming when 10 TB hard drives are going to be the norm

Three or four years from now.

[Tom Saurus]

jagabo: I think you made the right decision. I had a chance to buy a 3 TB drive in the summer and I passed on it. I wasn't sure about the 3 TB technology so I opted to limit my self to a 2 TB hard drive. I am going to put off any purchases that are not necessary other than giving out Christmas money to my friends and relatives, until the end of January. January is usually a hard month to get through when you have a small income. I hope the 3 TB drives are stable and it is sad that there are not computers already built to take advantage of USB 3.0 technology. That promised speed boost, is something a lot of consumers are really looking forward to. I know that 3 TB is the storage capacity and USB 3.0 is the interface speed.

[dragonkeeper]

It seems to be still better to pay 170 bucks plus tax for a 2 TB drive then buy 5 spindles of 100 blank DVD-Rs at 43 bucks a piece plus shipping and handling and taxes. When you factor in all the work of burning that many discs to back up the same amount of data, the hard drives are still a better deal. I wonder if the days are soon coming when 10 TB hard drives are going to be the norm, with all the advances in nano technology, it can't be that far off.

Wow $43, is blank media that heavily taxed in Canada? In states I usually pay $19 bucks for DVD-R and $17 for DVD+R, this is the typical sell price on verbatim at newegg. Normally i believe they cost $25 and $22 respectively.

I use to think I wanted to own a large drive like a petabyta drive. One drive for all my media sounded lovely till i lost a 1TB drive through carelessness, reloading over 500GB of MP3s was a pain in the arse. I couldn't imagine the time it would take to recover data or rebuild a 10TB drive or larger. I think

[dragonkeeper]

I had a chance to buy a 3 TB drive in the summer and I passed on it. I wasn't sure about the 3 TB technology so I opted to limit my self to a 2 TB hard drive.

I feel the same as you about the 3TB drives, it wasn't until this pass summer that i felt 2TB drives had matured enough to where i could buy them. I'm still on the fence about 3TB drives.

[Tom Saurus]

dragonkeeper: 43 bucks is what I pay before taxes for a 100 spindle of Tayo Yuden 16x Hard Coat and white inkjet printable surface DVD-Rs. If I switch to sliver laquer I can save 9 bucks.

[hech54]

It's funny how stores around here (Germany) like MediaMarkt no longer have their HDDs on giant endcap stack-outs anymore....they are back in the aisles, on the shelves with HUGE prices on them...

[dragonkeeper]

dragonkeeper: 43 bucks is what I pay before taxes for a 100 spindle of Tayo Yuden 16x Hard Coat and white inkjet printable surface DVD-Rs. If I switch to sliver laquer I can save 9 bucks.

Ah, the $43 price tag makes more sense. I only used printable media for paying jobs, for personal backups I find that labeling the disk with a permanent marker suffices. When everything is properly labeled and catalog I can retrieve a disk from it's resting place in a matter of seconds.

[edDV]

I've got a Seagate 3TB external USB2 "Expansion" drive that works fine for storage. I limit internal and server drives to 2 TB for the time being.

[p_l]

I've got a couple of Hitachi 3TB internal HDDs working just fine. If you have 64-bit Vista SP1 or Win 7 and set up a GPT (GUID Partition Table, rather than MBR), they should work fine.

[jagabo]

Drive prices have stared coming back down. For example:



http://camelegg.com/product/N82E16822136514

[dragonkeeper]

This is good news, looks like they are trying to find the sweet spot, i.e. the price consumers are willing to pay.

Wonder when the price drop will be reflected in all the drives i.e. 1TB, 3TB? Neweggs cheapest drives are as follows;
1TB @$130 = HITACHI 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
2TB @ $150 = HITACHI 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
3TB @ $219 = HITACHI 3TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal

[lacywest]

.......... time to go buy some DL-DVDRs I guess. Maybe I'll drop all my cameras down to 720p, that'll eek out some space.

That's pretty much what i've been doing. I still continue to rip movies as i buy them but no longer adding them to the HTPC (unless I delete something first) I'm burning them to disk once HD prices come back with in reason I grab a few TB of space then load the HTPC up, it will be a pita loading a years worth of movies from disk but what can you do.... Current space on my HTPC is reserved for recording TV shows, documentaries, etc.

You have a HTPC ... I've got a question ... you do have a digital tuner card ... I would think at least.

I put a HTPC in the living room over a month ago ... worked great recording OTA stuff. But little by little the shows were pixelatted to the max and my wife's ... Young and the Restless ... was not very watchable.

I redid the coax cables and splitters and thought I did the best I could without any cash to buy more equipment ... "MORE" antenna amplifiers ... being on the top of the list.

I'm using Panasonic DVD Recorders with Digital Tuners in the living room and my bedroom to record the TV Shows we like to watch and I am having ... no problem ... recording the shows with them.

I'm now having problems with a ... "weak TV Signal" message on my WIN 7 PC in my garage ... which is my main PC.

The tuners are the ATI 650 ATSC cards.

I went to this website ... http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/besthdtvtuner.html and noticed the ATI tuner cards are not on the top of the list.

If Baldrick wants to move this ... questionaire ... to a new thread ... go for it.

I really could use some answers.

[usually_quiet]

You have a HTPC ... I've got a question ... you do have a digital tuner card ... I would think at least.

I put a HTPC in the living room over a month ago ... worked great recording OTA stuff. But little by little the shows were pixelatted to the max and my wife's ... Young and the Restless ... was not very watchable.

I redid the coax cables and splitters and thought I did the best I could without any cash to buy more equipment ... "MORE" antenna amplifiers ... being on the top of the list.

I'm using Panasonic DVD Recorders with Digital Tuners in the living room and my bedroom to record the TV Shows we like to watch and I am having ... no problem ... recording the shows with them.

I'm now having problems with a ... "weak TV Signal" message on my WIN 7 PC in my garage ... which is my main PC.

The tuners are the ATI 650 ATSC cards.

I went to this website ... http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/besthdtvtuner.html and noticed the ATI tuner cards are not on the top of the list.

If Baldrick wants to move this ... questionaire ... to a new thread ... go for it.

I really could use some answers.

In my somewhat limited experience, TV tuner cards typically need a stronger signal than the digital tuners in newer consumer electronics. However, if the weather is good and nothing has changed, but you have gone from having a nice clear picture to one that breaks up, it could be a sign that the tuner is failing. That is what happened with my 30-day old AVerMedia TV tuner card that I eventually RMAed. (AVerMedia sent me a new one, and so far so good.) An ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI-e card it replaced, started to fail detection by the system at odd intervals before going belly up. While my AVerMedia tuner wasn't available, I found an ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI card for a good price on ebay and used that in the interim.

Comparing the two, the AVerMedia Duet (white box version) has the better tuner (actually 2 of them sharing one coax connection) but no analog capabilities. I do have to amplify the signal from my indoor antenna with a 20dB amplifier to get all the channels that my converter boxes can tune without one.

[Noahtuck]

buy 5 spindles of 100 blank DVD-Rs at 43 bucks a piece plus shipping and handling and taxes.

WTF!!!!!!

A 100 dvdr spindle for $43.00!?!?!?!
You can buy Verbatim all day long at $27.99 with free shipping from newegg!!
And they have them right now at $22.99 with free shipping!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817507003

If you are paying $43.00 for a 100 disc spindle/cake box you are getting seriously ripped off or have no clue on where to buy them!!!!!

[edDV]

.......... time to go buy some DL-DVDRs I guess. Maybe I'll drop all my cameras down to 720p, that'll eek out some space.

That's pretty much what i've been doing. I still continue to rip movies as i buy them but no longer adding them to the HTPC (unless I delete something first) I'm burning them to disk once HD prices come back with in reason I grab a few TB of space then load the HTPC up, it will be a pita loading a years worth of movies from disk but what can you do.... Current space on my HTPC is reserved for recording TV shows, documentaries, etc.

You have a HTPC ... I've got a question ... you do have a digital tuner card ... I would think at least.

I put a HTPC in the living room over a month ago ... worked great recording OTA stuff. But little by little the shows were pixelatted to the max and my wife's ... Young and the Restless ... was not very watchable.

I redid the coax cables and splitters and thought I did the best I could without any cash to buy more equipment ... "MORE" antenna amplifiers ... being on the top of the list.

I'm using Panasonic DVD Recorders with Digital Tuners in the living room and my bedroom to record the TV Shows we like to watch and I am having ... no problem ... recording the shows with them.

I'm now having problems with a ... "weak TV Signal" message on my WIN 7 PC in my garage ... which is my main PC.

The tuners are the ATI 650 ATSC cards.

I went to this website ... http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/besthdtvtuner.html and noticed the ATI tuner cards are not on the top of the list.

If Baldrick wants to move this ... questionaire ... to a new thread ... go for it.

I really could use some answers.

Your problem is reception not hard disk price. I suggest a new thread with more details starting with location and the antenna you are using.

[p_l]

Tom Saurus, since you're in Canada may I suggest you get your Verbs here. Or here.


Maybe they'll throw in this free t-shirt.

[dragonkeeper]

.......... time to go buy some DL-DVDRs I guess. Maybe I'll drop all my cameras down to 720p, that'll eek out some space.

That's pretty much what i've been doing. I still continue to rip movies as i buy them but no longer adding them to the HTPC (unless I delete something first) I'm burning them to disk once HD prices come back with in reason I grab a few TB of space then load the HTPC up, it will be a pita loading a years worth of movies from disk but what can you do.... Current space on my HTPC is reserved for recording TV shows, documentaries, etc.

You have a HTPC ... I've got a question ... you do have a digital tuner card ... I would think at least.

I put a HTPC in the living room over a month ago ... worked great recording OTA stuff. But little by little the shows were pixelatted to the max and my wife's ... Young and the Restless ... was not very watchable.

I redid the coax cables and splitters and thought I did the best I could without any cash to buy more equipment ... "MORE" antenna amplifiers ... being on the top of the list.

I'm using Panasonic DVD Recorders with Digital Tuners in the living room and my bedroom to record the TV Shows we like to watch and I am having ... no problem ... recording the shows with them.

I'm now having problems with a ... "weak TV Signal" message on my WIN 7 PC in my garage ... which is my main PC.

The tuners are the ATI 650 ATSC cards.

I went to this website ... http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/besthdtvtuner.html and noticed the ATI tuner cards are not on the top of the list.

If Baldrick wants to move this ... questionaire ... to a new thread ... go for it.

I really could use some answers.

I'm actually using a USB 650 and i live in a fringe area and am ablae to get all channels over 40+ miles away. I would suggest at a minimum a attic mount antenna, an antenna with a good gain* and using a signal amplifier, by doing so i was able to double the number of channels i can pick up, also rainy and cloudy days are much less of a nuisance to reception.

*I am actaully using a home made antenna its working better than any off the shelf antenna i have tried. And materials cost me less than $20.

[edDV]

.......... time to go buy some DL-DVDRs I guess. Maybe I'll drop all my cameras down to 720p, that'll eek out some space.

That's pretty much what i've been doing. I still continue to rip movies as i buy them but no longer adding them to the HTPC (unless I delete something first) I'm burning them to disk once HD prices come back with in reason I grab a few TB of space then load the HTPC up, it will be a pita loading a years worth of movies from disk but what can you do.... Current space on my HTPC is reserved for recording TV shows, documentaries, etc.

You have a HTPC ... I've got a question ... you do have a digital tuner card ... I would think at least.

I put a HTPC in the living room over a month ago ... worked great recording OTA stuff. But little by little the shows were pixelatted to the max and my wife's ... Young and the Restless ... was not very watchable.

I redid the coax cables and splitters and thought I did the best I could without any cash to buy more equipment ... "MORE" antenna amplifiers ... being on the top of the list.

I'm using Panasonic DVD Recorders with Digital Tuners in the living room and my bedroom to record the TV Shows we like to watch and I am having ... no problem ... recording the shows with them.

I'm now having problems with a ... "weak TV Signal" message on my WIN 7 PC in my garage ... which is my main PC.

The tuners are the ATI 650 ATSC cards.

I went to this website ... http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/besthdtvtuner.html and noticed the ATI tuner cards are not on the top of the list.

If Baldrick wants to move this ... questionaire ... to a new thread ... go for it.

I really could use some answers.

I'm actually using a USB 650 and i live in a fringe area and am ablae to get all channels over 40+ miles away. I would suggest at a minimum a attic mount antenna, an antenna with a good gain* and using a signal amplifier, by doing so i was able to double the number of channels i can pick up, also rainy and cloudy days are much less of a nuisance to reception.

*I am actaully using a home made antenna its working better than any off the shelf antenna i have tried. And materials cost me less than $20.

OK 40 miles is not impressive but home made in an attic is. Tell us more.

[lacywest]

Okay ... I started a new thread >>> https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/341595-HTPC-Digital-Signal-Reception

[vhelp]

i've seen bestbuy jack their prices up, double. first it was price+half, now its price+price, i.e., $109 is now $199 anyway. i prefer the very small 1tb usb3/2 drives, the ones that are about the size of a cigarette pack bc they are easier and cleaner to stack up though the messier part is plug/unplugging. wish there were an easier way to stack these.

[dragonkeeper]

i prefer the very small 1tb usb3/2 drives, the ones that are about the size of a cigarette pack bc they are easier and cleaner to stack up though the messier part is plug/unplugging. wish there were an easier way to stack these.

I using an old computer case, 5 e-sata port multipliers daisey chained together, and a 6-foot e-sata cable plugged into my HTPC. The case is a old full tower case, I took the hard drive racks out of 3 old computer cases as well as an additional power supply. The set up gives me room for 20 hard drives in a reasonably size package. The case sits on the floor next to my entertainment system.

[dragonkeeper]

OK 40 miles is not impressive but home made in an attic is. Tell us more.

Actually its very impressive given the area I live in, which has many mountains and hills. I only have two stations that are in line of sight due to this. I tried 5 off the self antenna ranging in price from $40 -$129, the reception of each was very poor to fair with these 3-5 channels. I then came across a design for a fractal antenna, after building a modified version of the antenna with much larger fractals I was able to pick up 13 - 17 channels.
You can see my signal plot at here.

[jollyjohn]

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/intel-lowers-chip-forecast-in-wake-of-disk-dr...213-1os2i.html

[Tom Saurus]

p_I: Thank you for the links to the blank DVD-Rs. I think I will try the silver laguer Verbatim Tayo Yuden discs. I have never printed on the silver laquer surface, so that will be new to me. I don't always print covers, a lot of times I just use a sharpie to write what's on the discs. I like the hard coat technology. So these discs will save me 13 bucks per hundred discs plus the tax that would of been on that additional thirteen dollars. I have placed a lot of confidence in the Tayo Yuden brand.

As for the tax issue, I am grateful for our public health care system that is paid for out of our tax dollars, so we are getting something valuable from the taxes we pay; I hope we always have it, and if we are to go to the Private System, I hope I will be dead and gone by that point.