I am confused about this one. According to the flyer it says "189.84 - 70.00 Mail-In Rebate - 20.00 Instant Savings = 99.84" But the only mail in rebate I can find is "Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM HD $50, 7-13 to 7-19-03". The cupon says "Get $50 Rebate with Purchase of Maxtor 160gb 7200 RPM Ultra Series Hard Drive Model Number L01P160 as Office Depot Only." So am I missing another $20 mail n rebate somewhere? Or is there *another* $70 rebate somewhere? I mean that would be awesome if so - it would mean 20 instant, 70 rebate from ??? and another 50 rebate from Maxtor. LOL - that would be $140 off. Woo ho..I'll get some firends to buy some too if I can get 160 gig hard drive for 40 bucks. Just point me to the missing $20 for now or come up with the additional $70. ;)

Anf FYI - it is CompUSA that has the WD 160 HD. In theory the rebates are more but the original cost of the drive is more, but the end result is the Maxtor and/or the WD end up costing the same. Here is the CompUSA deal:

WD 160GB, 7200RPM, Internal ATA/100 Hard Drive
Regular Retail Price: $209.99
-$40.00 Instant Saving
You Pay: $169.99 Price after instant rebates, if any
-$70.00 Mfr. Mail-in Rebate
CompUSA Price: $99.99 Price after instant & mail-in rebates
Valid 7-13 to 7-19-03

Or... just go to googlegear.com, spend a few dollars more then the after rebate cost, and delay instant gratification by 2 days free shipping.

Assuming you do get your rebate check - & I've had to follow up on 1/3 of all rebates - it can take up to 6 months, or more, especially with CompUSA. Is your time spent tracking worth it?

Most consumer org., after reviewing the large number of rebate related complaints, advise use the rebate as icing on the cake, so if you get it Cool, if you don't, no worry. Don't buy on the basis of a rebate, pay more then your would otherwise initially.

Just my own 2 cents...

I'm the same way, mikkie. I gotta like the plain cake for the icing to mean anything. A friend of mine purchased a big-rebate laptop one time. I told him he paid too much, but he said I'm getting a big rebate. A couple of months later he started acting very surly and calling the laptop a p.o.s., etc., and I asked him what had happened that made him suddenly bash the laptop. He said I think they're going to screw me on the rebate because I'm having trouble getting it. He eventually got it but the aggravation really took a toll on the dude, so your point is good, let the rebate be icing on a cake that's tasty by itself.

Filmy,

You're right, the Office Depot flier does not match the deal I got at the counter. The bottom line is the same, but I think the list price was $20 less than advertised (like $169 instead of $189), so the $20 instant rebate took it down to $149, then the Maxtor rebate for $50 (not $70 as advertised) takes it down to $99 and change.

Regarding rebates in general, I too remain very wary of them, and semi-consciously decide whether I could live with the price without the rebate. But I have gotten 2 or 3 Maxtor rebates in a row that were prompt and hassle-free, so maybe there's some improvement there.

G

I hate to say this(no flames) but i've owned 8 Maxtor hdd's and i only have 1 still running(on it's last leg btw).
Now at the sametime Maxtor isn't the only hdd i've had go bad but they are by far the most % wise for me.
So far WD has held up longer/better for me.....just my 2 cent

I just bought a Western Digital 120GB, 7200RPM, Internal ATA/100 Hard Drive from outpost.com for $149 - $50 mail in rebate = $99. Looks like I should have gotten the WD 160GB from CompUSA for $99. Ouch!

~jr

is it ok to daisychain different brands of external HDs?

Slobra,

Interesting results. Sorry you've had so many bad drives. How did they die?

I'd like to hear other comments on the reliability of Maxtor vs. WD or others.

G

>>>Assuming you do get your rebate check - & I've had to follow up on 1/3 of all rebates - it can take up to 6 months, or more, especially with CompUSA. Is your time spent tracking worth it?<<<

I hear stories like this and feel lucky because with Maxtor, CompUSA, Staples, Office Max - not one problem ever with any sort of rebate. And if you read the small print on the rebate mail-ins they usually will say something like "Expect rebate check 4 -6 weeks after we recieve rebate form." And I have never had to wait 6 months to get any rebate or follow up on a rebate.

As an aside - last year, July 25, 2002, I purchased a CompUSA external firewire enclosure. It crapped out on me last week - July 13. Well CompUSA discontinued their firewire enclosures but the one year warrenty was still in affect - they offered me a USB external and I said no so they brought out an ADS USB/Firewire but it was $30 more. I said no. So I recieved $75 in store credit. I bring this up because there really were no questions asked. I just said 'It gave out on me' and they said 'ok' and that was that.


Now for the other few things in the thread -

I still have all my Maxtor drives. Not any problems on my end and I have them up 24/7. I do not have the system go to sleep or spin down the drives. I have 2 WD drives. The thing I found is that the WD 5600 are 'faster' than the Maxtor 5600 so I can actually run DV video to and from the WDs at 5600 but I need the 7200's from Maxtor. And that sort of answers the daisy chain question - yes you can. I have a 5600 WD daisychained to a 7200 Maxtor. Then I have another WD sort of tagged onto a DVD drive. Since the firewire drive gave out I got a Maxtor Ultra ATI/133 controller and now have the Maxtor that was in the external firewire enclosure indside. I have another Maxtor drive hanging out waiting to be put in yet. (And I am seriously contimplating getting one of these 160 gig drives. Not sure whaich one - but since I already have the $75 credit with CompUSA that is sort of looking good)