WD 120GB for $10

riredale wrote on 4/24/2003, 7:09 PM

Well, somebody at Circuit City messed up. They offered for sale a Western Digital 120GB drive for $159, minus a $10, $60, and $80 rebate, making the final price $10!

I checked all the local stores and they were all out except for one store 30 minutes away. Since I needed to go to that area anyway, I picked it up.

The upshot is that they have now changed the web page, dropping the $60 rebate, and on the $60 rebate page they have now changed the valid dates to show that the rebate expired the 24th rather than the 30th.

However, there is an archive of the old rebates and the offering web page. If you want to buy a $70 120GB drive with the strong possibility of making it a $10 120GB drive, first print out the rebates shown at this site:
http://onlinesharing.com/index2.html

and then try to locate one of the drives at a local Circuit City store, or try to buy one on the Circuit City website.

Oh, by the way: the box had a nice little surprise, a note stating that the drive enclosed was actually a JB model with the 8MB cache, not the 2MB version shown on the outside of the box.

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/24/2003, 7:36 PM

What do I do about the $60 rebate though? Both the $60 and $80 want an origional UPC label, and only the $10 will accept a copy?

riredale wrote on 4/25/2003, 12:03 PM

Sorry, I should have mentioned this. If you go to the Circuit City store and explain the problem, they will go back into the file cabinet and bring out a letter on Circuit City letterhead that says the original UPC is not available, but go ahead and give him the rebate anyway, as we can vouch that he bought the drive.

I am using just such a letter to apply for the third rebate. The guys at Circuit City assured me that this happens all the time.(!)

Arks wrote on 4/25/2003, 2:18 PM

Well, I printed them out, and am heading to CC tonight. We'll see if they have any left or I have to order off the net, good find here..

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/25/2003, 2:42 PM

At CC I can even order over the net and then goto the store and explain it to them? If so, i'm out there tomorrow, i'll order one over the net then. :)

riredale wrote on 4/25/2003, 11:25 PM

According to www.techbargains.com, Circuit City will honor those three rebates. The trick probably at this point is getting your hands on one of these drives.

Amazing--a 7200rpm 8MB buffer 120GB drive for $9.95. Almost makes up for my traffic ticket today (not wearing a seatbelt going the 4 blocks from home to market). First one in many years...

fanningp wrote on 4/26/2003, 7:02 AM

Arrrgggg.....I can't find a store within 100 miles that still has this drive!

Pete

fanningp wrote on 4/26/2003, 7:40 AM

You know, part of me is beginning to wonder if Circuit City has programmed it's system to tell all online users that the item is out of stock at all of it's stores for express pick up. No matter what I select, it's out. I even try to think of the most remote places in the US....out of stock.....Every CS store in Wisconsin claims they don't have it.

I'm physically going to the one down the street this morning just to be sure....

Pete

EW wrote on 4/26/2003, 3:50 PM

I just got mine this morning. Thanks for the tip!!

rstein wrote on 4/26/2003, 9:36 PM

Well, it's not the 8MB buffer, but it's a damn good deal!

Randy Brown wrote on 4/27/2003, 8:14 AM

I can't even find the one with 8mb cache on their website. There is the 2mb with a $10 and $80 mail-in rebate making the price $70. Should I hold out for the 8mb cache...I mean what would the extra 6 mb help with besides dropped frames?
TIA,
Randy

riredale wrote on 4/27/2003, 11:34 AM

I think for video use the added 6MB in buffer size will make no difference in terms of dropped frames. I say this with the assumption that any drive built today is overwhelmingly faster than the 4MB data rate needed by DV for capture or print-to-tape. Five years ago, it was a problem; today it isn't. Most drives now post streaming rates of at least 20MB/sec.

For other applications the larger buffer will make a small improvement. I think www.tomshardware.com showed a 5-10% boost in SOME tasks in some tests they ran last year.

I would be perfectly happy with a 2MB buffer. As I mentioned, my box happened to have the other drive. What would really speed up things in PCs would be a 15,000rpm rotation speed, but I guess we'll have a wait a few years for those to be commonplace (and cheap).

Randy Brown wrote on 4/28/2003, 8:09 AM

Thanks Riredale,
We don't have a Circuit City here but Office Max has the same deal ($70 after rebate) so I think I'll pick one up today.
Thanks again,
Randy

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/28/2003, 9:26 AM

Gee, anyone else notice how CC was out fo the hard drives online until after the sell ended? :)

Frenchy wrote on 4/28/2003, 2:44 PM

I noticed, and also noticed that we could not even purchase them. Also got email from CC today that drive was available. Yeah, right

Thierry wrote on 4/29/2003, 8:48 AM

My story:

I went to CC and ask them about that dive. They did not have it but they told me I could order it today (April 26) and pay a deposit. They said the Mail in Rebate will still work. When they preorder it they actually had one in stock but it was reserve for somebody (another clever fellow). The customer rep told me if one of the rebate will not work I had to come back and they will do a price adjustment for the value of that particular rebate (how nice)... I don't think they will do it specially in two or three months down the road. Well if I end up paying $70.00 for that drive it still a good price. One think that "bug" me about these mail in rebate (not specificly from CC) is you have to wait 2 to 3 months to get a check back but you have only 30 days to return the product. So what am I suppose to do if I get nothing on the mail and I end up paying $160.00 for that product (well I guess I like to live dangerously, because if my wife learn about that she will "kill" me). ;-)
Thierry

PS: thanks Riredale for the tip.

cyanide wrote on 4/29/2003, 9:45 AM

You guys crack me up...you'll pay a grand for a tripod without batting an eye, but when it comes to paying a couple of of bucks more on some crappy hard drive...look out!

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/29/2003, 10:28 AM

a grandfor a tripod? I don't even own a tripod! :)

riredale wrote on 4/29/2003, 12:23 PM

Thierry:
I've never been burned on rebates with major brands, but some of the off-brand outfits sometimes just fade into the mist. Just make a copy of everything you send in, 5% of the time you'll have to use it when they challenge your claim.

cyanide:
You're right, it's a bit silly. If I need something, I buy it. But it's also kind of fun to take advantage of deals when they come along. Too bad I can't find that Lexus I like for $2,995.

cyanide wrote on 4/29/2003, 2:16 PM

Sorry if it came off as being snide. On some sites if you mention bargains (DVinfo.net Community for one) they laugh you out of town. I, of course, always shop around...