Hey all,
I'm looking for a 3.5" to backup my laptop to once a month or so after losing faith in my portable 2.5" drives following a couple of failures.
It'll only be plugged in for the time it takes to do the backup and stored away the rest of the time.
I'm hesitating between a new external 12tb Elements (or the equivalent Seagate) for around 275-300€ on Amazon
vs
An eBay recertified Ultrastar HC520/530 for 200-250€ (there's a 520 for 200€ with 11 months manufacturer warranty I'm looking at) with a USB dock or enclosure of some kind.
What do you think?
I haven't been able to ascertain for sure what drives come in the pre built enclosures. I'm assuming at those capacities I'm safe from SMR?
Would you rather the peace of mind of buying new with a full warranty for an unknown consumer grade drive or enterprise grade but recertified with less warranty?
I'm also weary about Amazon's packing practices and figure an eBay computer parts seller will take more care with the packaging and not send it loose rattling around in a huge box like Amazon is prone to doing.