CompUSA President Day Sale 2/15-2/16 SOME HOT DEALS

[rasputinj]

A few deals are dead others are still good

CompUSA has some great deal the week of 2/15-2/21
Penny shipping with orders of $150
CompUSA also offers an instore pickup option.

2 day sale:

Seagate Barracuda 160GB, 7200RPM, Internal SATA/150 Hard Drive Mfg Part #: ST3160023AS
for $99.99 after rebates
item# 304903

Seagate Barracuda 200GB, 7200RPM, Internal Ultra ATA/100 8 MB cache Hard Drive Mfg Part #9W2864-555
$99.99 after rebates
item# 309209



HP Pavilion ze4610us Notebook
AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ 1.87GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, 40GB Hard Drive, 15-inch XGA TFT Display, DVD / CD-RW Combo Drive, Windows XP Home Edition
Mfg Part #: DS518U#ABA
$699.97 After $400 in rebates with penny shipping
item#309917

Netgear MR814 802.11b Wireless Router Mfg Part #: MR814NA
$29.99 after rebates
item#298420

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 Video Card, AGP 8X, 128MB DDR Mfg Part #: 100-435002
$199.99 after $100 in rebates

Ambicom Wavenet Compactflash WL1100C-CF 802.11b Adapter
$29.99 after $40 in rebates
item#293046

Sony Clie NX80V PEG-NX80V with Camera 32MB
$299.99 after a $50 rebate and $150 instant discount with shipping for a penny
item #304257

 

[ReiAyanami]

is SATA all that?! or why would someone go for the 160gb when they can get the 200gb

 

[myusername]

I'm trying to make myself not go after the 200 :\

SATA is not all that, at least yet for seagate. according to the reviews I've seen, the SATA 7200.7 is a little faster than the PATA 7200.7, but that is because the PATA performance is not top notch (not horrendous, but not keeping up with competitors). The speculation appears to be that this is due to acoustic management being on by default in the PATA, and off in the SATA - the consequence being that the SATA drives don't have the legendary seagate silence, although it seems it is still quieter than any competitors. Do note that acoustic management, whether it is indeed on or off, is not changeable in the 7200.7 series.

I'm thinking of building a SFF, so the 200 would work for me, as I'd trade the performance for quiet, but ...

I'm a little nervous that the 200 hasn't made it to SATA form yet, presumably because they haven't got all the bugs out. I don't know whether that would relate to PATA performance or reliability, but it's also disconcerting that seagate seems to be pushing hard to get this thing off the shelves - witness the TD rebate a week ago, also a manuf. rebate bringing the same $.50/GB price.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I being overly paranoid, or has anyone heard of issues with the 200?

 

[Gunbuster]

The Buslink drive is a Liteon LDW-851S

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
is SATA all that?! or why would someone go for the 160gb when they can get the 200gb

No, it's overhyped. Save your money and wait for SATA2 later this year.

 

[NTB]

Is this it, or just the good stuff? I'm not complaining, just wondering. I wonder if anybody has deals going on CF memory? I'd like to get another card - my girlfriend is going to Spain in a week or two, and probably taking my digital camera with her. Better to have more "film" than she'll ever shoot through, than to not have enough.

Nate

 

[konichiwa]

seagate 200 seems like a potential good deal?

 

[cmdavid]

Links to items


Seagate Barracuda 160GB, 7200RPM
Seagate Barracuda 200GB
Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM
Buslink8x4x12 Internal IDE DVD+/-RW +/-R Drive
HP Pavilion ze4610us Notebook
Netgear MR814 802.11b Wireless Router
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 Video Card, AGP 8X
Ambicom Wavenet Compactflash WL1100C-CF 802.11b Adapter
Sony Clie NX80V PEG-NX80V

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: AnyMal

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
is SATA all that?! or why would someone go for the 160gb when they can get the 200gb

No, it's overhyped. Save your money and wait for SATA2 later this year.

Why bother? Most SATA drives are limited not by the bus, but by the rotational speed.

 

[InspectorGadget]

The Western Digital 160mb is a 2mb buffer, not the 8mb version. Good price if you need storage.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Yeah... would have gone for WD if it had 8Mb buffer but now looking at Seagate 200Gb. The only thing stopping me is my experience with Seagate drives - out of 8 seagate drives that I owned 2 went bad and possibly even three (I just do not have time to test the third drive right now). *sigh* decisions decisions decisions...

Although on the bright side Seagate warranty policy is the best, they just send you a new drive, unlike maxtor who returned me a clearly not working drive when I RMA'd it to them.

 

[rasputinj]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
Yeah... would have gone for WD if it had 8Mb buffer but now looking at Seagate 200Gb. The only thing stopping me is my experience with Seagate drives - out of 8 seagate drives that I owned 2 went bad and possibly even three (I just do not have time to test the third drive right now). *sigh* decisions decisions decisions...

Although on the bright side Seagate warranty policy is the best, they just send you a new drive, unlike maxtor who returned me a clearly not working drive when I RMA'd it to them.

I have had good luck with the last 20 Seagates I have purchased. No problems. I think WD is the one I have had die on me yet.

 

[fleshconsumed]

rasputinj
What kind those 20 were? My two that went bad were both 60Gb BarIV so it could be that ST6001 was just a poorly designed lineup prone to failure. The third drive in question is 40Gb BarIV, one of the first, bought it as soon as Barracuda IV came out. Not sure it's the drive though, it's possible that it was a conflict of promise IDE controler with an onboard one.

After that I went to WD JB series, have several of them with the oldest one about year-year and a half old and not one of them died yet. Yet.

In any case finding the most reliable drive is a pain in the ass. I had all sort of drives fail on me, maxtor, seagate, WD (old ones back in 95-97), the only drives that haven't failed on me were IBM (old ones, never tried infamous DTLA series though) and quantum. But those were different times, HDDs were actually quite reliable back then...

Sigh... sorry for the rant, I'm just so freaking tired of my HDDs failing and the constant fear of getting my data lost... I would gladly pay the premium price for knowing that my data is safe, the problem is no one can guarantee that...

 

[unclebud]

according to the ad, they have memorex dvd+rw 25 pk for instant $26.97
didn't get to check, cause was in a really big hurry to get out of the store

 

[Vic]

OMG sooo tempted by the 9800Pro 128MB for less than $230 out-the-door plus another $30 MIR...

 

[amdskip]

I got one of the Seagate 200gb drives coming. The truth is that no one drive company is better than the next, its a ymmv on failing which sucks.

 

[Lurker1]

Heck, even the SCSI drives fail now and then. I've had 1 out of 48 9GB drives fail over a 3 year span (the old venerable 9.1GB Barracuda SCA drives), None out of aqbout 20 18GB drives, none of the Quantum 9GB drives in 2 years, both 18GB Hitachi drives are still fine after 5 years of constant use. Matter of fact, the only drives I've seen fail are those that can be documented to have been abused (2 drives, both IBM, stuffed away in a storage shed in Dallas for 3 years, guess the 115 degrees in the shade was too much for them and a 1GB drive that lasted 4 years (another Seagate, which was replaced. I still have that one, although it was taken out of service 3 years ago).

Other than those, never had a drive fail...

 

[BoKingWen]

Most of the new mobo come with 2 IDE channels now and 4 SATA. I just don't want to chain everything up on the 2 IDE channel (CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, 2 Had drive). So 2 months back I pick up 2 of the 160G SATA drive, thinking should I pick up another one. The only think I am having problem with SATA HD is ghost don't seems to work on it (I could be wrong).

The drive is fast and quiet.

 

[JiggaJohn]

how is the buslink dvd burner? is that a good drive?

 

[Sahakiel]

Quite sad to see the laptop in FS/FT already...

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: InspectorGadget
The Western Digital 160mb is a 2mb buffer, not the 8mb version. Good price if you need storage.

I bought it. Now I think I am gonna return it and get the fry's 120GB w/ 8 mb cache.
Why? Because of sales tax.
Compusa 160GB total cost
160*0.0825+60=$73.20
160/72.30=2.19GB/$
Fry's 120GB total cost
99*0.0825+49=$57.17
120/57.17=2.09GB/$
So you get only $.10/GB price advantage on the 160GB, which I believe is more than offset by the 8mb vs 2mb cache advantage of the 120GB drive.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Originally posted by: Sahakiel
Quite sad to see the laptop in FS/FT already...

Somebody has AthlonXP 2500 for sale for $80 too when newegg has it for 75 ATM. Some ppl just want easy money I guess.

 

[rasputinj]

Originally posted by: fleshconsumed
rasputinj
What kind those 20 were? My two that went bad were both 60Gb BarIV so it could be that ST6001 was just a poorly designed lineup prone to failure. The third drive in question is 40Gb BarIV, one of the first, bought it as soon as Barracuda IV came out. Not sure it's the drive though, it's possible that it was a conflict of promise IDE controler with an onboard one.

After that I went to WD JB series, have several of them with the oldest one about year-year and a half old and not one of them died yet. Yet.

In any case finding the most reliable drive is a pain in the ass. I had all sort of drives fail on me, maxtor, seagate, WD (old ones back in 95-97), the only drives that haven't failed on me were IBM (old ones, never tried infamous DTLA series though) and quantum. But those were different times, HDDs were actually quite reliable back then...

Sigh... sorry for the rant, I'm just so freaking tired of my HDDs failing and the constant fear of getting my data lost... I would gladly pay the premium price for knowing that my data is safe, the problem is no one can guarantee that...

Most of them were the 80Gb Bar IV, I have purchased a couple of the 200GB, and maybe only one each of the 60Gb, and the 40Gb. I did forget, I had a boatload of the IBM infamous IDE series 60Gb that went south on me, the replacements have been fine though. In my house computers, the WD SE have been rock solid so have the Maxtor 120Gbs, I also run 2 200GB Seagates. Sometimes you have luck on your side and sometimes you do not.

Now for my webservers that run 24/7 I run SCSI not IDE and have not had a failure in 4 years, last one was a 9GB IBM U160.

I run RAID 5 for anything I really need, other stuff, I have copies on multiple computers, I also ghost my drives and have tape backups, and also have backed up other stuff on DVD.

I also have good circulation on my computers, and keep room temperature relatively low, and clean out the cases for the dust bunnies monthly. But sometimes you just do not have luck going your way. A friend of mine has lost a handful of Maxtors a couple of years ago, 40Gb. I just picked up 2 dead Maxtors 3 years old.