Is it a good idea to buy second hand Hard Disks? I need a few to use as backup, writing my information on DVD's seems like a chore. A lot of people are selling their smaller, older Hard Disks quite cheap so I was thinking that buying some is a good way to save money and time. After I buy them I can run some tests, see if they have any bad sectors or other issues, then store my info and put them away until I need them.
You mean external drives? Since changing an internal one would be a big hassle I say go for it, just format the disk when you get it and you should be good to go.
If you are handy, an internal drive isn't tough to connect and disconnect fairly quickly especially if you have all the cables you need. An external hard drive will easier to connect but a bit slower to transfer data. Either way, you should be fine with a used one as long as you check it is functioning properly before relying on it to store your data. I actually bought a used computer at a garage sale a few years ago and scavenged it for parts as I was able to turn it on and see the specs before I paid.
No i do not think it is worth it. Simply because new hard disk are so cheap. You might as well add a few bucks to the price you would pay for a used HDD, and get you a new one. I am firmly against most used products. Simply because you never know what condition they are in. I recommend that everybody buy new. especially on electronics. You never know. That used HDD might have bad sectors. It would be impossible to know that before purchasing it.
I agree with AB9100. Buying a second hand HDD can save you a little money right now but cost you more in the long run if after a few years you need to obtain another HDD because of some issue you didn't notice when buying it used. Pay up the little extra and know that you have something that you'll use for the next ten or so years if you want it to be so.
I would say just buy a new one. Getting an old one might have issues. For this reason I bought one used before and it did not last long. Someone might just want to dispose it and get another which is way better. Buy a new one am sure it is not that expensive as you think.
Well, I don't think its a great idea. I mean, its used for one thing and you can't really tell if a hard drive is still good or not, I mean my broken hard drive (which is infested with bad sectors) still runs fine if you plug it in, but after a few days of use it will just go apesh*t along with all the files stored on it. I suggest you just buy a new one, I mean hard drives today are relatively cheap, I wouldn't mind paying a little extra for a brand new one with assured quality.
My point exactly. You never can tell with used hard drives. You can't tell if it has bad sectors until you try to writ over those particular sectors. You could never be sure before buying one. The only way to be safe is to buy a new one. They are not that expensive. So do your self a favor, and by new.
I do not see why not, if you can find a good deal for one, sure. If you can find a disk pretty cheap I would say go buy it and then test it. I do this all the time and have not really run into issues but I might just be lucky.
It's really not worth it. Considering you can pick up a 1TB hard drive for something like sixty pounds right now, totally new, with a warranty of two years, there really is no point in getting a second hand one which may already have issues that you don't know about.
I'm all for buying used products, but hard drives are the exception for me. Do you really want to risk losing all your backups? Important legal documents....pictures.... files....? If this are very valuable to you, don't buy a used drive that may be near the end of its life cycle already.
I purchased a used hard drive off eBay for one of my ThinkPads. I ruined my hard drive and it was worth it to replace it. I haven't had any problems with the "new" hard drive. This kind of thing is pretty common or ThinkPads. I would never buy a used hard drive for any other brand of computer.
Why buy 2nd hand when it would be better to buy a brand new one right? Like what the other members have said, you wouldn't want to risk having your files lost by buying a 2nd hand with bad sectors right? Don't scrimp on something that may be cheap but would cause you hassles and troubles afterwards.
I think that this question is really about perspective. It's similar to buying a new or secondhand car. It really depends where you get. If you buy a second call from a reliable source you are likely to gain an asset that will not give you any hassles. And the result will be almost the same as buying a brand-new car. But if you buy a car that has been used and abused, you will not enjoy your experience. And so I relate this to buying hard drives. If you buy a hard drive from a reputable source or someone who knows how to take care of the computers you will not face any difficulty. But if you buy a hard drive from someone who is reckless and did not care about the computers, you will definitely be in trouble and will have a hard time using that hard drive in the end. In my opinion buying a used hard disk should not be a challenge.
Well I won't say no but then again, hard disks are relatively cheap and buying a brand new one won't really hurt that much. But of course, if someone is offering you a 1TB drive for just $20 then I won't say no to that. But you have to be careful though, hard disks are very fragile and they don't last forever. If someone is selling you a hard drive check it first for bad sectors, a hard disk might look and run fine but you'll never know if it's bound to crash anytime soon due to the bad sectors.
Even if there's a 1TB going for $20-which admittedly is a ridiculously low price-you have to be very careful. As you say, there's a risk of bad sectors and such, and at that incredibly low price there is bound to be something wrong with it, isn't there?
