Why are external HDs still cheaper than internal ?

[Elixer]

This makes no sense at all, WD, seagate & toshiba all have external drives at a cheaper price than the equivalent internal ones (usually the 'green' 54/5900 RPM versions), sometimes as much as $50 difference.

I doubt it is for warranty reasons, and they are spending more on the case/psu/cables so what could the reason be ?

 

[dolphinlee]

It is right.

 

[JeffMD]

#1 The external drives are generally slower.

#2 internal drives are still the most sold because of replacements and pc builders. You will notice WD has been replacing the controller board with a custom USB board so they can't be used as sata drives anymore.

 

[Tsavo]

#1 The external drives are generally slower.

#2 internal drives are still the most sold because of replacements and pc builders. You will notice WD has been replacing the controller board with a custom USB board so they can't be used as sata drives anymore.

Your #1 doesn't explain anything. The BOM is going to be higher on externals than a stand alone internal.

Your #2 has two points in it, and one of them doesn't matter.

 

[darkfalz]

I suspect externals have a lower QC than internals, as internals tend to run more often and at full speed (native SATA) vs lower speed USB, and tend to run the OS rather than just external media access. So they are probably often drives with higher amount of remapped sectors (not displayed in SMART) and so on.

 

[Hellhammer]

I suspect externals have a lower QC than internals, as internals tend to run more often and at full speed (native SATA) vs lower speed USB, and tend to run the OS rather than just external media access. So they are probably often drives with higher amount of remapped sectors (not displayed in SMART) and so on.

Exactly. The drives that don't meet the higher quality standards of internal drives will be sold us externals, assuming they meet the standards for that. Furthermore, shorter warranty reduces the replacement costs, which can be quite substantial knowing the failure rates of hard drives.

 

[Lonyo]

USB3 is usually as fast for most mechanical hard drive activity as SATA.

Externals (at least while doing stuff) also have to deal with higher heat/etc due to enclosures having no airflow.

 

[corkyg]

And, it is possible that there is more growth in external drive market share than internals. This can also lead to a lower unit price based on sales volume.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomcoughlin/2013/05/10/2013-hard-disk-drive-projections/

 

[Charlie98]

I bought a Seagate 2TB external (by mistake, but I'm loving it now...) and, according to CrystalDiskInfo... has a Barracuda inside?!? I was expecting a 5400RPM drive, but that's OK.

Exactly. The drives that don't meet the higher quality standards of internal drives will be sold us externals, assuming they meet the standards for that.

That's kind of odd... heat kills and a HHD in an enclosure runs hotter than a drive in a case? Doubly odd... so my safety net backup drive is a rejected for normal service drive?

It was $20 cheaper than the identical internal drive...

 

[Phynaz]

According to Backblaze external drives are cheaper due to their intended audience and size of the market. The retail market for internal drives is much, much, smaller than the market for external drives. Therefore the price is higher.

 

[Phynaz]

Exactly. The drives that don't meet the higher quality standards of internal drives will be sold us externals, assuming they meet the standards for that.

Have any links for that? Backblaze says they are the same.

 

[Elixer]

Have any links for that? Backblaze says they are the same.

Right. http://blog.backblaze.com/ talks about their reliability.
And it seems that, at least their huge sample, there wasn't a difference compared to internal units.

Or, specifically, http://blog.backblaze.com/2012/10/09/backblaze_drive_farming/
talks about getting tons of external units and stripping them down for the bare drive.

They also say that prices of HDs are now back to the pre-flood levels...

 

[Zaxx]

I've always resisted pre-built externals for fear of low quality drives being used. I always build my own that way I have more control over quality and performance. My main enclosures run a pair of WD Blacks...since they are 7200 rpm drives, I opted for fan cooled enclosures. Most all pre-built enclosures use 5400 rpm drives cuz they run cooler and don't require a fan.

 

[Towermax]

#2 internal drives are still the most sold because of replacements and pc builders. You will notice WD has been replacing the controller board with a custom USB board so they can't be used as sata drives anymore.

When did this start? And how do you tell if you have a newer model with the custom USB board?

 

[JeffMD]

tower... pretty much 300mb and larger drives. I have 2 320mb and a 500mb drive from them that are hardwired usb. I don't know if WD is the only ones doing it, my seagate 1tb drives however are sata with detachable USB converter.

USB drives will always be at a disadvantage too speed wise because of this conversion process.

 

[corkyg]

C'mon people, address the question. "Why are external HDs still cheaper than internal?"

 

[meloz]

C'mon people, address the question. "Why are external HDs still cheaper than internal?"

Because there's greater competition in the external drive market. Sure, the number of actual drive manufacturers is the same, but other companies buy from Seagate, WD et al in bulk at far lower prices than individual consumers, pack these drives in enclosures and sell them at rock bottom prices. So to compete in the market everyone has to reduce prices of their product.

There is no such competition in the internal drive market. There are 2.5 players, and no one is willing to reduce profit margins. So internal drives are more expensive. If tomorrow Seagate reduced prices WD would respond. Vice versa. But both seem happy with their marketshare, we consumers get screwed.

 

[UaVaj]

C'mon people, address the question. "Why are external HDs still cheaper than internal?"

seagate 7200rpm 3tb sata hard drive
external w/ casing w/ power adapter w/ usb cable for $100 while the exact same internal bare for $135.

difference is: external only come with 1 year warranty. internal comes with 5 year warranty.

also if you ripped out the hard drive from the external casing. zero warranty.

do not ask me how I know. lets just say live and learn.

 

[Charlie98]

Soooo... Use it as an external for a year, then pull it out.

 

[Gunbuster]

It could be there are less returns and support issues with externals. People can be pretty dumb, maybe they just wreck internals more and then return them as DOA thus driving up internal drive prices.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

The market (competition) determines the price. You don't see internal drives on sale at Costco.

 

[C1]

Hmmm ....

If you think about it, there are various more sources for external drives than the few manufacturers for internals. And now, if the external drive should fail (like say, you bought a Fantom brand external), then with whom is the warranty (isnt it with Fantom)?

 

[Charlie98]

You don't see internal drives on sale at Costco.

Because they are not consumer-end user products... they have to be installed. They sell computers but not processors or PSU's, for example.

I busted open my Seagate external drive tonight... I need the 2TB Barracuda for my HTPC.... and was pleasantly surprised to find I didn't have to destroy the enclosure to get it open! I'll stab a 500GB Hitachi back into the enclosure and continue to use it as an external backup drive. (...at least, that's the plan, anyway...)