Refurbished HDDs?

So initially, my plan was to build an HTPC for living room use, but I am reconsidering that and thinking of possibly just buying a big HDD to stick in my current computer and running Plex on it and using it to stream over the home network.  

Been looking at prices and see some sweet deals on refurbished HDDs, but I don't trust them.  Has anyone had experience with them?  I'd only be storing video files on it so if it died it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would probably take a lot of work to replace the files.  Would an external drive work for the same purpose?  

The things I would look for on a refurb drive is: warranty, how much cheaper it is than a new one. Most refurb drives only have 30/90 day warranties compared to 1/2/3/5 years for a normal drive. And how much cheaper the drive is compared to a new version. If you can get 2 for just over the cost of one then run them in raid setup to mirror the data. Then you wouldn't have to worry much about the drives and losing data. Since it is very rare for both drives to fail at the same time. Windows or your motherboard can do this.

But since its a piece of technology the failure rate could be anywhere from a week to 10 years. That's just the way technology goes with everything being mass produced.

You can use an external drive the same way as an internal. If your router has a usb port you can set up an external drive through it. Or you could get a nas enclosure and put drives in it and connect it to your router. It just depends on how much you want to spend. A nas is a good long term option. But a lot more expensive. 

With black friday coming up shortly there should be a lot of deals for drives. But it varies on how much space you need. Usually the sweet spots for storage is between 4-6tb since they are always on sale between $100-150. With 3tb and below being under $100 but over $60.

Hmmm, so hard to make decisions on these.  Newegg Flash has some "refurb" WD 2GB drives fro $35.  At that price I could buy enough to run them in RAID.  But then there's the refurb bit.  Old reviews for similar item indicated they were pulls from old HP machines.  

FoxyPie said:

So initially, my plan was to build an HTPC for living room use, but I am reconsidering that and thinking of possibly just buying a big HDD to stick in my current computer and running Plex on it and using it to stream over the home network.

Been looking at prices and see some sweet deals on refurbished HDDs, but I don't trust them. Has anyone had experience with them? I'd only be storing video files on it so if it died it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would probably take a lot of work to replace the files. Would an external drive work for the same purpose?

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An external drive would be fine...I use an external drive with plex to steam videos to multiple TV's in my house and there are no issues what so ever.

I say wait for black friday/cyber monday and see what kind of deals shake out

Drabelincoln said:

An external drive would be fine...I use an external drive with plex to steam videos to multiple TV's in my house and there are no issues what so ever.

I say wait for black friday/cyber monday and see what kind of deals shake out

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My only worry about an external is I don't really have a set place I could put it where it would be close enough to the computer and I would feel secure about it. I lost one external when the power cord got caught up in my chair and I just worry since I don't have a cabinet or anything I could put the sucker in. But I'll still keep it in mind.

FoxyPie said:

My only worry about an external is I don't really have a set place I could put it where it would be close enough to the computer and I would feel secure about it. I lost one external when the power cord got caught up in my chair and I just worry since I don't have a cabinet or anything I could put the sucker in. But I'll still keep it in mind.

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I don't know what your setup looks like so I'm not sure how it would get in the way, I have old 2TB usb hardrive that I use for all my downloads and streaming. The HD sits behind my monitor on my desk so I don't even see it

You swimming in wires over there? How does the chair catch a power cord?

Drabelincoln said:

I don't know what your setup looks like so I'm not sure how it would get in the way, I have old 2TB usb hardrive that I use for all my downloads and streaming. The HD sits behind my monitor on my desk so I don't even see it

You swimming in wires over there? How does the chair catch a power cord?

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Well that happened when I was visiting my sister and had to set up the external so it was really my fault for not doing it more securely. Right now, all I have is a computer cart type thing, not a lot of space and so I don't trust myself or my dog enough to think she or I wouldn't bump the cart or do something to knock it over by accident. If I had a bigger desk or more space I would go that option easily.

FoxyPie said:

Well that happened when I was visiting my sister and had to set up the external so it was really my fault for not doing it more securely. Right now, all I have is a computer cart type thing, not a lot of space and so I don't trust myself or my dog enough to think she or I wouldn't bump the cart or do something to knock it over by accident. If I had a bigger desk or more space I would go that option easily.

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just lay it on top of your pc case? I was wrong about the size too...I got a 1.5 TB WD external drive from Staples back in 2011 on a price glitch for 21 dollars and its been working like a champ since then. I should probably get a new one for my streaming/downloading....I imagine this one is going to die at some point

Drabelincoln said:

just lay it on top of your pc case? I was wrong about the size too...I got a 1.5 TB WD external drive from Staples back in 2011 on a price glitch for 21 dollars and its been working like a champ since then. I should probably get a new one for my streaming/downloading....I imagine this one is going to die at some point

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How many hours or shows can you fit?

I can get a 4TB external for $95 or a 3TB My Cloud for $105 but the My Cloud doesn't seem to offer many benefits if I want to stream.

FoxyPie said:

How many hours or shows can you fit?

I can get a 4TB external for $95 or a 3TB My Cloud for $105 but the My Cloud doesn't seem to offer many benefits if I want to stream.

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Its going to depend on what quality you are downloading What do you normally get? I'm a stickler for deleting things after I watch them...I don't keep anything because the likelihood of me watching it again are slim to none

Drabelincoln said:

Its going to depend on what quality you are downloading What do you normally get? I'm a stickler for deleting things after I watch them...I don't keep anything because the likelihood of me watching it again are slim to none

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Well, most of this is going to be DVD rips. For movies online we usually stream anything we get digital so that's not an issue. Mostly be the wife's favorite movies/shows so she will be watching them more than once.

FoxyPie said:

Well, most of this is going to be DVD rips. For movies online we usually stream anything we get digital so that's not an issue. Mostly be the wife's favorite movies/shows so she will be watching them more than once.

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so a standard DVD is 4.5 GB if you go full iso rip of the file...you can always convert it to a smaller size, so if you get a TB HD you are looking at like what...444 videos if they are all 4.5 gb

i could be wrong on all my math..Ive been drinking and don't typically deal with DVD rips of anything....

Drabelincoln said:

so a standard DVD is 4.5 GB if you go full iso rip of the file...you can always convert it to a smaller size, so if you get a TB HD you are looking at like what...444 videos if they are all 4.5 gb

i could be wrong on all my math..Ive been drinking and don't typically deal with DVD rips of anything....

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Yeah, I don't think I would be ripping the full iso. Probably to a 1GB per 2 hour movie type conversion.

Hmmm, looks like the $35 2TB refurbs are sold out.  Microcenter has some 2TB Hitachi refurbs for $45 but I'd have to either go in store or pay shipping and tax.  Meh.  

I talked it over with the wife and she didn't like the external idea because if it died all her shows and movies would go poof.  But she also didn't like the cost associated with buying enough drives for a RAID setup with decent redundancy.  Looks like I might just see if another killer deal pops up for a 2TB refurb and just use it strictly for my Steam games which I can always redownload if it dies. 

If the storage is dedicated, 2+ TB will last you a very long time.  Especially if you're not ripping HD.  I'm running Plex off a 2 TB external that I'm also using for PC backup.  It works great.  I'm super happy overall with Plex.

One thing you can do, sis if you find a stellar deal on an external, get a pair.  Use one as the primary and the second for backup.  I have just this running now.  The Primary is always plugged in.  The second I only plug in to back up the PC/primary drive.  As long as you really back up periodically, you should be fine.