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    Western digital portable question

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ihavenofate, Jul 15, 2007.

  1. ihavenofate

    ihavenofate Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey guys, im purchasing a 120GB portable hard drive on newegg and im looking at western digital drives, cuz my friend has used them in the past and has found them very reliable. there are 2 different versions of this, one says its "retail," while the other one says its "OEM." whats the difference? is there any reason why the OEM version is slightly cheaper? also, if you guys know of any other better deals, please let me know =). my budget is like 100 bucks for this and im looking for some 100GB+, 5400 rpm is fine. thanks
     
    ihavenofate, Jul 15, 2007
    #1
  2. coriolis

    coriolis Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Retail means it's packaged with a nice clear plastic box and a standard 1-3 year warranty depending on which brand. It's meant for larger retail stores to carry and sell for end user upgrading.

    OEM means it's packaged in a plain white box with no documents and meant for building computers by stores or for barebones. Usually, you can only purchase OEM hardware and software if you are buying a whole computer, but that's been easily evaded. The warranty is also longer, 3-5 years depending on brand.
     
    coriolis, Jul 15, 2007
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  3. baddogboxer

    baddogboxer Notebook Deity

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    posted a little late!
    Difference between Retail and OEM is packaging and manuals. Retail is neater packaging if specs the same HDD is the same. So if you have the money and you like boxes and documentation get retail if not OEM. Off topic I just benched my WD 7200 USB 2.0 so if you have performance expectations/Questions let me know, externals much slower.
     
    baddogboxer, Jul 15, 2007
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  4. ihavenofate

    ihavenofate Notebook Evangelist

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    i dont have really huge expectations of performance or anything, im just looking for something to store big files on, like movies and music
     
    ihavenofate, Jul 15, 2007
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  5. baddogboxer

    baddogboxer Notebook Deity

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    Works perfect, 16MB's all the way across 19ms seek. Exactly what I use it for works great! :)
    I can play music and watch videos from it.
     
    baddogboxer, Jul 15, 2007
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  6. FastMHZ

    FastMHZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    It´s possible to change the internal hard drive, take off the 120Gb and put a bigger one ?
     
    FastMHZ, Jul 16, 2007
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  7. lupin..the..3rd

    lupin..the..3rd Notebook Evangelist

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    Sure, but if you're going to do that, why bother with the Western Digital? Just buy an empty enclosure and put whatever drive you want into it.
     
    lupin..the..3rd, Jul 16, 2007
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  8. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    wearetheborg, Jul 16, 2007
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