My laptop has been playing up, and unlike last time (i.e.: losing all my data and pictures) I decided to purchase an external hard drive. I needed about 500GIG of space, and wanted it to also be my future entertainment hard drive. I hope to buy an entertainment system in the future, and required it to have HDMI inputs, and the ability to play DVD, MPEG, AVI and Divx files.
I found a good Seagate hard drive on eBay from ITBox.com.au. It mentioned that I could get $80 cash back. ITBox contacted me and advised me to buy direct from their website. If you have eBayed before, this is not advisable because the feedback system does not apply. eBay recommends all transactions through its website. The motive is good, but also economically sound for eBay, as it charges sellers fees for each sale.
The product
I bought a 1TB (1000Gig) Seagate Hard drive with entertainment system for about $269 + $20 P/H (including insurance). If you purchase it through eBay, insurance costs an extra $3.00. The hard drive comes in a cool ceramic finish, and in black and silver (although Silver is more popular and difficult to find). It has HDMI, USB 1.1 and 2.0 inputs, and has its own power supply (although you can use the USB for power supply as well). My laptop is not powerful enough to give enough power through the USB, so I have to use the electrical power supply. However, I suspect newer computer models will be able to provide enough power through the USB.
The best thing about this external hard drive is that I can connect it to my future LCD/Plasma TV, and use it for storage of all photos and movies. I have about 10GIG worth of photos (and growing by the day), and even more worth of personal movies etc. So it hopefully will turn out to be a good investment.
The product is assembled in China (like everything else these days), as the instruction manual quite obviously exhibits (i.e.: poor English grammar).
The front digital display illuminates in a neon blue colour, making it even cooler. The hard drive is extremely quiet too, thus far I am happy. It comes with a 1 year case, and 3 year hard drive warranty.
The service
Emails are generally answered within 2 days, but the draw back is they do not work weekends. A bit unusual for an eBay Powerseller, and a computer parts supplier in general. Weekends is when computer geeks venture out to buy their tech products. I did have problems with the delivery. In fact, it did not arrive after 1 week (post payment) and they didn’t contact me about what happened to it, until I contacted them quoting my order number. They told me the package had been returned to them, however I never found out why despite asking a few times.
None the less, they immediately re-couriered (at no extra cost) which arrived the next day. It was neatly packaged, and enough insulation was provided. I strongly recommend getting postal insurance when buying electronic products on the internet.
Insight
EBay no longer is the cheapest option on the internet. However, often you can find credible power sellers who have shops outside of eBay, who provide better deals as in this case. But be careful, there are plenty of rip offs out there, especially who ship from abroad (HK, China, Taiwan). I make it a point when I shop on eBay never to buy anything from outside of Australia. Postage times vary internationally, and often you will have to wait up to 4 weeks for your item to turn up. Warranty is another issue, as many items may not have international warranty.
I also make it a point (when shopping on eBay) to always ask “the seller a question” to ensure they are genuine/credible, and read the entire listing (particularly postage, payment options) word for word. For example: Audioland and Powerland (shops on eBay) often sell factory second products and this is not obvious from their listening unless you read the fine print.
If a seller offers pick up services, even better as postage is where many sellers make additional profits. So watch out for those USB sticks for $0.99, because postage is often $20.
Summary
I probably will shop with ITBox again, but perhaps through their eBay shop rather than their website. I just find eBay easier to deal with, and like to keep all my purchases under the one account. It also means I am protected by PayPal, and their fraud compensation mechanism (however flawed it may be).
I’ve always been perplexed at why people are willing to spend $1 on a bargain item but have to pay $20 shipping & handling. At that point, better to just go to your local BestBuy.
Often you will find ridiculous low prices from Asian eBayer’s, and they charge ridiculously high prices for shipping and handling. This serves two purposes: 1) Decreased initial listing fee, 2) Entices buyers (or trick them) to shop.