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If you're thinking of buying a hard drive, better do it right now

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  • If you're thinking of buying a hard drive, better do it right now

    If you're thinking of buying a hard drive, better do it right now

    You've probably heard about the flooding in Thailand. You may not have heard about all the hard drive factories that are underwater and non-operational and will probably stay that way for at least the next six weeks. The next three months are looking really, really bad for hard drives — especially for anyone who's buyin'.

    Western Digital, Hitachi, Seagate, and Toshiba are all facing direct production issues as a result of the flooding, and even Korean companies such as Samsung are having trouble getting the specific components that they need to build their own drives, like a motor — responsible for spinning the disc in hard disc drives. Most customers have about two weeks of inventory, and distributors may have an additional two weeks, but beyond that, things are looking gloomy. On Apple's earnings call this week, CEO Tim Cook said that he's "virtually certain there will be an overall industry shortage of disk drives as a result of the disaster."

    According to Thailand's prime minister, the flooding may take up to six weeks to recede, and after that, who knows how long it's going to be before factories resume production and there's enough logistical infrastructure back up to get drives and parts out of the country. On top of all that, China's cuts to rare earth supplies are just going to make everything worse by the time the holiday season rolls around. This isn't just speculation, either: it's already getting bad out there.

    Over the last two or three days, I've watch prices on the drive I've been looking at for a new PC build (a 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3, if you're curious) skyrocket from $60 to $110 to completely out of stock most places. As people start to worry, demand will increase, and since there's not going to be any new supply for weeks (maybe even months), things may very well get frantic as soon as current stock runs out. So, if you've been thinking about a new computer, an upgrade to an old computer, or even just an external drive for backup storage, now is definitely the time to pull the trigger.

    That is, if it's not already too late.
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

  • #2
    Just yesterday all the stores ran out of HDD, RAM and similar products ;)

    The answer is, we are out of stock, once we have some, we will contact you.

    Classical supply/demand.
    No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

    To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

    Comment


    • #3
      The bigger question is how this will effect things down the line. Less hard drives being made means less computers being turned out. Less computers available means A) prices jump on those that are for sale and B) less computers in general are bought. Considering the entire world pretty much runs on computers nowadays, this could have serious repercussions in all fields of life...
      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

      Comment


      • #4
        We will save electricity ;)
        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Doktor View Post
          We will save electricity ;)
          And do what with it?

          Comment


          • #6
            Hmm...

            Ask Rusty what they did before computers?
            No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

            To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

            Comment


            • #7
              I've got 2TBs to fill. Doubt it will happen anytime soon. We'll be using crystal technology by the time I get enough stuff on this one to make a dent.

              Comment


              • #8
                On Saturday my PC died - @#$#$% - Blue screen all that great crap.:insane:

                That Q6600 PC was trouble from the start - and it didn't come with an OS disk (XP64) the vendor promptly went out of business - the power supply failed ... but it had been working since 2008 when I fixed it with a server PS. I ordered a new HDD for it and bought a copy ofXP64 - which I was cheated out of in the first place - leave it to MS to keep charging me for the same OS on the same damn PC.:bang::puck:

                Now I am using this mac - what a pain in the ASS - Mac is pathetic - it is worse than windows for the "I know what you want to do" it won't send email! it keeps deciding defaults for me - everything is backwards - buttons on the opposite of the screen - tedious updates ---

                I doubt this hard drive shortage is anything more than a money grab - but we the consumer will be hosed - no doubt:tank::tank:
                sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
                If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

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                • #9
                  HD price already went up. WD 2TB green drive on Amazon was around $70 - $80. The price jumped to $120 a few days ago and now it's out.

                  Just wait a bit and the price will come back down.
                  "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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                  • #10
                    i'm looking at getting a new computer next year, so i'm hoping prices will have stabilized by then.

                    my issue is finding a computer manufacturer that can still make relatively robust computers. i understand with greater complexity comes greater tendency towards failure, but i suspect some of the old time computer manufacturers have seriously gotten lax with quality control, particularly with parts coming from china.

                    any particular brands you guys recommend?

                    also, any new graphics card worth buying on the horizon? i have what was state of the art for 2006-2007-- it is getting a bit rusty now.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by astralis View Post
                      i'm looking at getting a new computer next year, so i'm hoping prices will have stabilized by then.

                      my issue is finding a computer manufacturer that can still make relatively robust computers. i understand with greater complexity comes greater tendency towards failure, but i suspect some of the old time computer manufacturers have seriously gotten lax with quality control, particularly with parts coming from china.

                      any particular brands you guys recommend?

                      also, any new graphics card worth buying on the horizon? i have what was state of the art for 2006-2007-- it is getting a bit rusty now.
                      If you are buying a laptop, all the major brands are equally crap. My buddies in the US say that Toshiba are pretty decent nowadays.

                      If you are getting a desktop, its very easy to build your own in the land of Newegg and Tiger Direct.
                      Wait for Ivy Bridge, Intel's new line of Processors.
                      With AMD already having released Bulldozer, there will probably be a price cut in the run up to its release.
                      Retail release is targeted for March 2012.
                      For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I normally build my own. It all depends on what you want your computer to do and how much you are willing to spend. Any new computer will do if all you need is browsing the web, do some email, shopping, and play some flash games like farmville.

                        If you want to play high intensity games like Battlefield 3 then you want a nice video card, preferably Radeon 68xx class or better. CPU should be Intel Core i5 (Sandy Bridge core) or better. I would stay away from AMD's Bulldozer processor for now. The performance is no better than the last Phenom II processor.

                        What you can do is buy a Dell or HP computer with a decent processor, then add your own video card. You could buy an off the shelf system with a decent video card, but then the price tend to get jacked up.
                        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Astralis, one word:

                          GATEWAY!

                          Best computers you can buy without building it yourself.

                          Even moderate scums such as yourself won't complain about them.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by gunnut View Post
                            I normally build my own. It all depends on what you want your computer to do and how much you are willing to spend. Any new computer will do if all you need is browsing the web, do some email, shopping, and play some flash games like farmville.

                            If you want to play high intensity games like Battlefield 3 then you want a nice video card, preferably Radeon 68xx class or better. CPU should be Intel Core i5 (Sandy Bridge core) or better. I would stay away from AMD's Bulldozer processor for now. The performance is no better than the last Phenom II processor.

                            What you can do is buy a Dell or HP computer with a decent processor, then add your own video card. You could buy an off the shelf system with a decent video card, but then the price tend to get jacked up.
                            GN, a question. My Sis will probably be visiting me from the US in a couple of months and I was thinking of moving on from My 3 year old HD4850. What card nowadays would you recommend to replace it?
                            For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by bolo121 View Post
                              GN, a question. My Sis will probably be visiting me from the US in a couple of months and I was thinking of moving on from My 3 year old HD4850. What card nowadays would you recommend to replace it?
                              It all depends on how much your processor can drive. What CPU are you using?
                              "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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