Buying Hdd In Bagkok's Panthip

[FlorC]

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my laptop HDD to a WD scorpio black 320G or Hitachi travelstar7K320.

When I go to Panthip in BKK, I see components like external HDD or DDR ram nicely packed in a box, but HDD are just stacked up behind the glass counter in an ESD protected plastic bag.

This is a precision part, it doesn't like shocks, so handled carefully.

Maybe already opened and touched on the printboard. How do I know I got a new genuine one, not a refurbished or returned one by another costommer?

I read here on the forum to look out for the distributer sticker, but that is easily faked.

And if I leave the old HDD as it is, can I put it back in when the new one fails, without having to reinstall anything (OS or drivers,..) ?

[Digitalbanana]

Check out Hard Ware House when in Pantip or other malls. I bought the exact same disc you ask about from them, and they seem a reliable source. I had none of the concerns you mentioned when buying my product from them.

[FlorC]

<br />Check out Hard Ware House when in Pantip or other malls. I bought the exact same disc you ask about from them, and they seem a reliable source. I had none of the concerns you mentioned when buying my product from them.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Thank you for your reply.

Hard Ware House is on which floor, and front or back?

Which one did you buy, and how much did you pay?

Did it come in a box or just the plastic?

How much warranty do they give?

[regedit]

You can't miss it. I think they've got more than one store in P'tip.

[dotcom]

Notebook Integration on floor 3 is the best for repairs. They have the drive you want with full warranty.

I would choose the IBM/Hitachi

[jeffer]

What you get are usually OEM versions that come wrapped in an anti-static bag from cartons of 20. Retail versions individually boxed with all the cables and an instruction book are not common anymore and will usually cost a little extra. Same with DVD burners, buy in a plastic bag without cables as most people have some anyway and they are about 50 baht cheaper than the boxed version.

All aimed at system builders and at saving an unnecessary waste of cardboard and cables that aren't really needed by most people. Phone chargers are headed the same way as within a couple of years all the mobile phone manufacturers will use standard chargers so you will buy one separate if you need to instead of having 5 different Nokia chargers lying around like I have.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Western-Digi...es-t245773.html

There are lots of Hardware House shops in Panthip.

http://www.hwhinter.com/shop_branch.php

[FlorC]

Notebook Integration on floor 3 is the best for repairs. They have the drive you want with full warranty.

I would choose the IBM/Hitachi

Why do you prefer the Hitachi over the WD?

[Cuban]

>....within a couple of years all the mobile phone manufacturers will use standard chargers...

If only this would happen, makes so much sense - lower production costs all round for the makers and after market as well.

At least 'we' standardized on SD cards, (opps!) Mirco SD cards.

Not sure my fingers could handle a Nano SD card...

[jeffer]

Either will be good. Several posters here have the Scorpio Black, a search will bring up a recent topic where it's discussed. My guess would be the Scorpio is the better outright performer but the Travelstar might be the better allrounder e.g. cooler, lower powered and quieter but still doing most things very well. Just google both models and you will find reviews which will help you decide. Also take a look at the customer reviews on newegg.com, always worth a look.

[FlorC]

What you get are usually OEM versions that come wrapped in an anti-static bag from cartons of 20. Retail versions individually boxed with all the cables and an instruction book are not common anymore and will usually cost a little extra. Same with DVD burners, buy in a plastic bag without cables as most people have some anyway and they are about 50 baht cheaper than the boxed version.

All aimed at system builders and at saving an unnecessary waste of cardboard and cables that aren't really needed by most people. Phone chargers are headed the same way as within a couple of years all the mobile phone manufacturers will use standard chargers so you will buy one separate if you need to instead of having 5 different Nokia chargers lying around like I have.

For a laptop drive you don't need cables, the HDD connector is on the MoBo.

Still it doesn't say how carefull they are with the HDD packed only in plastic nor that I get

a new genuine one. The WD waranty site shows a lot of photo's of labels being changed.

In a few days I'll be in BKK 's Panthip , or I just have to wait 9 month to buy one in "safer" Europe.

[jeffer]

17 February 2009, Barcelona, Spain  The GSMA and 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers today announced that they are committed to implementing a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones. The aim of the initiative, led by the GSMA, is to ensure that the mobile industry adopts a common format for mobile phone charger connections and energy-efficient chargers resulting in an estimated 50 per cent reduction in standby energy consumption, the potential elimination of up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers1 and the enhancement of the customer experience by simplifying the charging of mobile phones. The group has set an ambitious target that by 2012 a universal charging solution (UCS) will be widely available in the market worldwide and will use Micro-USB as the common universal charging interface.

http

://www.gsmworld.com/newsroom/press-rel.../2009/2548.htm

[jeffer]

Still it doesn't say how carefull they are with the HDD packed only in plastic nor that I get

a new genuine one. The WD waranty site shows a lot of photo's of labels being changed.

In a few days I'll be in BKK 's Panthip , or I just have to wait 9 month to buy one in "safer" Europe.

Plenty of people buy hard drives at Panthip including I'm sure posters on this forum. I don't recall seeing many posters complaining about faulty units so I assume most people don't encounter problems any worse than in other countries. Stick to the big retailers and you should be okay.

Edited February 27, 2009 by jeffer

[FlorC]

Either will be good. Several posters here have the Scorpio Black, a search will bring up a recent topic where it's discussed. My guess would be the Scorpio is the better outright performer but the Travelstar might be the better allrounder e.g. cooler, lower powered and quieter but still doing most things very well. Just google both models and you will find reviews which will help you decide. Also take a look at the customer reviews on newegg.com, always worth a look.

Of course I did my home work, several reviews of both and comparing the 2 on Tom's hardware-site.

But there are conflicting statements, about temperature, how loud they are,..

You say the travelstar is cooler, others say the WD is cooler...

Read the post on thaivisa on the scorpio black. Hardware house seams the be the best since

it is the WD Master Dealer and Importer for Thailand.

Plenty of people buy hard drives at Panthip including I'm sure posters on this forum. I don't recall seeing many posters complaining about faulty units so I assume most people don't encounter problems any worse than in other countries. Stick to the big retailers and you should be okay

I know I'm whining , but one thing I really hate is a complete reinstall, with all the MS patches and updates, through a shi-tty internet connection. Putting everything back like I want it. Installing all the other programs with their options and prefferences...

And no, I want it fresh , no images of the old one with it's hick ups and qwercks.

And then have the new HDD fail because some shopkeeper handled "my" new HDD badly.

Edited February 27, 2009 by FlorC

[NanLaew]

I bought the WD 500Gb Scorpio Blue SATA hardrive for a laptop upgrade from (I think) Hardware House's store in Udon Thani's version of Panthip. It was still in the OEM's anti-static bag but it had been taken out so that the seller could apply the tiny warranty validation sticker that seems to be standard on anything you buy over here. Usually, that sticker is applied at point and time of sale so maybe someone on the staff thought it clever to sticker them all ahead of sale or they were purchased from a reseller?

Either way, from the OP's point of view, if it's in the ESD bag and if it has that sticker applied, your arse is covered.

[jeffer]

Either will be good. Several posters here have the Scorpio Black, a search will bring up a recent topic where it's discussed. My guess would be the Scorpio is the better outright performer but the Travelstar might be the better allrounder e.g. cooler, lower powered and quieter but still doing most things very well. Just google both models and you will find reviews which will help you decide. Also take a look at the customer reviews on newegg.com, always worth a look.

You say the travelstar is cooler, others say the WD is cooler...

Only my guess as I'm not looking to buy a new laptop drive at the moment. Lenovo use Hitachi drives in their laptops, there's one in this laptop I'm using now and the drive runs only about 10c above ambient as a rule, generally very quiet unless it is under heavy load. Either drive will be good, I don't think it's a case of one being far superior to the other. I'm looking at buying a new desktop drive and after reading many reviews there are several that have their good points and their bad points, no one drive is a winner above all others so I have to base my decision on do I want superior performance or lower power usage, lower heat and lower noise.

[think_too_mut]

Why do you prefer the Hitachi over the WD?

Hitachi is at the forefront of HDD technology, ahead of Seagate. That's for high end Fiber HDDs, selling for 4000US$ a piece. 73GB or 144GB 15K rpm. That's where their money is. WD hardly exists in the hig end market (banks, airlines, manufacturing companies, who all have plenty of million dollar storage arrays made by EMC, Hitachi, IBM, NetApps....).

The drives that go into hobby electronics (laptops included) are an "have to have it" for the manufacturers.

Hitachi has supplied hundreds of millions of HDDs for iPods, 17$ each. Maybe even lower price now.

[ungcas]

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my laptop HDD to a WD scorpio black 320G or Hitachi travelstar7K320.

When I go to Panthip in BKK, I see components like external HDD or DDR ram nicely packed in a box, but HDD are just stacked up behind the glass counter in an ESD protected plastic bag.

This is a precision part, it doesn't like shocks, so handled carefully.

Maybe already opened and touched on the printboard. How do I know I got a new genuine one, not a refurbished or returned one by another costommer?

I read here on the forum to look out for the distributer sticker, but that is easily faked.

And if I leave the old HDD as it is, can I put it back in when the new one fails, without having to reinstall anything (OS or drivers,..) ?

I bought my WD scorpio black at Hardware House international. You can get it at almost any mall, Central. You might save a couple hundred baht buying from smaller vendors at Pantip, but HH is so easy to find, and frankly i have bought many things from them in the past, and all is well so far.