Hard Drive prices...

[BadMeat]

Ok so it's been a while now since the flooding in Thailand but the HDD prices are still skyhigh !
Personally i need to buy a replacement as my HDD is showing up @ 72% health. I am hoping the prices will come back down atleast a little some time soon.

[TeKraken]

they have come down a bit - 1tb is now £70 rather than £90 it was a couple of months ago, which is less than the £120 they were a few months before that.

On the upside a 120gb SSD can now be had for £80.

**Edit:

I hope you have a back up drive already.

[BadMeat]

I don't need to backup this drive as it's only a few games on here tbh.
The price of a 500 gig drive hasnt gone down much as far as i have noticed, i could be wrong tho as i have only been looking since February'ish.

[TeKraken]

US price history for a 1TB 7k1000:

http://camelegg.com/product/N82E16822145533

[rotNdude]

For what it's worth:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/hdd...age,14681.html

Hard Drive Prices to Remain Inflated Throughout 20124:00 AM - February 12, 2012 by Douglas Perry - source: IHS

In Q4 2011, HDD shipments dropped by 26 percent over the same period in the previous year. Shipments will by 13 percent in Q1 and 5 percent in Q2 on an annual basis, IHS believes. In Q3, the market will stabilize and grow by 2 percent and bounce back with 49 percent in the fourth quarter of this year. Sequentially, HDD shipments are predicted to climb 14 percent in Q1, 11 percent in Q3 and 4 percent in Q4.

“The recovery of global HDD manufacturing has begun and will continue during each quarter of 2012,” noted Fang Zhang, storage analyst for IHS. “However, the recovery will be prolonged for at least two more quarters, as supply constraints keep unit shipments from climbing on an annual basis until third quarter." The shortage will translate to continued inflated prices throughout 2012, the firm said.

HDD makers and component suppliers have resumed only partial production in Thailand and have shifted some of their manufacturing to other countries to alleviate the impact of the supply shortage. According to IHS, Western Digital has been the HDD manufacturer most impacted by the floods and is not expected to return to full production until September.

IHS said that the Thailand flood has caused the global average selling price (ASP) for HDDs to jump by 28 percent in Q4 2011. Prices are forecast to decline by 3 percent in Q1 and by 9 percent in Q2. “Prices will remain high for a number of reasons, including the higher costs associated with the relocation of production, as well as higher component costs because of flooding impacts among component makers,” Zhang said. “Furthermore, PC brands have signed annual contacts with HDD makers that have locked them into elevated pricing deals for the rest of the year.”

[BadMeat]

Not looking good there rotNdude from that lol.
I may hold out till July, then just go for it with a new HDD if my HDD survives that long.

As TeKraken pointed out SSD's are dropping in price, maybe they will continiue to do so to try & steal/keep the market from the regular HDD's.

[TeKraken]

if your not worried about most of the data on the drive and don't want to pay those prices just back up your important stuff and game saves to a dvd or something... I wouldn't be able to live with 72% health - but thats's me

[BadMeat]

Lol yeah i know what you mean but since the last check for disk errors the system has been running flawlessly stable for nearly a month now so i am optimistic. Good old trusty WD 640 Gig drive.

[TangleFoot]

Originally Posted by TeKraken

On the upside a 120gb SSD can now be had for £80.

How does 240GB for ~£140 sound?

[TeKraken]

Originally Posted by TangleFoot

How does 240GB for ~£140 sound?

"looks" good