http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A3362045

 

Free 3-5 day shipping.  Came out to $100.69 for me with tax.  

 

Between Dell, Amazon, and Newegg you can grab 3 drives for at/around $100 each from different distributors to reduce your chances of getting multiple drives from a bad batch.  Of course if WD has a line issue you could still experience problems, but your chances are much lower than if you bought all 3 from one source.

Just remember to add your jumpers to these drives.

Ahh they got you with sales tax.  Thanks for reminding me why I never buy from Dell.

 

Newegg is just about the best I've found for online purchases.  From time to time Amazon might have a slightly lower price but I absolutely HATE HATE HATE their shipping process.  Case and point - three weeks ago I ordered a cable TV splitter/amp from Amazon on a Wednesday.  The next day I ordered a HDD from Newegg.  I received the order from Newegg on the following Monday (stupid UPS doesn't deliver on Sat) one day before my order from Amazon was even shipped.  If I order from Newegg before 3 pm EST I have always had the item shipped that day.  Great service and I don't have to pay sales tax either.  Just my 2 cents, but you do have a point about getting drives from different batches.  I'd rather just space out my purchases from Newegg rather than order from Dell or Amazon.  I've also noticed a dramatic improvement in the packaging of HDDs by Newegg.  The last three drives that I bought (all shipped from TN warehouse) were inside an anti-static bag wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap placed inside a small form-fitted cardboard box that was inside a larger box filled with paper packaging.  Hope it continues.

.  I've also noticed a dramatic improvement in the packaging of HDDs by Newegg.  The last three drives that I bought (all shipped from TN warehouse) were inside an anti-static bag wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap placed inside a small form-fitted cardboard box that was inside a larger box filled with paper packaging.  Hope it continues.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223805&id=5585759167

 

mbryanr, I'm unable to connect to the link you provided.  I get the following message "The server you are attempting to access has refused the connection with the gateway. This usually results from trying to connect to a service that is inactive on the server."

I agree with you on Amazon's standard shipping.  Luckily i have Prime so for me it works out even better than Newegg 

Prime FTW   I get pretty much everything overnight for free.  Prime pays for itself a hundred times over during the year for me.

I don't think I order enough stuff on the web for prime to pay for itself.  As it stands today I can usually find what I want for little to no shipping cost at Newegg with UPS 3-day delivery which is usually 2 for me and they are usually the lowest price.  Also then I would be basically locked into to ordering from Amazon and I just don't like their site.  Newegg has way more info about their products (the detailed info on Amazon for PC stuff is a joke) plus better customer reviews.  However I do prefer Amazon for TVs.  The seem to have the best prices around.

I don't think I order enough stuff on the web for prime to pay for itself.  As it stands today I can usually find what I want for little to no shipping cost at Newegg with UPS 3-day delivery which is usually 2 for me and they are usually the lowest price.  Also then I would be basically locked into to ordering from Amazon and I just don't like their site.  Newegg has way more info about their products (the detailed info on Amazon for PC stuff is a joke) plus better customer reviews.  However I do prefer Amazon for TVs.  The seem to have the best prices around.

Don't know if this is a new newegg policy or not but I just ordered 2 USB flash drives from them and the free shipping is now 4-7 days (eggsaver) and 3 day was $7.??

mbryanr, I'm unable to connect to the link you provided.  I get the following message "The server you are attempting to access has refused the connection with the gateway. This usually results from trying to connect to a service that is inactive on the server."

 

try this:

 

http://thehtpcblog.com/2010/09/07/neweggs-new-oem-hard-drive-packaging/

Wow i guess I shouldn't have ignored newegg's facebook site.  My packaging was different than what was displayed on that page.  It wasn't a cardboard sleeve that was open on the ends but an actual minature box with a lid that closed.  I guess the important thing here is that Newegg is finally starting to listen to the customer and addressing their packaging of OEM HDDs.

According to the Facebook page, they are only doing a test run with this packaging from their California warehouse. It doesn't look as though it's different than the way Amazon has shipped their drives, during their "hassle-free packaging" days....Which apparently did little to actually protect the drives during shipping.

 

Zipzoomfly had been one retailer that had impressed me with their shipping methods, but they hardly ever have any hard drives in stock anymore....Makes me think they could be in financial trouble, might fade off the grid in the future.

 

I will pay the tax (and gas as relevant) to buy drives locally when I can, Micro Center and Fry's usually have competitive prices compared to Newegg, and I can at least have a chance of doing a return within the 30 day window, directly.

Throwing my 2 cents in, the best HDD shipping method I've seen is ZipZoomFly

 

Example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works/2593294614/

 

Only the ones I've received have been in static bags not the box.

Don't know if this is a new newegg policy or not but I just ordered 2 USB flash drives from them and the free shipping is now 4-7 days (eggsaver) and 3 day was $7.??

 

Bob, I actually just ordered a USB drive from Newegg as well (4GB Sandisk Cruzer) and they did the same thing.  I've seen that other times as well and IIRC every time they used the 4-7 day eggsaver shipping it was via USPS and not UPS, but I could be wrong.  So the 4-7 day eggsaver is not a new thing and in my experience is limited to just small items like a USB drive, SD memory, or a single SATA cable.  And even with eggsaver shipping it's still better than std. shipping from Amazon.

 

Ironically I was at Wal-Mart the day after I ordered that USB drive (~ 2 weeks ago) and they had the exact same item on sale for $10.  So I bought another one .