Potential source for H100/H300 replacement hard drives

[Chris Stares]

The hard drive on one of my H120s died so I needed to buy a new one. I did some digging around and checked out the suppliers in NPSwimdude500's FAQ. I also decided to check out eBay and found this supplier: lejclip

I saw he was selling a MK3006GAL (30GB Toshiba 1.8" hard drive) and bought it for £70 including the shipping to New Zealand. That might seem a little pricey to U.S. or possibly even U.K. buyers, but not when you consider that the shipping costs of such items from overseas to New Zealand is the killer. I checked out the cost of this drive on Span (U.K.) and it's £81 on top of which I no doubt would have had to pay a fair amount in shipping. Also, this drive seems to have been on backorder on Span's website for ages. The other reason I thought the price was pretty good was that another used MK3006GAL went for the same price on eBay last week.

The drive arrived in 3 days (which I thought was awesome) shipped from Hong Kong to New Zealand. I installed the drive in my H120 and it works perfectly. I'm very happy because instead of a broken H120, I now have a fully functional H130!

I contacted the seller and asked if he can get more than just the hard drives that he currently has in his listings. He said that he regularly deals in these hard drives. I'm sure that if he doesn't currently have any of the Toshiba drives listed, then he wouldn't mind anyone contacting him to see if he can source one. His name is Matthew and his email address is:

lejclip (at) yahoo (dot) com (dot) hk

Before anyone thinks that I'm on a commission here, let me assure you that I'm not! I decided to post this information as I have seen the question about where to source compatible drives being asked quite a few times on different threads. I thought that listing another potential supplier of replacement hard drives would be useful. Also, I appreciate that this is just one person's experience - other peoples' mileage may vary. But the guy's feedback is almost 100% positive, so that tells it's own story.

If any of the mods think that it would be appropriate to include this information in other threads/forums for greater visibility then be my guest.

[shadesbass]

The ultimate question - can he get hold of the new MK4007GAL 40Gb single platter or MK8007GAL 80Gb dual platter drives?! (Not the ones with the ZIF connectors)

I've PM'ed NPswimdude500 regarding this info, so he can update the hard drive FAQ's accordingly.

[Chris Stares]

Originally Posted by shadesbass

The ultimate question - can he get hold of the new MK4007GAL 40Gb single platter or MK8007GAL 80Gb dual platter drives?! (Not the ones with the ZIF connectors)

This was my second attempt at posting this info as I managed to lose the first version (by stupid user error - clicked close on the wrong tab! ) In my first version, I pondered precisely that question, but didn't include it in the second version. I'll drop him an email and ask the question. No harm in asking...

Originally Posted by shadesbass

I've PM'ed NPswimdude500 regarding this info, so he can update the hard drive FAQ's accordingly.

Thanks for that.

[Tux]

Did you get a reply from your seller about the 8007GAL?

Cheers

[Chris Stares]

Originally Posted by Tux

Did you get a reply from your seller about the 8007GAL?

Cheers

Not yet. I'll send him another email by way of a chase-up.

[Chris Stares]

I received a reply from the eBay seller. He has made enquiries of his various suppliers, but has been informed that, at present, the MK4007GAL and MK8007GAL drives have been restricted to "designated customers" (hmm - I wonder who that could be? Apple perhaps? )

This seems to be consistent with the line reported elsewhere on other threads regarding these drives. Anyway, he's still waiting to hear from some suppliers, but suspects he'll get the same story. If/when I have any updates, I'll post them here.

[shadesbass]

Thanks for looking into this for us CS.
It would be awesome if he can get hold of some, but I have a feeling we may have to wait in line behind the "designated customers" for a few months yet...

Keep us posted!

[Chris Stares]

No problem, shadesbass. Rest assured, if I receive any further information (positive or otherwise), I'll post it here.