I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but "reconditioned" or "refurbished" hard drives tend to fail again because hard drives are so delicate and complicated. They have appropriately small warranties to match. Don't expect it to last more than a few months. Notice how it has a 180 day warranty rather than a 5 year warranty like regular Seagate drives. I wouldn't buy it for the long term and I think it's too expensive for short term use of trivial data, so I can't recommend it.

New and just $10 more: [www.newegg.com]

It does have a few differences, but the price is only marginally higher for the same capacity and peace of mind that it shouldn't fail for at least a few years.

that buttery garlic popcorn is awesome!

@TVarmy: Those had a notorious firmware bug so the new ones may or may not come with the proper firmware and the reconditioned are not that much of a deal.

I agree with TVarmy, you want that 5yr warranty.

@TVarmy: I was about to say, I bought a refurbished Seagate hard drive that failed on me...I recovered it and it failed again...don't go for this deal

@David Garvin: They supposedly have this awesome 'lime and salt' flavor, but only in a few markets...

Why, oh why must you present me with a Steve Madden sale ONE DAY before my rent is due???

Please, we need you here in Las Vegas.... lose more moneys.

@TVarmy: Add in that I just picked up a brand new Western Digital Caviar Blue 640gb drive for 72 bucks at Microcenter last week, and this isn't a very good deal at all.

@snowmoon: SM - is there a clearing house for info like that firmware bug? Or do I just hit up cnet reviews?

That Steve Madden sale reminded me why I like Marshalls so much. Even with the 35% off, the prices are ridiculous compared to what I'm used to seeing at Marshalls!!!

@TVarmy: @TVarmy:

Hi. I work in a computer shop, and have had a fair amount of experience with Seagate's warranty department. The deal says that you have 180 days of warranty from geeks.com, but the drive itself should still have a fair amount of factory warranty left on it. (Reconditioned drives take over the warranty period of the original drive.) Somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-5 years, I'd guess.
For what it's worth, I'm running a couple reconditioned Seagate drives at home, and haven't had a problem with them. That being said, all hardware fails eventually. So, if you can find the same thing new with a little bit more warranty for $10 more, go for it.

@deleteboy: I wish there were. Been following drives in newegg and bensbargains discussions lately and the 7200.11's are notorious for different versions of firmware. Currently the crown for subjective reliability king is split between samsung spoinpoint and some of the better WD drives.

Always keep more than 1 copy of all critical files because drives fail; even the best system with the most expensive "enterprise class" drives fail, often. Backups fail too, but don't ever tempt fate with important data.

The 6 month warranty is basically a DoA only warranty so the drives should be $20-$40 less expensive to be a deal.

OH, Segate is moving to a standard 3 year warranty rather than 5 starting Jan 1st 2009.

"Save up to 50% & more."

I think that means the only amount I can't save is exactly 50%.

@GenXCub: I looked at that Southwest deal, very tempting, but deadly for someone who should focus on debt.

@kidnextdoor: The lime and salt flavor is to DIE for! Sounds weird, but it's so divine!