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forum threadiconian | Staff posted Nov 17, 2023 08:00 AM

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forum threadiconian | Staff posted Nov 17, 2023 08:00 AM

18TB WD Elements USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive $230 + free s/h

$230

$330

30% off

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$230 + free s/h

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Model: WD Elements 18TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive

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Today

Post Date	Sold By	Sale Price	Activity
03/28/24	Newegg	$250	0
03/03/24	Amazon	$290	3
11/17/23	Newegg	$230	5
06/23/23	Newegg	$260	1
06/22/23	Newegg	$280	1
05/25/23	Newegg	$260	7
03/29/23	Amazon	$285	1
11/21/22	Amazon	$300	3
05/04/22	Newegg	$300 frontpage	34
03/25/22	B&H Photo Video	$300 frontpage	42
01/24/22	Newegg	$300 frontpage	90
11/26/21	Newegg	$300	0
11/17/21	Newegg	$300 frontpage	132
11/07/21	Amazon	$340	18
11/04/21	Newegg	$310 popular	39

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Sort: Lowest to Highest | Last Updated 9/17/2025, 11:25 PM

Sold By	Sale Price
Adorama	$269.99
Amazon	$269.99

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6 Comments

Parad153

Nov 17, 2023 08:11 AM

1,153 Posts

Joined Jan 2016

Parad153Nov 17, 2023 08:11 AM

1,153 Posts

Is element better than easystore?

holysin

Nov 17, 2023 08:13 AM

2,494 Posts

Joined Jan 2004

holysinNov 17, 2023 08:13 AM

2,494 Posts

Unless things have changed, the only difference between this and the $200 EZ store (Best buy) is the easy store has the ability to disable spin down.

BWS

Nov 17, 2023 01:42 PM

476 Posts

Joined Feb 2005

BWSNov 17, 2023 01:42 PM

476 Posts

BB has the 18TB EZ for $199.99.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-e...Id=6427995

bcm00re

Nov 17, 2023 03:13 PM

1,569 Posts

Joined Dec 2008

bcm00reNov 17, 2023 03:13 PM

1,569 Posts

Quote from Parad153

Is element better than easystore?

Historically they have the same drives inside -- and neither uses hardware encryption (which is a very good thing if the enclosure goes bad).

lastwraith

Nov 21, 2023 03:45 AM

1,792 Posts

Joined Jan 2015

lastwraithNov 21, 2023 03:45 AM

1,792 Posts

Quote from bcm00re

Historically they have the same drives inside -- and neither uses hardware encryption (which is a very good thing if the enclosure goes bad).

The old My Books you could snip a pin or 2 on the Winbond chip in the enclosure to disable encryption and force the controller to fall back to its non-WD identity so that you could use any drive in there unencrypted.
Newer My Books it seems like the WD software can turn off encryption and/or if you never set it up it isn't active, so there are certainly possible ways around the encryption.

I wouldn't use an encrypted WD enclosure though. They used to fail too often and decrypting the working drives with a broken board was quite difficult (but not impossible for some) back in the day. I doubt it would be easier now. Best to turn off encryption or just yank the drive. As you mentioned.

poincare

Jul 02, 2024 12:24 PM

55 Posts

Joined Jul 2017

poincareJul 02, 2024 12:24 PM

55 Posts

$330. Big price difference.

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Computers Computer Parts Hard Drives Free Shipping Occasions Black Friday Adorama

18TB WD Elements USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive $230 + free s/h

$230

$330

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