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forum thread Posted by iconian | Staff • Nov 17, 2023

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forum thread Posted by iconian | Staff • Nov 17, 2023

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 7/1/2025, 11:18 AM

Sold By	Sale Price
Amazon	$308.40
Adorama	$309.99

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6 Comments

Parad153

Nov 17, 2023

1,142 Posts

Joined Jan 2016

Nov 17, 2023

Parad153

Nov 17, 2023

1,142 Posts

Is element better than easystore?

holysin

Nov 17, 2023

2,445 Posts

Joined Jan 2004

Nov 17, 2023

holysin

Nov 17, 2023

2,445 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

476 Posts

Joined Feb 2005

Nov 17, 2023

BWS

Nov 17, 2023

476 Posts

BB has the 18TB EZ for $199.99.

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

bcm00re

Nov 17, 2023

1,562 Posts

Joined Dec 2008

Nov 17, 2023

bcm00re

Nov 17, 2023

1,562 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

Pro

Nov 21, 2023

1,789 Posts

Joined Jan 2015

Nov 21, 2023

lastwraith

Pro

Nov 21, 2023

1,789 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 2, 2024

55 Posts

Joined Jul 2017

Jul 2, 2024

poincare

Jul 2, 2024

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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