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expiredMinexus posted Jan 19, 2025 2:50 PM

20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive

$230

$280

17% off
+ Free Shippingat Best Buy
197 Comments
58.3K Views
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Deal Details
Best Buy has 20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (STKP20000400) on sale for $229.99. Shipping is free.

Alternatively, B&H Photo Video has 20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (SEKP20000400) on sale for $229.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to Community Member Minexus for finding this deal.

Editor's Notes

Written by Corwin | Staff
  • About this Deal:
    • This matches the previous +126 Frontpage Deal and is roughly ~$11.50/TB.
    • Please see the original post for additional details and give the WIKI and forum comments a read for helpful discussion.

Original Post

Written by Minexus
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Best Buy has 20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (STKP20000400) on sale for $229.99. Shipping is free.

Alternatively, B&H Photo Video has 20TB Seagate Expansion Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (SEKP20000400) on sale for $229.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to Community Member Minexus for finding this deal.

Editor's Notes

Written by Corwin | Staff
  • About this Deal:
    • This matches the previous +126 Frontpage Deal and is roughly ~$11.50/TB.
    • Please see the original post for additional details and give the WIKI and forum comments a read for helpful discussion.

Original Post

Written by Minexus

Community Voting

Deal Score
+60
Good Deal
Visit Best Buy

Price Intelligence

Model: Seagate Expansion 20TB External Hard Drive HDD - USB 3.0, with Rescue Data Recovery Services (STKP20000400)

Deal History 

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Sort: Lowest to Highest | Last Updated 7/29/2026, 09:14 AM
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Top Comments

dealseeker50
421Comments
41Reputation
These are not shitty shingle SMR drives. SMR write speed is less than 80 MB/s. People are reporting 200 MB/s for these seagate drives.
Go to Comment
hinchy
214Comments
33Reputation
I bought two last time this was on sale and shucked them into my nas. I ran a stress test and secure wiped them followed by a extended smart test, both ran it fine without issues. Temps were good for me, lower than my wd reds
Go to Comment
WiseSeagull238
1.6KComments
242Reputation
That's literally EVERY thread on SD. Most of the content is just two factions trying to prove the other is wrong. If you don't believe me, head on over to the recent lululemon jogger thread, same thing, different product.

Anyway, that's why using a strong sense of filtration and due diligence helps with these comments. Once in a while you get a good nugget of info/wisdom which makes it worth the effort if you actually need said item.
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197 Comments

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Jan 20, 2025 7:35 PM
10.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2006
CTRFK8Jan 20, 2025 7:35 PM
10.7K Comments
Quote from InstanceNoodle :
It is highly likely hamr. Higher noise, higher heat, and higher energy usage.


Smr would have lots of stalls after almost full. But we don't hear... my drives stop working comment.

SMR cant handle random reads and writes like a CMR enterprise rated Sata Drive.


There would be a huge bottleneck and the drives would die quickly.

I cant believe bestbuy and seagate are throwing these drives into externals , i thought SMR died at 8TB ,

This 20TB should be like 150.00


I would rather purchase a 18TB -20TB Refurb from serverpartsdeals who gets their drives directly from seagate vs this SMR drive. Even if it was a few bucks more.


Also anyone buying large capacity drives should be running some sort or parity now
raid 1 , raid 5 raid 6 , etc.
4
Jan 20, 2025 8:36 PM
22.5K Comments
Joined Dec 2006
Hawk2007Jan 20, 2025 8:36 PM
22.5K Comments
Nobody knows for sure what these drives are because to my knowledge, there are no 20 TB barracudas we can buy. The only way we know they're barracudas are by taking them out of their internal casing which you're not supposed to do.

The price is decent for what you get but they could ever easily be enterprise rejected drives that didn't meet QC. We don't know if these are SMR or CMR... Or at least I can't see who is winning the fight up there
Jan 20, 2025 10:19 PM
10.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2006
CTRFK8Jan 20, 2025 10:19 PM
10.7K Comments
Quote from Hawk2007 :
Nobody knows for sure what these drives are because to my knowledge, there are no 20 TB barracudas we can buy. The only way we know they're barracudas are by taking them out of their internal casing which you're not supposed to do.

The price is decent for what you get but they could ever easily be enterprise rejected drives that didn't meet QC. We don't know if these are SMR or CMR... Or at least I can't see who is winning the fight up there
They could be rejected HAMR 28TB SMR drives being repackaged as new in an external hard disk where the consumer cannot see the drive. The firmware is erased , 28TB platter disabled to make it 20TB.


https://www.techradar.com/pro/pot...-heres-why

Also pretty sure bestbuy bought a ton of these externals . very cheaply and sold it to the consumer . SMR is ok for external USB or a single drive use but never put them in RAID. Not designed for that use case. It will be awhile before consumers get good CMR 28TB -32TB CMR drives with HAMR mozaic 3+tech

WD is a better sure option to buy external hdds, or buy something other than 20TB external , 22-24TB from seagate if you want exos CMR

https://www.seagate.com/innovation/mozaic/
Last edited by CTRFK8 January 20, 2025 at 02:24 PM.
1
2
Jan 20, 2025 10:25 PM
1.1K Comments
Joined May 2024
FeistyKite520Jan 20, 2025 10:25 PM
1.1K Comments
Wish I had $230 sitting around, it would be nice to back up my Nas
Jan 20, 2025 10:32 PM
1.7K Comments
Joined Jul 2019
BlueVoyager308Jan 20, 2025 10:32 PM
1.7K Comments
Quote from MAC944Turbo :
1 person's anecdote = proof to rely on in what world? You are making yourself look... foolish to say the least.
If you don't believe there is a SMR drive inside, then buy it. It's your money on the line. If it were me, I'd give up telling people it's a SMR a long time ago. I'd tell them once or twice. That's it. If they believe it, great. If they don't, great too.
2
Jan 20, 2025 10:33 PM
1.7K Comments
Joined Jul 2019
BlueVoyager308Jan 20, 2025 10:33 PM
1.7K Comments
Quote from CTRFK8 :
They could be rejected HAMR 28TB SMR drives being repackaged as new in an external hard disk where the consumer cannot see the drive. The firmware is erased , 28TB platter disabled to make it 20TB.


https://www.techradar.com/pro/pot...-heres-why [techradar.com]

Also pretty sure bestbuy bought a ton of these externals . very cheaply and sold it to the consumer . SMR is ok for external USB or a single drive use but never put them in RAID. Not designed for that use case. It will be awhile before consumers get good CMR 28TB -32TB CMR drives with HAMR mozaic 3+tech

WD is a better sure option to buy external hdds, or buy something other than 20TB external , 22-24TB from seagate if you want exos CMR

https://www.seagate.com/innovation/mozaic/
I'd give up telling people it's a SMR drive inside a long time ago. I'd tell them once or twice. That's it. If they believe it, great. If they don't, great too.
1
Jan 20, 2025 10:41 PM
1.7K Comments
Joined Jul 2019
BlueVoyager308Jan 20, 2025 10:41 PM
1.7K Comments
Quote from jedec :
Yes, please post a photo if you can. I'm curious to see this Barrcuda drive you're talking about.
Once some guys wanted me to provide evidence to backup my claims (it was online forum). I did as they asked. Then I realized those people had no authority to demand anything from me. If I didn't do what they wanted, they couldn't do a damn thing about it. I think it's the situation here, too.

You guys don't need to believe him. That's the end of the argument. For me, I won't buy a hard drive even there is a slightest hint about SMR.
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Jan 20, 2025 10:43 PM
189 Comments
Joined Nov 2006
MAC944TurboJan 20, 2025 10:43 PM
189 Comments
Quote from CTRFK8 :
Enjoy that SMR from Bestbuy. Hence why you got it cheap. I am sure you believe the world is flat too
I believe in facts, not nonsense like you.
Jan 20, 2025 10:50 PM
1.7K Comments
Joined Jul 2019
BlueVoyager308Jan 20, 2025 10:50 PM
1.7K Comments
Quote from MAC944Turbo :
I believe in facts, not nonsense like you.
Man, it's your money on the line. Not his. If you bought some garbage, what's he gonna lose? Nothing.
4
Jan 21, 2025 1:09 AM
10.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2006
CTRFK8Jan 21, 2025 1:09 AM
10.7K Comments
Quote from MAC944Turbo :
I believe in facts, not nonsense like you.
Facts have been presented you are the nonsense here trolling
4
Jan 21, 2025 1:23 AM
2.5K Comments
Joined Jul 2014
bert90987Jan 21, 2025 1:23 AM
2.5K Comments
Curious, would anyone here used an SMR drive for cold storage where you would write to it once a month roughly? I'm conflicted on the SMR vs CMR decision for cold storage. Thanks for any input.
Jan 21, 2025 2:13 AM
945 Comments
Joined Mar 2009
dealmastiJan 21, 2025 2:13 AM
945 Comments
Quote from Lilyly :
what you need is a reliablewith such reliable reputation brandname. seagate has never had a good reputation since the last worst ratings decades ago.

you wouldnt want their warranty and their "recovery" service. what you need is reliable hardware. you would be lucky to have 30% of your valuable data back if they can recover any. the rest will be gone forever.

the replacement is such a joke too. you will get a used (dying) refurbished to replace your brand new that you paid at retail. this kind of practice should be banned. its not a warranty honor. its more like they are trying yo get rid of their low quality "brand new" products. then if they fail they would replace them with the used bad ones.

paid for a russian virgin bridemaid. if shes not virgin. they would replace a bogo single mother.
Absolutely wrong. The 5 or so Seagate external drives i have got over last 8 or so years, from 500gb to 5tb, all r going strong today! What u talking about? Lol
1
Jan 21, 2025 2:37 AM
122 Comments
Joined Dec 2021
maddysgearJan 21, 2025 2:37 AM
122 Comments
I have two of these 20tb drives, got one from B&H which has Exos X24 and the one from BestBuy has Barracuda. Did test them multiple times, the results are similar all the time. The Baracuda drive makes more noise, vibrations & heat than the Exos drive. Temperatures easily reach 52'c on both drives, but Barracuda is always 2'C more than Exos. I am using a 80mm fan mounted on top of both these drives which helps to keep them under 40'C. Attaching the screenshots, I am not sure if we can confirm that the Barracuda drive is CMR/SMR, but the Random Write speeds are quite less when compared to the Exos drive.
Jan 21, 2025 2:44 AM
2.4K Comments
Joined Oct 2011
MWinkJan 21, 2025 2:44 AM
2.4K Comments
Quote from CTRFK8 :
Seagate is now making 20TB SMR drives with the barracuda name. These drives are absolute trash.
Quote from CTRFK8 :
I bought the 20TB from Best buy and shucked it , why would i lie . Its a SMR drive , barracuda

Come on man you are lost


This is why best buy dropped the 20TB significantly , they are ripping off people

get the 24TB!
Quote from CTRFK8 :
Whats more annoying you cannot google or do the research to find out yourself.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoar...s_shucked/

Here you chumps go
Quote from CTRFK8 :
see above
Seagate bringing back barracuda SMR drives
probably using some sort of HAMR tech
not CMR!
Quote from CTRFK8 :
LOL , yep another person recent purchase of this cheap external coming with a SMR barracuda.

How foolish people who go against a Grand Master Slick Dealer


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/seag...merreviews
Quote from CTRFK8 :
Facts have been presented you are the nonsense here trolling
The only fact you've proven is that they may contain a Barracuda branded drive. Reviewing everything you've presented, there's still no evidence of them being SMR. The only thing I can figure is you assume that because it's a Barracuda it must be SMR. That is not true. There are plenty of CMR Barracudas.

Quote from CTRFK8 :
SMR cant handle random reads and writes like a CMR enterprise rated Sata Drive.
SMR shouldn't have any issue with random reads. It's random writes that they struggle with.

Quote from MAC944Turbo :
Still no proof on the Barracuda being SMR huh?
Plenty of articles? Nope. You mean expected timeframes and roadmaps which had many delays and is only now beginning to roll out the promised HAMR technology.

https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront...a91d09.pdf

This is Seagate's official report on rolling out HAMR to other drives at volume scale. The whole claim that they've been in use since 14TB is on a timeline not anything official. Now as far as this poster's claim of it being old and highly tested technology, this is what the report states:
"Seagate has successfully completed qualification testing for its HAMR based Mozaic drives with several customers within the Mass Capacity markets, including a leading cloud service provider. The Company expects to begin shipping initial HAMR product volume to this cloud customer in the coming weeks"
So they did a pilot run, yet we have this random person touting it as a technology that is fully vetted. Date of report? December 3, 2024.

Again, take this person's comments with a grain of salt. Especially given they feel they need to reply in 5 different comments at a time. HAMR is not fully tested, and again this person has yet to provide any substantial proof that the drive they supposedly had was SMR. Bit of a joker really.

P.S. Here is Seagate's datasheet on what technologies are in which drives. Note how neither the EXOS E nor EXOS X drives are listed as containing HAMR under 24TB. So much for that claim that they've been in use since the x14.
https://www.seagate.com/products/cmr-smr-list/
To be fair, he did link to an old Seagate roadmap that depicted HAMR being used in some Mach 2 drives (which themselves are a small subset of the Exos line), as little as 14TB, as early as 2019. He then decided this meant all Exos drives were HAMR, or all Exos X14 and newer models are HAMR, depending on which reply we look at. I'm pretty sure he's using the same faulty logic to determine this drive is SMR, based simply on the fact it's Barracuda branded. Not all Barracuda drives are SMR.

Quote from Hawk2007 :
Nobody knows for sure what these drives are because to my knowledge, there are no 20 TB barracudas we can buy. The only way we know they're barracudas are by taking them out of their internal casing which you're not supposed to do.

The price is decent for what you get but they could ever easily be enterprise rejected drives that didn't meet QC. We don't know if these are SMR or CMR... Or at least I can't see who is winning the fight up there
I agree with you on almost every point. As someone who has tried to follow the saga, I haven't seen anyone anywhere provide the slightest real evidence these drives are SMR. Everyone seems to be jumping to the conclusion that because they're Barracuda branded they must be SMR. I suspect if they actually were SMR, someone would have demonstrated that they behave as such.

Quote from BlueVoyager308 :
Once some guys wanted me to provide evidence to backup my claims (it was online forum). I did as they asked. Then I realized those people had no authority to demand anything from me. If I didn't do what they wanted, they couldn't do a damn thing about it. I think it's the situation here, too.

You guys don't need to believe him. That's the end of the argument. For me, I won't buy a hard drive even there is a slightest hint about SMR.
You're right. However, if you're going to loudly and repeatedly make an assertion, you should expect to be asked to back it up with something convincing. As for this particular drive, I still haven't seen any hints that it is SMR.

Quote from bert90987 :
Curious, would anyone here used an SMR drive for cold storage where you would write to it once a month roughly? I'm conflicted on the SMR vs CMR decision for cold storage. Thanks for any input.
It depends on the situation. If you're doing mostly large sequential writes (like video files), SMR is likely fine. If you're going to regularly overwrite a lot of small files, expect potential slowdowns. For occasional use, that may still be acceptable to you. Despite what some claim, SMR does have its places. The ironic part is drive manufacturers rarely put it in places I think would make logical sense.

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Jan 21, 2025 3:08 AM
2.4K Comments
Joined Oct 2011
MWinkJan 21, 2025 3:08 AM
2.4K Comments
Quote from maddysgear :
I have two of these 20tb drives, got one from B&H which has Exos X24 and the one from BestBuy has Barracuda. Did test them multiple times, the results are similar all the time. The Baracuda drive makes more noise, vibrations & heat than the Exos drive. Temperatures easily reach 52'c on both drives, but Barracuda is always 2'C more than Exos. I am using a 80mm fan mounted on top of both these drives which helps to keep them under 40'C. Attaching the screenshots, I am not sure if we can confirm that the Barracuda drive is CMR/SMR, but the Random Write speeds are quite less when compared to the Exos drive.
THANK YOU for being the first person to provide some real information, even if it's still not conclusive either way. At first, I thought both drives were showing numbers lower than I'd expect, then I realized they're half full. The differences in random writes may not be due to what people expect. Exos drives have different caching algorithms than their lower end lines. They can quickly cache a few seconds (<5) worth of random writes, which produces the impressive results on benchmarks like CrystalDiskInfo (which reports PEAK results). Even drives like the IronWolf Pro will get much lower random write numbers in CDM. From a couple drives I tested, the Exos X22 got roughly ~20MB/s random writes, and ~3.5MB/s for the IronWolf Pro. When testing with something like Iometer (which can provide results over time), the Exos dropped massively after about 5 seconds, while the IronWolf Pro continued at the same rate.
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