Once again the drive manufacturers have me scratching my head.
My business can sell a new Seagate 5TB USB3.0 external hard drive (5400rpm) for $159! 5TB!! What's baffling is that the cheapest 4TB (not even 5TB!) bare drive is $200! How does one explain the extra $41? Dunno... In fact, it's even crazier because by *not* paying the extra $41 you are given the bonus of a usb3-to-sata adapter and a power supply! Scratching your head? So am I.
Just so everyone knows, you can buy this unit, pull the plastic shell apart and take out the normal, everyday 3.5" SATA drive inside and put it directly in your computer!! (This will void all warranties!)
I should note, though, that this is almost certainly one of Seagate's infamous "not supposed to be on 24/7" garbage drives, like all of their low-end drives. But, still, 5TB for $159 is awful compelling. In fact, just for sheer size and backup possibilities, I'm going to grab one for an extra, more frequent, onsite backup system.
The cheapest 5TB "real" drive you can actually use for something other than occasional use is the WD Red for $270, nearly double the price! The duopoly hard drive manufacturers are "pulling an Intel" now and differentiating by offering 4-6 different drives in each size, causing SKU explosion. And the price difference between the cheapo ones and the (supposed) enterprise-grade can be 300% (and we're not even talking SCSI/SAS here)! It used to be they all just made 1 drive of each size that was good enough for all things (and almost always 7200rpm). Also, note how the price of a quality 7200rpm 2TB drive has not dropped from where it was over 2 years ago! I know, I just checked. Gotta love a duopoly.
P.S. If you want one, let me know! But, sorry, I don't price compete on the low-end so if it's cheaper at <insert etailer here> you can get it there. :-) (Prices subject to change. Tax not included, blah blah blah.)