I just bought a "new" External Hard drive ....

... on November 14th 2008. It is a Western Digital 320 gigs External Hard drive in a " Compact, durable, metal case".

AUD$99-- which I thought was a bargain. It comes formatted to FAT 32. I had reason to re-format it over Christmas to NTFS. It was then I discovered that the Volume "Elements" was created on November 22nd, 2004.

So it was already 4 years old when I purchased it "new" about 6 weeks ago.

Out of curiousity, I read the paperwork that came with it.:-D

The receipt says if anything goes wrong, to contact the manufacturer in the first instance. WD doesn't get a mention. :cry

WD offer a 3 year Limited Warranty. Fortunately the Warranty period commences from the date of the Sales receipt (Nov14,2008) so I am covered I hope. Better keep the Sales Receipt in a safe place.

I mention this just to warn Aussies in particular, and anywhere else the 320gig WD Element External Hard drive model WD3200E035-00 is sold, that "new" may not be so "new" after all.

Bazza

PS: A couple of extra things to look out for. It runs hotter than I would expect (especially when I did a full format to NTFS).
There is no "ON" indicator LED at the front of the unit. It has a blue light at the rear that shows on or off, or in use, but that is a stupid place for it to be, IMO.
Also there are no supports to enable the user to stand it up in a vertical position. I guess WD expect you to use it in a horizontal position. It is a heavy unit and wonky if you try to stand it up vertically. Mine fell over yesterday and pushed my Maxtor External Hard drive unit off my desk, onto the carpetted floor fortunately.

It works OK, all in all, but I am not impressed with retail store that sold it as new. What is your opinion?
Baz