UK redditor flew to New York to buy 280 TB of hard drives to avoid price hikes

Members of r/DataHoarder take storage seriously. One user, cgtechuk, flew from the UK to New York City to buy ten 28 TB external hard drives after watching the prices of 28 TB drives go "literally ridiculous" in the UK. The drives were intermittently in stock at Best Buy and B&H Photo, and each retailer had a five-drive purchase limit, so the user chose to buy in person rather than risk cancelled orders.

On arrival, cgtechuk recorded the pickup and filmed opening and testing in a hotel room, running several software programs and file copies to confirm the units were genuine 28 TB drives. Ten drives filled their hand luggage—"Turns out 10 drives was a mistake, [I] should have picked 8"—though foam inserts from the retail boxes helped them fit.

They packed the cardboard and powerpacks in a full-size suitcase in case of warranty needs, passed through US security with TSA Pre without secondary screening, and were swabbed on return to the UK.

United Kingdom, New York City

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