As a colleague put it, 20 terabytes would probably encompass every file you’ve ever touched. Today, WD is offering you the option to store 20TB on its Elements external hard drive for just $279.99.
The 20TB Western Digital hard drive deal on Amazon rings up as $349.99, which is 35 percent off. But it also includes an additional $70 coupon on the front page (don’t miss it!), which brings down the price to $279.99 after checking out.
According to Gordon Mah Ung, who has done the math, the 20TB option is the cheapest that WD offers for this product, at a mind-boggling $14 per terabyte. Remember when dollars per gigabyte was a thing?
Okay, so is there a catch? Not really, but there are some things you need to know about. As one commenter points out, the way drive manufacturers report capacity and the way in which Windows reports it differ. Windows will report it as 18.6TB instead. This is typical for virtually all drives, however.
This is a powered drive, meaning you’ll need to plug it into a wall. It also uses the USB 3.0 interface, which transfers data at a comparatively paltry 5Gbps. If you want to back up files, you’ll probably just need to plug it in, connect it, and let it do its thing in the background. While the drive comes preformatted for Windows, if you want to fully format it for whatever reason, it will probably take close to a day.
Amazon also says that there may be a limited number of coupons available, so don’t dawdle if you want to take advantage of this deal!
In just a few days, however, the world will recognize World Backup Day, where you’re encouraged to make a copy of your data and a copy of that copy. Combining your laptop’s hard drive, this deal, and a pick from one of our recommended online backup services will help ensure that your data remains safe.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld's senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.