Is this a good deal on a Drobo?

[Kate]

Costco is offering a 5bay Drobo with three 2tb drives included for $800 (with coupon), they say this is $100 off the regular price.

Would this be good in the motorhome or is it really sensitive to vibration. I have several HDs mounted in the rig and they seem to do fine.

Also, could I add 3tb drives to this or are you limited to like drives.

Kate

[RAMd®d]

Kate, it shouldn't be particularly sensitive to vibration, though I might shut it down when you're on the move.

If that's a 2G, I *believe* it will accept 3T HDs. They don't have to be like HDs at all. To get the most benefit, you'd want to add equal or larger HDs and swap them out for larger.

About the price- that's probably an OK, price but I'm not sure. Amazon has the Drobo S. 2G, USB3, eSATA, FW800 for about $710, no drives. You'd have to shop around to get three for under $100 each, I think. I'm not really sure. No tax and and free shipping, though.

Drop by http://www.drobo.com/ and see what you can see.

Oh, and I wouldn't buy too many HDs at once. You might end up having more storage than you need at the moment, and HDs will get cheaper down the line.

[Kate]

I always shut all the computer stuff down when we travel, unless I'm using the laptop. Now that I have an iPad, I'll be using that when we're on the move. I already have a ton of drives (remember, I'm digitizing my gazillion dvds) so I might just take them out of the cases and put them in the Drobo, if that ends up being the way I go.

Kate

[RAMd®d]

I don't know if you've seen the Drobo calculator that allows you to see what storage you get with various HDs, but it's fun to play with.

http://www.drobo.com/resources/calculator.php

[RAMd®d]

...some info on the 3T HDs.

http://support.drobo.com/app/answers/det..._id/100004

[onthedownlow]

Within the last week, I just purchased two Drobo S (w/USB 3.0) and an FS and am using 3TB drives in them with no problems (Hitachi and WD Greens). They most likely will not come with the latest firmware (or Drobo Dashboard software) installed, so make sure to update both before you put any drives in it. The new Drobo Dashboard you'll need to go to the Drobo's web site and download it seperately, as the 'older' software will only update the firmware for you. Normally it does update the Dashboard software, too, but it does not grab the brand new version which has a completely new interface.

The Drobo Ses were around $699/ea, and the FS was $615.

I don't have my Costco stuff handy to see the exact model/generation, but it sounds like it is a good deal, as the best price you'll find on a 2TB right now is around $70/ea right now.

I would not worry, at all, regarding it being sensitive to the vibration in your home.

You can use any combination of hard drive sizes, models, manufacturers...no worries there. That is one of the great features and selling points for them.