Toshiba 2 gig PCMCIA hard drive for...$12.95!? [Archive]

Jason Dunn

08-11-2002, 01:04 AM

<a href="http://www.gtwaccessories.com/cgi-bin/pagegen/gtwaccessories/www/page.html?mode=itempage&file=/page/itempagev4/itempage.spl&prodID=1881017&catID=316441">http://www.gtwaccessories.com/cgi-bin/pagegen/gtwaccessories/www/page.html?mode=itempage&file=/page/itempagev4/itempage.spl&prodID=1881017&catID=316441</a><br /><br />Coming straight from the "seems too good to be true" department, Gateway is selling the 2 gig Toshiba PCMCIA hard drives for $112.95, and they're offering a $100 rebate. I've read all the fine print <a href="http://www.vstore.com/rebate/toshiba/toshiba_2GBhdd.pdf">on the rebate</a>, and it looks completely legit. Amazing! If you're looking for some cheap storage for your laptop or Pocket PC with a PCMCIA slot, it doesn't get much better than this. Thanks to ppcsolo for pointing this out to us! Please note that although the rebate is good in Canada and the US, Gateway doesn't ship to Canada.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.gtwaccessories.com/products/m17/p1881017/large.jpg" />

nobody

08-11-2002, 01:49 AM

Unbelievable deal. Thanks!

bsoft

08-11-2002, 02:50 AM

Free shipping too with coupon code: GASC3F6CA1

welmoed

08-11-2002, 02:52 AM

Unbelievable. For that small a sum, it almost doesn't matter whether you need it or not! Makes me wish I had a PDA with a card slot instead of just a CF. Oh well!
And by the way, even though the little pop-up says the free shipping offer expired on July 31, I tried it and it still works. Woohoo! :D

--Welmoed

hyonj

08-11-2002, 03:55 AM

Does anyone know if this is the same one being sold at Tigerdirect? It's a great deal! Thanks for the post!

ledowning

08-11-2002, 04:03 AM

What a sweetheart of a deal. TOO BAD THAT IT IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE USA. Sure would be nice for a change if some of these deals were available in Canada, especially since the rebate offer is good for both countries.

:(

szamot

08-11-2002, 04:31 AM

I can't wait for a gateway store to open tomorrwo moring to see if I can convince them to sell it for that price and still get the rebate.
It is a shame because my tigerdirect order will be in this week...
T

willowpc

08-11-2002, 05:01 AM

Ordered one but not sure whether it will ship in time to get the rebate (site says in stock and will ship in 4 to 5 days; needs to ship by August 15 from what I can tell to get the rebate). Can't complain at that price regardless, though.

yada88

08-11-2002, 05:03 AM

I just ordered one too. By the way, it only needs to be purchased by august 15th, not shipped by then.

wesk

08-11-2002, 05:45 AM

After I ordered the Kingston drive from TigerDirect too, this shows up.

TechBargins lists the item as being on backorder. http://www.techbargains.com/

Wes

takotchi

08-11-2002, 06:12 AM

I ordered it this evening (Aug. 10) and it was in-stock... my order says "processing" now... :?

king2005

08-11-2002, 06:45 AM

I just ordered one myself, but don't know if it's compatible with PPC?? Anyone know??

szamot

08-11-2002, 06:49 AM

not according to GetReal read his posts.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=848031
I still thing the store might have it.

heyday

08-11-2002, 07:11 AM

Had to pay tax on my order so after rebate brings it to $20.... not too shabby.

willowpc

08-11-2002, 12:18 PM

Wonder what the chances are I'll get delivery within 30 days of placing the order which now seems to be the requirement for getting the rebate. With UPS ground this means it has to ship within 3 weeks or so. Wonder if those reporting a backorder notice got this up front, or whether they got it after initial "processing" status was given on the web site (as is the case for my order). Guess I have 3 weeks or so to decide to cancel if the rebate appears to be in jeopardy.

acollet

08-11-2002, 02:18 PM

:D 8O :D ... Just ordered mine.. 2Gb for 12 bucks. SWEEETT Thank... Now I know why this is the ONE site I continually check

ajnemasis

08-11-2002, 04:01 PM

I just ordered one of the drives and according to Gateway's website they are still in stock.

kagayaki1

08-11-2002, 04:25 PM

Whether they're in stock or not is in serious question. Please read the forum and the subsequent links from the first page of comments.

-Jason

dartman

08-11-2002, 05:13 PM

Great deal. Thanks for the heads up. Don't forget to print out the rebate form from the site. It might disappear on the 15th.

dart

brianchris

08-11-2002, 05:39 PM

Thanks for the tip!! Just ordered mine as well, and got free shipping too (before I read this actual thread....just tried it, and it worked). Anyway, thanks.....I'm going to Fiji at the begining of September, and this 2GB card will help me load up my iPaq to combat boredom on the 10 + hour flight. Thanks again!! :o

-Brian

jeffmd

08-11-2002, 06:53 PM

Are there any CF->PCMCIA adapters out there so I can hook my audiovox up to this beast?

Arne Hess

08-11-2002, 07:31 PM

I just ordered one myself, but don't know if it's compatible with PPC?? Anyone know??
I have the 5 GB card here and it works with my iPAQs as well as with my Casio E-200 without any problems. Just plug 'n play! So I expect that the 2 GB version will works too! Go for it!

hyonj

08-11-2002, 09:02 PM

Wasn't there some post about a CF to PC card adapter some time ago?

willowpc

08-11-2002, 09:33 PM

There's the Semson pc to cf flexible adaptor. The Toshiba 2GB card is listed as having been tested ok with this. See the compatibility list at http://www.semsons.com/comflastopcc.html

Mr. Pink

08-11-2002, 10:06 PM

Looking over the Rebate form... it does say "Offer good only in the USA and Canada"... so for those who live in Canada... hurry up and order!

:)

Mr. Pink

Jason Dunn

08-11-2002, 10:20 PM

...so for those who live in Canada... hurry up and order!

Yeah, except Gateway won't ship to Canada... :?

hyonj

08-11-2002, 11:07 PM

Does anyone know how much battery one of these drives saps up in a pocketpc compared to a CF?

Oh, and thanks for the semsons post. :)

heyday

08-12-2002, 12:40 AM

jeffmd

08-12-2002, 02:15 AM

Hyon, the ibm mini drive seems to suck up quite a bit, I imagin this one, which is designed for a notebook, will kill a ppc in no time. Luckly I have a D-cell battery pack built for extended play of such things.

how ever if you were useing say, SD ram as storage, you could copie files from the hd over to your ram and then disconnect the HD (or let it spin down I guess) so you wouldnt use up power.

kagayaki1

08-12-2002, 04:46 AM

So the rebate says Include "The original invoice/receipt dated July 15th to August 15th.... Is the this online receipt you print out? Or is it going to be the one they ship it with..... which may have a later date.

heyday

This likely means the receipt you print out once you're done purchasing the card at the Gateway site. The one they ship with it is generally refered to as the "shipping invoice", etc, and usually CLEARLY say that it is NOT a receipt. I would regard the form you print out at time of purchase to be the receipt, especially since it usually comes before the shipping invoice... :)

-Jason

szamot

08-12-2002, 05:46 AM

...so for those who live in Canada... hurry up and order!

Yeah, except Gateway won't ship to Canada... :?

Danm the Gateway store in Edmonton is closed down, yep for 2gig of cheap storage I am ready to hate Canada - NOT. I still have my coming from TigerDirect except not as good of a deal but then work will pay for it.

PS.
We should have some sort of coalition going with the guys in US if there are deals to be had like this one - we too could get supplied.

blusparkles

08-12-2002, 08:12 AM

As soon as I saw this deal this morning, I got on the phone to my aunt in the US and got her to buy it for me and send it here. Something like this would set me back $AU550, which is the equivalent of around $US290! This deal is awesome! My boyfriend recently got a Dell 8200 Inspiron laptop with all the bells and whistles, which made me absolutely green with envy. Once I get this card, I can just laugh at him lugging around his heavy laptop while I casually toss my ipaq from one hand to the other. :D

jeffmd

08-12-2002, 08:52 AM

afaik, the online confirmation you get is not the receipt. receipt is not something they leave up to the customer to make. Also when you return something, they allways ask for the shipping invoice.. not what ever you got on the web. (You will never see "save this page and print it out incase you need to return blah blah").

either way you still need to wait for the thing to ship, because you need the serial numbers.

hyonj

08-12-2002, 09:04 AM

Jeffmd - Thank you for your input. :)

Hmmm... Well, I was actually hoping to use it like I would a CF card. :? Thought of putting all of my music files on it actually. Well, I was thinking of getting an e310 and selling my monopaq, but I thought I'd keep the monopaq and get this drive instead. I'd hate to have to go through another PDA, finding whether it works okay, dead pixels, etc. Decisions, decisions.

Barak

08-12-2002, 11:32 AM

I jumped on this thanks to you folks at pocketpcthoughts. It's on the way.
This combined with my Sandisk 256mb SD card is going to make my Casio E-200 ROCK!! :)

rlobrecht

08-12-2002, 01:04 PM

Hmmm... Well, I was actually hoping to use it like I would a CF card. :? Thought of putting all of my music files on it actually.

I have one, and bought it with the same idea. It works in general, but every once in a while, whatever song I'm listeneing to will pause for a second. This also happens on my laptop, so I know its not just my ipaq. I suspect the drive isn't fast enough to keep up with 128 bit MP3s. I haven't tried WMAs or lower quality MP3s.

I still love it though.

PJE

08-12-2002, 01:17 PM

I have one, and bought it with the same idea. It works in general, but every once in a while, whatever song I'm listeneing to will pause for a second. This also happens on my laptop, so I know its not just my ipaq. I suspect the drive isn't fast enough to keep up with 128 bit MP3s. I haven't tried WMAs or lower quality MP3s.

Every hard drive needs to recalibrate itself periodically. Only special AV style drives can do this without interrupting the data stream coming off the drive.

What's really needed is an MP3 player that uses some RAM to act as a jog buffer. On a 64MB device it could probably keep the whole track in memory and then shut down the drive to save power.

Regards,

PJE

Janak Parekh

08-12-2002, 06:40 PM

What's really needed is an MP3 player that uses some RAM to act as a jog buffer. On a 64MB device it could probably keep the whole track in memory and then shut down the drive to save power.
Both PocketDivX (www.projectmayo.com) and iPlay (www.40th.com, hmm, seems I can't link it from here) do this. The power savings is tremendous. I use iPlay all the time for MP3's, and with an external battery on my Microdrive can play more than 6 hours of music (haven't tried, my ears get sore from the earphones by then :))

--bdj

dhoward

08-12-2002, 07:09 PM

Thought I would pass along this message re: Rebate.

Nowhere does it say you are limited to "one rebate per family, per address, etc..." as you would normally see.

Seems to have been overlooked.

Called the rebate center in New Rochelle, NY, and did confirm that there is a "One Limit" rebate. When asked about the terminology in the rebate form, the lady confirmed that they would only be sending out one rebate.

Well...it was worth the try.

david
dallas

brianchris

08-12-2002, 07:09 PM

I should ask this on a Toshiba forum, I know, but a friend of mine who just bought the Toshiba e310 (another great deal reported on this site :) ) wants to buy one of these PCMCIA cards as well. I *thought* I read somewhere that Toshiba is or will be making a PCMCIA attachment or sleeve. Is this correct, or am I totally confused? TIA!!

-Brian

PPCRules

08-12-2002, 09:13 PM

Hey; the rebate link just went away. Opened the link to gateway again and it was gone. I had the coupon .pdf open in another window, so I could still print it. May be good news or bad news.

dhoward

08-12-2002, 09:27 PM

Update for Gateway.

Placed order for Toshiba 2gb on-line. Showed ships in 4-5 days.

Coupon for free shipping still worked. Saved $10.22 in shipping.
Try this code when you check out: GASC3F6CA1

Regarding Rebate Coupon for $100, try
http://www.vstore.com/rebate/toshiba/toshiba_2GBhdd.pdf
Seems to work just fine.

However, did receive the following e-mail from Gateway:
The following item from your order is currently on backorder. While we cannot deliver the item as quickly as anticipated, we expect to deliver within 30 days. For your convenience, we will alert you by email as soon as additional information is available.

Now the race is on for receipt of the product, to provide original serial number and part number label from outside of product box.

"Rebate request must be postmarked no later that 30 days from the date that appears on the original retail purchase receipt or invoice and must be received by Toshiba no later than 9/30/02."

Best is, you can always log back in and cancel the order at Gateway for B/O products, if not already shipped.

david
dallas

dartman

08-12-2002, 09:27 PM

Jason's rebate link from the original message still works. Also click on "rebates ans coupons" on the left side of the Gateway site, then "T" for Toshiba and it points to the rebate coupon.

Still, it's odd that they removed it from the site. Guess they had too many to fill.

dart

dammad

08-12-2002, 10:48 PM

I just ordered an unbranded 2G card from TigerDirect this AM. Saw this post & quickly cancelled my order. Teach me not to check PPCThoughts first :wink:

Thanks for the great work!

Dave Conger

08-13-2002, 03:41 AM

Man, why couldn't have I been here Saturday when that was posted. Gateway seems to have pulled the order form. Anyone know if this is something that Gateway stores might have in their shops?

BrianCooksey

08-13-2002, 03:43 AM

FYI - Earlier this evening, Gateway had marked the item as discontinued. Now, the description says "this item is not available for backorder."

Pony99CA

08-13-2002, 08:52 AM

FYI - Earlier this evening, Gateway had marked the item as discontinued. Now, the description says "this item is not available for backorder."

Yep, it's listed as "Out of Stock" now and not available for backorder.

However, I tried to order one Saturday night when they were still available, but when I placed my order, I just got an error saying to contact customer service (with an E-mail address that wasn't even a mailto link!).

I tried E-mailing a copy of the error to that E-mail address, and that got bounced as a non-existent domain. I tried E-mailing Gateway Accessories and got an E-mail from Vcommerce that the E-mail address I used didn't exist, so I E-mailed Vcommerce and got a canned E-mail telling me to use a form on their Web site. At that point, I gave up.

:microwave:

Steve

Kaber

08-13-2002, 05:06 PM

My order in the GW order center says "processing". Click on processing and it says Processing
This item has gone to the supplier to process. Additional status will be provided shortly.

Hmmm....

I hope I make it.

Kaber

08-13-2002, 05:14 PM

I ordered mine sunday around noon.

Oh, and I haven't gotten any Backorder email.

Majestic

08-14-2002, 03:03 AM

I also ordered around 12noon sunday afternoon. I got an order confirmation but the website still says processing.

I called the 800 # to find out what was going on. Spoke with a CSR who tells me that they were SWAMPED with orders for this little bugger. (Gee....I wonder why???)

She said that thier primary fullfillment center (Tech Data) ran out of them fast. They are in the process of transfering the orders over to Ingram Micro to be filled. The rep assured me that I should be getting a shipping confirmation with a day or so. If I don't I can call back and find out why.

She also assured me that I will be ok for the rebate as long as I ordered before the 15th (which I did) and we have till September 13th to get the rebate out. Well it must be postmarked by September 13th.

Hope this helps those that are wondering what is up. :)

Fred

Kaber

08-14-2002, 07:18 AM

That was nice of you to call and find that out.

dartman

08-15-2002, 12:53 AM

Just got an email from Gateway saying they dont have any more drives. They offered me a 5GB drive instead for $314.00 with $100 rebate. Not sure I'm ready to spend the bucks. $12.95 was worth it. I don't think I need it that badly.

dart

Dear Customer,

Due to the unusually large volume of orders that were placed for the
Toshiba 2GB Removable Hard Drive (Gateway Accessory Store Item
#1881017), our stock on this item has been depleted. Unfortunately, we
are unable to secure additional stock from Toshiba.

We therefore regret that we cannot fulfill this portion of your order.
A standard cancellation notification is being processed and will be
sent to you shortly (or you may have already received it). If you
purchased any other items with your order, that portion will continue
to be processed.

We understand the importance of a positive shopping experience, and
are constantly striving to improve our product offerings and customer
service features. So, although we are unable to offer you a comparable
product at the same price, Toshiba and Gateway have agreed to extend
an exclusive* $100 rebate offer to you on the Toshiba 5GB Removable
Hard Drive for Notebooks.

Barak

08-15-2002, 02:27 AM

I just got the same message as Dartman.

Anyone recommend a similar product or "good deal" for a 2gb pc card hard drive??

TukwilaCathy

08-15-2002, 02:38 AM

Hmmm... doesn't sound like an equal deal to me.... Now, if we could get the 5 GB drive for under $50 after the rebate I might not think I had just been a victim of bait & switch...

Jason Dunn

08-15-2002, 02:40 AM

...I might not think I had just been a victim of bait & switch...

But is it really a "bait and switch" when they simply run out of stock? No one sells a hard drive for $12.95 after rebate unless it's an end of line product, and that means limited supply. The first people who responded to this thread appear to have been successful in ordering it, while people who found out several days later were unsuccessful. You can bet this deal was all over the web in a matter of hours.

Just something to think about. :D

Pony99CA

08-15-2002, 02:50 AM

I just got the same message as Dartman.

Anyone recommend a similar product or "good deal" for a 2gb pc card hard drive??

As the rebate is from Toshiba, I would think buying the 2GB drive from any place would be acceptable. It may not be $12.95, but it would be $100 less.

Toshiba is selling them for $299, for example, so your final cost would be $199 after the rebate. See Toshiba's Web site (http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/pc/pc_prodList.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1914895870.1029376538@@@@&BV_EngineID=dcadcekmgkiihbffkcghcfmgdgli.0&comm=ST&plin=Storage&pfam=PC%20Cards) for details. They say they have them in stock.

Steve

TukwilaCathy

08-15-2002, 05:45 AM

But is it really a "bait and switch" when they simply run out of stock? No one sells a hard drive for $12.95 after rebate unless it's an end of line product, and that means limited supply.

I don't know if it was a limited supply or an end of line product, though. They did not say that on their web site. I did get my order in last week (before it hit all the newsgroups, such as your post to this forum :) ) and my order still shows as processing, not cancelled, so I hope it is going through (the customer service person on Monday said that I was lucky and it was being filled -- hope she was right). Also, I noticed that Toshiba has this card (at least it sure sounds like the same card) for sale on their web site with an "In stock ships in 1-3 days" notice.

Just a little more to think about... :)

briansturdivant

08-15-2002, 09:17 PM

Dinesh H

08-15-2002, 09:44 PM

I never recieved an out of stock email. However, I called and was told I would not be recieving the drive. I ordered Sunday morning. :cry:

dartman

08-15-2002, 09:52 PM

I got the same message as dartman and I ordered Saturday morning about 9am. When did you order Dart. Did anyone else order early and get an "out of stock" email yesterday (8/14)?

I ordered Saturday evening.

Dart

willowpc

08-17-2002, 01:42 PM

I got the same email (sent 11:59pm on August 16) with rebate offer on the 5GB drive. I ordered the 2GB with the confirmation email sent 11:19pm on August 10 (Saturday). It's frustrating they took 6 days to figure this out, but I've gone ahead and ordered the 5GB anyway since it seems like a very good deal. The original order is still listed as "processing". Assume it will be cancelled before the 5GB ships.

Majestic

08-21-2002, 05:15 PM

Today I finally got a order cancellation notice from gateway. No offer for a rebate towards the 5 gig. Sad. I decided that I am going to share with you all the letter I wrote to numerous gateway email addresses. I am sure it will fall on deaf ears but heck, I had to vent. I feel I did it rather tastefully as well. Correct me if I am wrong.

------------------------

To whom it may concern,

You may not be concerned as I am just one small customer in your world but I will assure you that I will NEVER do business with Gateway again. You have lost me and possibly others because of the horrible treatment I have recieved with one single order.

It would have been so easy if people would not have lied to me outright but that is exactly what your company did. To me that is deceptive. How can one by your computers when we can't even trust you for a simple purchase?

My order for a 2gig PCMCIA drive was a disaster. I called after 4 days of not hearing anything in email to followup and was told that the drives ran out at the primary supplier which I was told is Tech Data and that my order is still valid as they are moving all leftover orders to Ingram Micro and that I should get a shipping notification before the end of the week. I was, of course, satisfied with that response.

3 days later, I still had not heard anything about a ship date. I called again and was told that the order was going to be cancelled. I asked why? The tech on the phone asked if I had recieved a letter from Gateway regarding my order and I said that I did not. He told me that they can not fullfill the orders and therefore are cancelling them. I told him what your own rep told me a few days ago and he said that he does not know why that girl had said that to me.

I simply asked to speak to a supervisor at that time and was told there were none available. I asked for a callback and was "promised" one that day. Of course, I never heard from anyone. Today, I recieved my first word from gateway and it was an email simply stating that my order had been cancelled.

This is horrible. I have no idea how you people will remain in business with this attitude.

Good luck. I will personally warn everyone I know about using Gateway for computers or hardware. This much you can be sure of and, unlike your people, you can count on the fact that I am not lying.

willowpc

08-23-2002, 11:14 AM

I ended up ordering the 5GB drive with the $100 rebate offer and it arrived yesterday. Am actually quite happy as I need the extra space and it's the best net price around for the drive. Even better, the Semsons pc to cf card adapter I have works great with it. I have a laptop with a pc card slot as well as a pc card pack for my iPAQ 3970 and am able to transfer files from my XP desktop to (and from) each using my USB Sandisk CF card reader. All in all I'm very happy with the combination. BTW, Gateway finally did cancel the 2GB order I still had on file yesterday. For a while I was wondering whether I'd get both drives and two rebates <g>