Western Digital is selling it’s NAS MyCloud units refurbished at a very very reasonably price. Buying a NAS enclosure has been on my to do list for a long time and I really want one. They’re basically 45% off in price with a 6 month limited warranty.
Does anyone has any experience with refurbished devices?? Is it a strict no go? Is it just going to fail after 7 months? Or is it just recycling of technology where full price can’t be charged?
Heeelpppp commmunityyy!
So is it just an enclosure or does it include hard drive?
They include the harddrive. See link 
https://www.wdc.com/en-ie/products/wd-recertified/my-book-new.html
As a “full use” NAS I personally prefer Synology or QNAP. But if you need only file storage with internal (home) and external (internet) access - WD MyCloud is good option. For quality - just check how much replacement disks are (WD cloud usually needs to use WD disks only) - if price with potential replacement is still OK for you - buy it.
Edit: I checked it price is OK - the only problem is - this is one drive NAS - I would never use it as important data storage without good backup.
It was just going to use it to backup my computer and store files on it and to access it remotely. I believe you can use any HD but you need to flash it with an image?
Depends how important data you have. One disk solution is risky. For drives - it depends on model but someWD enclosures are picky. Check WD forums.
I’m mainly concerned with the ‘refurbished’ component Vs the single drive. Single drive be grand. But I don’t often buy refurbished. Does this mean it’s a used drive that will break sooner??
Personally I draw the line between factory refurbished or third-party refurbished.
If WD refurbished their own devices, you know it should be to spec. If some guy in a basement somewhere refurbished it, it can go either way. Not saying some guys in basements won’t do an even better job than the original manufacturer, but as a general guideline I’d stick to devices refurbished by the manufacturer themselves…
I agree with Helios about factory refurbished - but final decision is on you. You can get perfect drive or lemon, on other side factory refurbished units are usually better tested than “standard” production units.
See if you can find a good deal on a Synology…a much better NAS.
That’s what I was suggesting from the beginning - Synology or QNAP - but price is different and they sell them without HDD.
I would be vary about refurbished HD with very limited warranty :3
In my experience, drives have a tendency to die pretty easily and even right now I’m in the middle of some recovery process that very much may not end up being a successful one : (
I know you’ve asked about WD but I highly recommend checking out Synology DiskStation DS216j. Synology.com products are considered one of the best and easiest to setup and use. I personally went with their nas after testing a bunch of products from other manufacturers. Hope this helps
Maybe this will add some help:
Amazon.com: Synology DiskStation 2-bay 3.5-Inches NAS server 1.0 …
Amazon.com
Buy Used and Save: Buy a Used “Synology DiskStation 2-bay 3.5-Inches NAS server 1…” and save 32% off the $189.99 list price.
Synology Disk Station 2-Bay · Synology Disk Station 4-Bay · DS115J
Do not forget that Synology NAS are without drives - so you have to pay extra.
Possible to throw a ssd at it?
Yes you can do it. If you have enough money …
Tbh budget is part of the issue. So the western digital ones are affordable to me currently. I could buy a new 2tb or 3tb one for €150 or a refurbished 6tb for €125.
While I hear the Synology being better it’s out of my current budget heh.
I’d love the higher capacity western digital one, but not if refurbished items are voted a strict no go by you lovely tech people. It is refurbished and sold by western digital themselves.
That one is on the American Amazon so I’d pay a lot of VAT to get it shipped to Europe, and I can only imagine the European one is more expensive because of our VAT and other associated costs as well.
I would not call it “no-go” - check the price of new one against refurb one + potential HDD replacement - if it still OK - I would buy refurbished one.