Used external hard drive?

[Roosterfosho]

I'm not sure whether or not this is a stupid question, but is it a bad idea to buy a used external hard drive? I'm not sure if it is truly used. I am buying one off Craigslist and the person says it is brand new, but in the case that it isn't I was wondering if that could somehow hurt the performance of the drive. Granted it isn't damaged in any way. Obviously I will be able to tell if it has been opened, but I wasn't sure if I should be wary of buying a used one. It is a great price.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/sys/2452807244.html

Got them down to $40 on it so I figured why not.
Please tell me what you guys think.
Thanks.

 

[ashman70]

Those enclosures look like they can be opened and any old hard drive could be put in, so really, you have no idea what condition the hard drive inside the enclosure is in. Hard drives can be subjected to all kids of conditions that can affect their reliability and function, none of which would be visible to the naked eye, so sure, you are taking a chance. I have bought very few hard drives used, and when I have, its been from people I knew personally, if there was a problem I had someone to go back to. Hard drives are cheap enough these days that most people can afford to buy them new, and besides, if you are going to put anything remotely important on it, why take a chance?

 

[Roosterfosho]

I'm not planning on putting anything extremely important on it. MP3's, movies, games, etc. I keep all important info on my computer+backed up on a flash drive. I just wanted it to keep the majority of my non essential entertainment files on.