Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Deals
Want a discount on a DroboPro? We've got a code for that.
Our buddies over at Data Robotics, makers of the Drobo and DroboPro storage devices, were so happy with the results of a recent promotion that we ran with our DroboPro review that they're giving TUAW readers another chance to join in on the fun.If you go to the Drobo Store at http://www.drobostore.com and order a DroboPro, be sure to enter in the super-secret promo code TUAW2X100SS to get $200 off the price of one of these storage wonders. There's only one catch -- you have to purchase your DroboPro before October 1, 2009 and this offer is only good for the first 100 people who take advantage of the discount.
Did you purchase a DroboPro with our previous promo code? We'd love to hear from you about your setup experience and what you're storing in all those terabytes of space.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Microdot said 2:38PM on 9-23-2009
$200 off of the drobo stores already inflated price makes it.....still $5 more than newegg.com's regular price.
data robotics.... how is this a deal? seriously... lower the price tag a little.
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Microdot said 2:41PM on 9-23-2009
also just noticed... the price at newegg is WITHOUT their current $100 rebate.
newegg = $1,195
drobo = $1,299
mentalsticks said 2:42PM on 9-23-2009
And Steve, what's your kickback?
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Steven Sande said 2:59PM on 9-23-2009
Y'know? I'm getting really tired of commenters who take on everything as either a scam or a way for TUAW to make money.
I don't get a kickback and would get fired from TUAW if I did. I wrote this post and the review based on my experiences with the DroboPro device and the fact that Data Robotics offered a discount to our readers. So many readers took them up on the offer that they wanted to do it again -- hence this post.
If you don't want to use this offer code, fine. But quit assuming in your cynical way that we're doing this for the money. And if you think you can get a DroboPro less expensively somewhere else, buy it there. Just stop filling up the comments section with your negativity, OK?
Steve
iGO said 3:46PM on 9-23-2009
And on a positive note, we now know that Steve feels better,
And
he is Not writing blog entries "for the money"
He he he
mentalsticks said 3:53PM on 9-23-2009
Steve: I just have to say that your reviews NEVER post out anything negative about any piece of hardware or software. You always write about the app that you happen to use (sometimes twice about the same app) and it's always Hallelujah all the way. Mostly it sounds like you've just copied the press release. And that's not reviewing. You do not seem to be trying to give an objective view of the pros and cons, you are just expressing your enthusiasm. Also, you rather often write about some obscure app for which there are many, better-known alternatives available which you just ignore instead comparing or telling your readers why the app that everyone is using isn't as good as the new kid on the block.
It's true that I've asked many many times whether you get paid for some of the stuff you write because, frankly, your articles often read that way. But I must say that I never really believed you did, I was just hoping for a formal denial (which I now got).
Needless to say, from your articles you come across as a nice enough guy (and I also realize I come across as an asshole), but this bothers me. TUAW used to be an important source of information for me, and it's not anymore.
Tim said 2:48PM on 9-23-2009
What's sad is everyone is retweeting the $100 TUAW tax. How unfortunate. Maybe the extra $100 goes towards keeping the TUAW servers running, which is a good thing.
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Scott said 3:15PM on 9-23-2009
Steve:
Untwist your knickers. Aside from mentalstick's silly little remark, most of the frustration seems to be directed at Data Robotics. I'm personally conflicted—they should charge as much as they can get away with. On the other hand, when I first saw the Drobo Pro price, it was three times what I would have expected it to be, so I can see where they're coming from.
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varun said 3:16PM on 9-23-2009
How reliable are these devices? I ask because the Internet* seems to be filled with horror stories of Drobos (the original and the revised with Firewire 4-bay) dying about a year or so in, taking all the data with it. It's very cool and I want one, but given that it's some sort of proprietary non-standard RAID-like storage, it pretty much means that the only way to get your data back is to send the device and the drives in for recovery.
*: not just the Internet - two out of the three people I personally who have Drobos (all the four-bay Firewire versions) have had them die in the past few months, and Drobo seems to be taking their sweet time responding to email.
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THJ said 3:33PM on 9-23-2009
Not a scientific study, but we have ~4 FW Drobos and a Drobo Pro, and all have been humming along w/o problems for the past 6-18 months. I've also read quite a few horror stories about data loss on Drobos, but then again, I've read horror stories about just about every HDD and RAID setup as well.
varun said 8:06PM on 9-23-2009
That's true. For example, I've just sworn off FreeNAS after it died unable to cope with four bad sectors on a drive with 291 million good sectors. But there are a horrifying number of stories of Drobos dying *just* outside of warranty, and even when there is a warranty, Drobo Inc taking forever to respond to any sort of customer service. Case in point: guy below. Also, a buddy of mine whose 3 month old 4-bay firewire Drobo has died, and Drobo Inc took nearly three weeks to get back to him - and only after he called Drobo Inc and asked for the president's office. So... yeah, I'm sure the vast majority just work, but there's a lot to suggest that when things go wrong - they go horribly, unfathomably, terribly wrong, and your data is screwed.
Matthew said 3:46PM on 9-23-2009
Slightly OT: any ideas on when Data Robotics will release a Snow Leopard compatible (64 bit) version of the Drobo software?
I have a Drobo Pro connected to my 10.6 server and it works as a big external drive, but I cannot manage any of the settings. Also, although I am not using at this point iSCSI does not work under 10.6.x Server.
To answer the question posed about storage use: User home folders (for network home directories), group shared storage, and most of all, media storage for every CD and DVD that I own. My 'Pro has 5 1 TB drives and 2 750 GB drives and works very well for me.
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ecobore said 6:26PM on 9-23-2009
All I can say is don't trust this thing as the be-all and end-all to data security. Mine just dumped it's file directory for no reason and I am going through hell trying to recover the info (an aperture library with 1.6Tb on info on it!) I had assumed that with 4 x 1.5tb discs on board everything was safely backed up, but just like any 'simple' hard drive, a little corruption on the HFS+ directory renders the whole thing a big and VERY expensive hunk of plastic and alloy! Wish I had just gone for a stack of LaCie 2Tb drives now!!! (It would have been cheaper and apparently safer!) We shall see if Disk Warrior can save the day when I get back to the studio, but I am not a happy bunny! Tech support is not being too helpful!
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pastrychef said 6:58AM on 9-24-2009
I have two Drobos and, so far, they have performed as advertised. I even test it by pulling a drive from one of them and inserted another to see how the rebuild would go. After it finished, I pulled replaced another drive. Everything worked as it should. The rebuilds took quite a bit of time, but not much different from other RAID 5 rebuilds that I've seen. Overall, I'm very happy with the Drobos.
In regards to this deal, personally, I would look for good prices on two regular Drobos (they can be found for around $320 each now) and use the money saved to buy drives to fill them.
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Trancepriest said 7:19AM on 9-24-2009
Data Robotics also has a $100 mail in rebate on the DroboPro available from there online store:
http://www.drobo.com/where_to_buy/index.php
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Gary Sarff said 7:48AM on 9-24-2009
I bought a drobopro in May, one of the first ones. At the time the list price was $1299. I bought it through my local mac dealer. I have 8 x 1 TB drives in it, and am using it to store video, old tv series, old 1950s and 60's sci-fi movies, and documentaries and music videos. It has been running fine since I got it, hooked to my Nehalem Mac Pro. ( I would knock on wood but I don't have any, everything is metal and glass in my house :) ) I do keep chanting to myself a mantra I've read on slashdot.org though, "raid is not backup" , "raid is not backup".
I use a nice utility called FileFinder (on versiontracker) and number DVD's and copy files to them, so I can call up filefinder and it will tell me what dvd number a particular video is on. Right now I have the Drobopro 60% full, according to its front panel lights, or about 3.53 TB. And a -huge- amount of numbered DVD-R's. sigh. This is all for personal use, I am not a business. Drobo sent me an email survey some months ago, and it was all questions about small business, and I actually chastised them for this and said individuals do buy your products too you know. Awhile later I got another survey and it had some questions on it about personal use.
I am an old-tv junkie, and that is what my drobo is for, just old tv and movies, can't stand the reality tv stuff that is on these days.
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