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Seagate starts shipping 8TB hard drives that cost only $260

Here's something you can get for yourself these holidays: a 3.5-inch 8TB drive from Seagate that costs only $260 -- we didn't forget an extra number in that figure, promise. That's a lot cheaper than HGST's helium-filled 8TB disk drive, which is listed for $1,000 on newegg and just a bit more on Amazon. And, it's significantly more affordable than OCZ's 1TB SSD released only five years ago (remember when 1TB drives excited you?) for $2,200. This product is part of the brand's new Archive HDD line launched a few months ago, which uses Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) technology that can fit more data on a platter than the typical drive. The line also includes 6TB and 5TB options, if 8TB is already excessive.

It is slower than many recent SSDs (it has a read speed of 150MB/s, whereas the SSDs in this list of best models for 2014 have an average speed of 550MB/s), so it's probably best to pair it up with one. Still, at 3 cents a gig, that's not such a bad deal. According to Extremetech, Seagate has just started shipping out units to retailers, so if you want one as a stocking stuffer, your best bet is to look around. Amazon only has a 20-pack bundle for sale right now, and it won't be sent your way until January 2015.