why does everybody assume immediately that the cheaper drive is lousy?Originally Posted by Peerzy
as i mentioned before, it's likely that it's so cheap because it's a 5400rpm drive instead of the modern standard of 7200rpm for high capacity drives. aside from that, WD has had a longstanding rapport for harddisk quality.
spending an extra hundred bucks on another brand doesn't make it better.
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[quote=athenaesword;2715259]And a brand name doesn't make it good. WD has had their share of lemons.
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I would never buy the slower drive just because it's slower.
That's a large capacity drive and transferring files (presumably large media files) would be painfully slow...a bottleneck I see no reason to accept.
Also, that kit is saddled with software that may or may not hinder access/sharing of media...why is software necessary at all?
This whole discussion is probably moot however- I'll bet you've already bought this thing, so why not just tell us what you think of it?
"I am the one who knocks."- Heisenberg
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You're quite the mind reader
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Among other things- attentive reader not being one of them, yes.
"I am the one who knocks."- Heisenberg
yeap exactly, so for me, price point is the deciding factor for the day.
u do realise that it isn't compulsory to use the software. in fact, it only brings it up the first time you connect. if you don't install it then, and reformat the drive, they never bother you again. it just becomes a regular drag/drop drive.
disc spin speed now is hardly the bottleneck, which can more likely be attributed to the usb 2.0 connection than anything else.
as the article that i posted reads, laptop drives are 5400rpm, and nobody complains about them. just shows that you can hardly feel the difference realtime -- plus, transfer speeds aren't affected by those.
anyway, i've had it for a few days now, and so far so good. only way you're going to get faster transfer rates is via esata or firewire, both of which do not come with this thing. it runs cool and quiet, so much so that my cpu drowns it out, and i barely notice it's there.
i'll report back further if any problems arise. do note though, that i have had a problem with my 500gb version that i bought 3 weeks ago, so these things are definitely not perfect. the drive disconnects itself even though the hdd is still plugged into the power and usb port. i have to plug out the power in order for it to spin down, and replug it in to redetect. someone who's had the same problem suggested that it's the board on the enclosure that's causing the problem. i'll be rmaing this soon.
Last edited by athenaesword; 03-10-2008 at 02:10 AM.
If you're buying it new from the store I would definitely give it a try, as long as you're sure the store will take it back because of any technical difficulties. I found out the hard way that while WD drive can be reliable they sometimes work on one system and then won't be recognized by the OS of other PC's. I'm not sure why this is but it definitely is the case I had said problem and found there were lots of others in my position and don't expect to get tech help or good customer service from WD it's not their style... so buy beware.
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I have one, and havent had a single problem yet. Its a great HDD and i love it.
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