Western Digital 200GB EIDE Internal Hard Drive with 8MB Cache

by Western Digital

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 4.2 x 8 inches ; 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000A0VAF
• Item model number: WD2000JBRTL
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 12, 2003

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

WD Caviar SE hard drives are designed for maximum performance in applications such as computer gaming, digital video editing, and file servers. They deliver data faster than any hard drive in their class. Features

• 80 GB per platter -- State-of-the-art areal density and maximum capacity with drives as large as 200 GB.
• Ultra ATA/100 -- Up to 100 Mbps burst transfer rates.
• 8 MB cache buffer -- Fast data transfer rates.
• Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) technology -- improves hard drive reliability; reduces heat, vibration, and noise.

Data Protection Enhancements

• Data Lifeguard is an expanded set of data protection features that include shock protection, an environmental protection system, and embedded error detection and repair features that automatically find, isolate, and repair problem areas that may develop over the extended use of the hard drive. With these enhanced data reliability features, the drive can perform more accurate monitoring and error repair and deliver exceptional data security.
• Data Lifeguard Tools is a set of software utilities that work in conjunction with the embedded Data Lifeguard features to make hard drive installation, drive management diagnostics, and repair simple and worry-free.
• Shock Guard provides outstanding improvements in shock and vibration protection for WD Caviar SE drives. Shock Guard allows instantaneous data protection at high shock values to achieve leading shock specifications.

Technical Specifications

• 200 GB capacity
• Rotational Speed: 7,200 RPM (nominal)
• Buffer Size: 8 MB
• Average Latency: 4.2 milliseconds (nominal)
• Contact Start/Stop Cycles: 50,000 minimum
• Read Seek Time (Average): 8.9 milliseconds
• Write Seek Time (Average): 10.9 milliseconds (average)
• Track-To-Track Seek Time: 2.0 milliseconds (average)
• Buffer To Disk: 748 Mbps (Max)

Product Package Contains

• Hard drive
• IDE cable
• Quick install guide
• Mounting screws
• Jumpers
• Installation poster
• Data Lifeguard Tools installation software and utilities

Product Description

Western Digital hard drives with 8MB cache are designed to maximize desktop computer performance for activities requiring high-performance storage such as computer gaming, digital video editing, and file server applications. If you are a digital camera or MP3 enthusiast, this drive can deliver the storage capacity and performance you need to organize and preserve your digital life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In truth, it's a 186Gb drive., September 13, 2003

By 

Christopher Wanko "-C" (Nutley, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital 200GB EIDE Internal Hard Drive with 8MB Cache (Personal Computers)

200GB is the unformatted size. You'll get 186Gb of usable space after formatting and partitioning, and I withheld the final star for that reason alone (I'd rate any hard drive with unformatted sizing the same way). By the way, this is a Western Digital 200Gb SE (Special Edition) drive, meaning it has the 8Mb cache instead of the usual 2Mb. It makes a real difference, as you'll shortly see.

After losing 14GB of space, I looked at its performance and I must conclude that this drive is an overall success.

The 8Mb cache is essential for moving data between the drive and your system, and in truth it makes for a hard drive with exceptional performance. Short read/write operations are greatly assisted by the larger cache, and subsequent reads of data less than 8Mb means you hit the cache, not the drive. In reality, this means you get a nice performance boost.

The 7200 RPM drive speed means it can transfer your data in bulk very quickly, so while short read/writes are assisted by the cache, the rotational speed makes for sustained read/writes that are very fast as well.

The Ultra-ATA/100 connection means you have a wide transfer path, so more data can come across the wires at one time.

It has a tiny (industry-leading) effect on your CPU, too, and low CPU utilization means that you see little slowdown in read/writes. In fact, this drive regularly competes with SCSI hard drive costing twice as much for CPU-utilization and performance.

The sum of all these specifications leads to one fast, cavernous drive. Even the new SATA drives can't match it for sustained read/writes as yet, so you can future-proof your system today with a Western Digital 200GB SE, and save some serious bucks in the process.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great drive, even better software, July 28, 2004

By 

O. Davies (Rowayton, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital 200GB EIDE Internal Hard Drive with 8MB Cache (Personal Computers)

I needed to replace a failing Seagate hard drive and was unsure of how to duplicate the contents of the old drive on to the new, higher capacity Western Digital drive. I was extremely impressed with the included data lifeguard software. It could not have been easier to use. It even created customized instructions that detailed how to set the jumpers on the old drive to use it as a secondary unit. Since it was factory installed I would otherwise not have known the correct configuration. A fast and easy upgrade. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars WD2000JB is not reliable, October 19, 2005

By 

Alokito - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Digital 200GB EIDE Internal Hard Drive with 8MB Cache (Personal Computers)

I bought this drive in 2003 year, and it failed after 2 years. I sent it in and got a new drive, since it was under warranty, and it's giving me trouble after 3 months! If this is like the last time, it will be dead within a month.
This is in contrast to my Maxtor 6Y160P0 which has been running for two years
and my dual Seagate ST3200822A which have been running for a few months with no hiccups.
Linux reports the full drive name as WD2000JB-00GVA0, avoid it.
Unreliable. Go with Seagate or Maxtor.
I'm getting a new maxtor diamondmax 10 sata, IDE is getting obsolete.