Customer Reviews

Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB SATA Internal Hard Drive Retail Kit - WD20000CSRTL

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

(See below for an update!)

Original review: This product (WD20000CSRTL) is a regular WD20EADS drive in retail packaging. I was worried it'd be a different drive, but it's not.

Unlike the "OEM" version (WD20EADS) it comes in a big-ish box and with an "install guide" (good if you haven't tried installing a new drive, I guess), an SATA cable and 4 mounting screws. The packaging is obviously more wasteful, but considering the bad packaging reviews the OEM drives get here, maybe its a good thing. If it's the same price as the WD20EADS then I think it's a good deal, even if just for the better packaging.

*Update July 2010* As others have pointed out; they are now selling WD20EARS drives under this ASIN. I use OS X, Linux and FreeBSD so it makes no difference to me; but if you use certain really old versions of Windows (Windows XP) you won't be able to use the full capacity (easily?) or something like that. The recent drives we ordered like this came individually packaged in WD packaging, but with no cables or anything.

*Update September 2010* Depending on the weather, phase of the moon etc you could now get any 2TB Western Digital "green" drive when you order this item. There are other Amazon product IDs that'll give you the same but for lower cost, too - so no longer recommended!!

This drive with "Retail" packaging (WD20000CSRTL) and "Bulk/OEM" (WD20EADS) are the same drive. Often the retail version with the fancy packaging is more expensive but when they're the same price GET THE RETAIL VERSION.

One is packaged for retail and the other sent by Western Digital to companies who use them in their products. The packaging is significantly different. The OEM drives come in small cardboard cartons protected usually by foam. This is fine when shipped in larger boxes with dozens of drives but may cause a problem when ordered individually. Of the 12 WD drives I've purchased the only one that came DOA was the OEM packaged unit. The drive had shifted from the center to the edge as a result of rough handling by the carrier.


I have 12 WD bare drives acquired over the last 7 months for my MacPro . I love them. I have Western Digital drives in each of the 4 hard drive bays. For the boot drive I use the Black for maximum performance (7200RPM) while the others are Green Drives with variable speed (5400-7200RPM) for efficient power use. They run cool and are very quiet. A very small downside is they take a little extra time to "spin up".

For "general" and "off-site" back ups I use the bare WD drives and NewerTech quad-interface SATA HDD dock. I store these drives in a static-proof box by Wiebetech (10-pack for $55.00), which provides protection for the exposed circuits and connectors.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THESE DRIVES! Only one came DOA and it was replaced by Amazon within a week. I've been buying each time there's a dip in price. (279.00, 229.00, 219.00, 209.00 and 199.00)

I haven't even had this drive a year yet and already I've had to RMA it!
It ran okay for a drive that doesn't even spin 7200rpm so it runs very quiet and cool. Not good for video intensive stuff though because one the drive starts to get full you will notice the slowdown and slight delays. As you can tell other than it running cool, quiet and capacity it has few redeeming qualities. I should've listened to others that were holding off buying 2TB or larger drives since it is new tech and hasn't been as tested as some of the smaller capacity harddrives. All I know is that I've never had a harddrive fail me so quickly before and I must not be alone because I've already been waiting over 2 weeks for Western Digital to send me a replacement drive and all I get is a delayed message so either they aren't making enough or are getting quite a bit of RMA's?
If really need this much diskspace and insist on getting this drive make sure to get 2 of them to use in RAID 1 in case one of them fails as mine did. Oh the reason for the RMA was bad sectors starting to popup all over the drive so either a lack of quality control or when you are dealing with larger capacity drives this is more likely to happen.

p.s. Better hope this drive doesn't die on you because I'm just not getting my replacement drive after waiting 3 weeks!

Good drive (hopefully), but no thanks to Amazon's packaging. Amazon seems to think that retail boxed hard drives are DVD box sets, and packages them as such. When I picked up the box from my porch, I could hear the drives (ordered 2) sliding inside.

Inside the box, there were 2 retail boxes and 1 (ONE) layer of airplus baggies on top. Of the 2 baggies in this layer, one was flat (airless). What could be the thinking? "I'll protect the top of the package, but not the bottom?"

Inside, each side had an inch gap, so the drives were free to slide in both lateral directions. Again, what could be the thinking? "I'll protect from moving up and down, but not side to side."

An 8 year old could pack these things better. What kind of business model is it that ships a two hundred dollar drive in 10 cents worth of packaging? I've already had to return 1 drive to Amazon, it being DOA. How cost effective is that for Amazon?

Books, DVD's, the packaging is fine, but electronic parts? Forget it. Even if the drive SEEMS to format OK, I always wonder how poor packaging will effect realibility.

As of 22 Jan 2010, Amazon is using inadequate packaging (see photo) for this hard drive "Western Digital 2TB SATA Green Power eco-friendly Hard Drive WD20000CSRTL". Instead of using some sort of all encompassing, form adapting beads i.e. popcorn or robust energy absorbing pre form, Amazon is using air bladders that are insufficiently discrete in size to keep a "high density" fragile item secure during transit.

With just two air bladders used (see photo), half of the hard drive box had a ~¾ inch gap (see photo) about the box perimeter. Also, the top and bottom of the hard drive box was without any substantive padding. In an abysmal attempt to fill the void, the person packaging this hard drive deflated a single airbladder, crumbled it and placed it in the Amazon box (see photo).

Since this drive was not secure during transit and potentially exposed to high G loads, those in excess of the manufacturers recommend limits along with handing and shipping procedures, I chose not to take a chance and returned this item to Amazon. Reason being, high G loads in transit can and do lead to rapid premature failure and why the hard drive is conspicuously labeled "Fragile Handle With Care" by the manufacture.

Amazon use to be able to properly ship items of this nature. Since then, Amazon has unwisely changed their method of packing for one that does not meet all of the same objects obtains by the previous method. If the previous method, packaging popcorn, drew too many complaints or was too expensive, then at minimum the replacement solution should have been as good if not better than the last.

In short, whatever change Amazon elects to make with their packaging method should always be driven as a "value added alteration" as perceived by the customer. Customers returning items to Amazon is not "value added".

Amazon, as a form of respect to it's customer, has the responsibility to mitigate and reduce risk of damage to a product and for that product to remain secure during transit to it's final destination. What occurred in this incident was a display of dysfunctional processes, lack of over sight, and an example of what not do.

Minus 1.00 for Amazon approving this method of packaging.
Minus 1.00 for not securing a dense fragile item for shipping.
Minus 1.00 for changing a shipping method that worked for one that does not.
Minus 1.00 for needlessly wasting my time and having to return an item.

Just a heads-up that I received a WD20EARS hard drive in a WD package WD20000CSRTL. I purchased that same part earlier this year
and received a WD20EADS hard drive. WD made be accelerating the replacment of the 32 MB Cache (HD) with the 64 MB Cache model AND
NOT changing the WD20000CSRTL part number which is, at a minimum, deceiving. This is a WD problem and not an Amazon problem.

As far as shipping goes these hard drives have more padding since they are a full box version as if you bought it in the store with the clam shells isolating the hard drive in the box pictured. Amazon (or other sellers) should still put extra padding in to ensure it is protected. Mine came padded fairly well since I ordered many small things with it, but some of the photos found on the reviews for bulk/OEM hard drives show them shipped in an anti-static bags with no padding...that's scary since you're spending so much money.

The hard drive performs well is is VERY quiet. I have it in a Thermaltake BlacX dock on my desk, and even sitting right next to it I can barely hear it. I have it hooked up on eSata and get read/write speeds above 70MB/sec, so not too bad. Stays fairly cool even when copying large amounts of data.

Bought two of these WD 2 TB hard drives for use in a Drobo -- shipping was fast, arrived in great condition, took less than 1 minute to install each. Low power consumption, runs cool, tons of storage space.
Highly recommended.

Product died in less than 1 year. WD support is non existent as they will not reply. Do not buy western digital products or you will be throwing your money and data away.

Gave 4 stars because the disk drive ordered had unrecoverable errors and the speed of the drive. Some disks are just bad. I have had disks that last years and others fail within the first or second year. Sent the disk back to Western Digital and they sent a replacement within 2-days. They didn't have the same drive but sent the next newer drive. The replacement drive EADS is rated as 7200 but actually it is variable and runs 5200-7200. This is probably the green energy saving feature but it was not explained clearly in the description. In fact, it is very hard to find the speed documented many places on the Internet. Next time I will just get the fixed 7200. Those micro seconds of energy saving are not worth the slower speed. If the first disk had no errors and the variable speed was not an issue, it would get 5 stars.