Customer Reviews

Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD15EADS

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I never thought I'd write a review about the packaging, but this was really really a poor packing job. The reviews that say that the packaging has been fixed no longer seems to be true. The bare drive arrived loose in a box with no cushion and was left on my doorstep in the rain. Amazon really needs to reexamine how it packages fragile tech components such as this and its delivery policies with its shippers.

I can't believe that a company like Amazon can ship drives like this so haphazardly. I have my fingers crossed that this drive will actually last and not fail because of the poor shipping policies of Amazon. As a prime member, I expect some thought and care to ensuring a safe delivery. Amazon needs to remedy this situation QUICKLY and PUBLICLY.

two bare drives in a large shoebox sized amazon box + a few of those airbag things = DOA drives.

Attempting an exchange, but not holding my breath.

REJECT all packages lacking PADDING ON ALL SIX BOX SURFACES meeting or exceeding UPS standards. I have ZERO confidence in electronics received in any other condition. I continue to exchange the item until amazon can be bothered to correctly package it.

I have recently started a habit of calling customer service prior to an order, placing the order, and giving the rep the order number to ENSURE the item is PROPERLY packed in the box.

Amazon is NO DEAL WHATSOEVER when shipping practices endanger reliability/longevity of merchandise.

Length:: 0:44 Mins

It worked when I installed it. I'm keeping it. I guess it would have been sent out again to the next "hassle free packaging" customer if I had returned it. UPDATE: i subsequently ordered a similar drive and amazon used good packaging.

As of 20 Jan 2010, Amazon is using inadequate packaging (see photo) for this hard drive "Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD15EADS". Instead of using some sort of all encompassing, form adapting beads i.e. popcorn or robust energy absorbing pre form, Amazon is using a single layer (see photo) cardboard cutout forms that were torn (see photo) on arrival. Hence, did not keep the "high density" fragile item secure in transit.

With just two cardboard hoops (see photo), the hard drive had a ~¾ inch gap (see photo) about the drive perimeter. Also, the top and bottom of the hard drive box was without any substantive padding and had a ½ gap top to bottom. The insertion tab portion of the cut out hoop form was also dislodged from it holding slots (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 with this item and returned the product 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, due to insufficient packaging, 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.

I have always found Western Digital hard drives to be reliable but the manner in which I received my latest purchase from Amazon was inexcusable. The hard drive was shipped completely loose in a box with no protective packaging whatsoever. It rattled around inside the box. It was shipped via USPS and undoubtedly rattled around during shipment. I can no longer recommend purchasing a hard drive from Amazon because of this.

Summary: unusable in a RAID array, incredibly loud and annoying on Linux.

I ordered three of these drives and they're all going back as defective.

They look inexpensive and folks give them good reviews; I talked to people who used them in their desktop setups. It turns out that Western Digital, at some point, changed the drives they were making so that they no longer work under a RAID setup. The drives routinely fault out of the array all because you can't turn on TLER. (Check wikipedia's article on Time-Limited Error Recovery if you want the gory details.) Also, when used on a Linux computer, they make a horrible loud clicking noise every ten seconds as the heads are parked and un-parked due to routine disk access. Nowhere on Western Digital's spec page about the drive does it say "do not use in a RAID setup" or "do not use in Linux."

Hey, Western Digital: lots of desktop computers (Dells, for instance) ship with RAID 0 or RAID 1 setups these days! It's no longer an "enterprise" feature, so you might want to make sure your drives work with it!

From scouring the web, it turns out that the "sub"-model number and build date are important. My three drives were WD15EADS-00P8B0, built Nov 2009, firmware 01.00A01. There are reports that older build-date drives can be made to work; true or not, mine could not. Western Digital's customer service is of zero help, blaming the problem on everything but the drive.

No more Western Digital drives for me, ever. I've put WD drives in my last three builds because they're inexpensive and reliable, but no longer. Back to Seagate drives (yes, even after their ST31500341AS firmware debacle)!

"Amazon Has Certified That This Packaging Is Frustration-Free"
-- My frustration started with the package and escalated both when I opened it and when I attempted to use the drive. It came in the anti-static standard bag with an invoice wrapped around it, that's it, nothing else. No protective bubbles, no padding, just a box and a drive. When I plugged it in all I heard was clicking, no spinning, it was the faint sound of a DOA drive. Was unable to partition it, view it in disk manager, or anything. Very disappointing. Not blaming this on the drive either, likely poor packaging is the reason for failure. Even if the drive had worked, I'd of given it a one simply due to the poor decision of how to package this sensitive electronic equipment.

It does not matter that the speed of this drive is 5400 rpm. The drive is well engineered and has this "IntelliPower" and "IntelliSeek" technology. I got mine today and did a few speed tests with Bart's Stuff Test v5.1.4:

I have a 300GB 10k rpm Velociraptor that has a read/write speed of about 93 MB/s
This drive got around 81 MB/s. Thats incredible!
I have five 1TB Hitachi 7200rpm hard drives and they are around 40~50MB/s

This drive is quiet and runs cool too (about 45C under load in my case). Western Digital did a really good job with their Green hard drives. And they are reliable too. I have working Western Digital Caviars that are over 15 years old.

Thank you Western Digital!

Like other users complained it was shipped with no protection at all. Imagine ordering a book, that's exactly how this harddrive was shipped. Not even the plastic that holds it down when you fold it. I can only imagine what this did to the life expectancy of this drive.

FYI: Does not work with External USB enclosures/docks. Must go eSATA or internal SATA.