This is a very fine disk drive from the highest quality drive maker. I bought 2 to hold my ever-growing load of photos and videos which had filled up a pair of 500 GB drives. The WD20EADS has huge capacity, it's quiet, it runs cool (so it should last longer) and most surprising, it's faster than my 500 GB drive. With the new drive, the time it takes to convert RAW photos to JPG format dropped by 12%. This is probably due to the large 32MB cache.
Some things to watch out for:
The great price on Amazon is partly because the drive is in OEM packaging, which means all you get is the drive - no cables, no instructions, no installation CD. Many vendors sell drives this way, this isn't anything unusual. If you have installed OEM drives before, then you know the routine and it's not a problem. If you need the instructions or installation software, you can download it from the Western Digital support site.
If you are wanting to install this drive in an older motherboard - beware! It didn't work in my Gigabyte GA-7NNXP running F15 BIOS (latest) and Silicon Image firmware 4.2.00 (which is only 84 revs out of date and not upgradable). The BIOS hung during initialization of the Silicon Image SATA controller and there doesn't seem to be any workaround or update possible. On the other hand, it worked fine in my wife's Elite Group KT-600A motherboard, which is slightly older and less sophisticated than the Gigabyte board. The Gigabyte board was running 500 GB drives on the SATA ports without a problem, and there are no general size limitations between 500 GB and 2 TB. It appears that the BIOS is just buggy. The Western Digital support site has a list of tested compatible SATA controllers, so if your board is on that list you should be good to go. If your board isn't on the list, you might want to search the net for information on your particular board before you buy.
| The power of choice. The quality of WD. | ||
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| WD Caviar® Blue™ | WD Caviar® Green™ | WD Caviar® Black™ |
WD Caviar Green – Cool, quiet, .
As hard drive capacities increase, the power required to run those drives increases as well. WD Caviar Green drives make it possible for energy-conscious customers to build systems with higher capacities and the right balance of system performance, ensured reliability, and energy conservation.
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 WD Caviar Green drives use less power and support quieter, cooler-running desktop PCs and external storage devices.  |
Reduced power consumption - WD has reduced power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to standard desktop drives with the combination of WD's IntelliSeek, NoTouch, and IntelliPower technologies.
Helps enable PCs - WD Caviar Green drives yield an average drive power savings of 4-5 watts over standard desktop drives making it possible for our energy-conscious customers to build systems with higher capacities and the right balance of system performance, ensured reliability, and energy conservation.
Cool and quiet - WD GreenPower Technology™ yields lower operating temperatures for increased reliability and low acoustics for ultra-quiet PCs and external drives.
Massive capacity - Capacities up to 2 TB offer the most available capacity for storage-intensive programs and space-hungry operating systems, like Windows Vista®, with plenty of room left over for photos, music, and video.
Perfect for external drives - External drive manufacturers can eliminate the need for a fan in a high-capacity product with a WD Caviar Green drive, the coolest and quietest in its class.
 View IntelliSeek demo here. |
 PMR |
IntelliPower - A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance.
IntelliSeek - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration.
NoTouch ramp load technology - The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.
Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) - Employs PMR technology to achieve even greater areal density.
StableTrac™ - The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations. (2 TB models only)
Low power spin-up - WD Caviar Green drives consume less current during startup allowing lower peak loads.
Advanced power technology - Electronic components deliver best-in-class low power consumption for reduced power requirements and increased reliability.
