Buying WD External Drives
May 18, 2016 10:44:57 #
I've read in this forum that WD puts out four different qualities of drives and that they are color-coded. I'm told that the black coded ones are the best. If I'm purchasing online, how am I supposed to know which color code is the one I'm looking at? The only coding on the ones I have is on the box, and once the box has been thrown away, who knows? Is there some other way to tell the coding besides the packaging?
May 18, 2016 10:55:00 #
May 18, 2016 11:47:26 #
Check the WD site and compare pictures with your drive.
http://www.wdc.com/en/
http://www.wdc.com/en/
AzPicLady wrote:
I've read in this forum that WD puts out four different qualities of drives and that they are color-coded. I'm told that the black coded ones are the best. If I'm purchasing online, how am I supposed to know which color code is the one I'm looking at? The only coding on the ones I have is on the box, and once the box has been thrown away, who knows? Is there some other way to tell the coding besides the packaging?
May 18, 2016 13:34:49 #
Glide1340 wrote:
The label on the pysical drive is color coded as well.
I have studied every inch of my WD drives. There is NO color code on the drives themselves that I can find. Can you tell me where it is?
May 18, 2016 14:00:54 #
AzPicLady wrote:
I have studied every inch of my WD drives. There is NO color code on the drives themselves that I can find. Can you tell me where it is?
The plastic (non-metal part) case IS THE COLOR CODE. Depending on the series, they are black, blue, gold, red, green !
Ken
May 18, 2016 14:33:47 #
KennyMac wrote:
The plastic (non-metal part) case IS THE COLOR CODE. Depending on the series, they are black, blue, gold, red, green !
Ken
Ken
That's strange. ALL of mine are in black cases, even when the color code on the box is blue or green.
May 18, 2016 18:36:30 #
AzPicLady wrote:
I've read in this forum that WD puts out four different qualities of drives and that they are color-coded. I'm told that the black coded ones are the best. If I'm purchasing online, how am I supposed to know which color code is the one I'm looking at? The only coding on the ones I have is on the box, and once the box has been thrown away, who knows? Is there some other way to tell the coding besides the packaging?
So all of one model that comes in different case colors and are the same price are different quality???
I can't imagine that being true. Different models maybe, but not different case colors within a model.
May 18, 2016 19:00:20 #
Longshadow wrote:
So all of one model that comes in different case colors and are the same price are different quality???
I can't imagine that being true. Different models maybe, but not different case colors within a model.
I can't imagine that being true. Different models maybe, but not different case colors within a model.
I've never seen one that had other than black as its plastic case color. But I was told by a fellow at Best Buy and also one on this forum who said that there are 4 different "qualities" of them - that black was best.
May 18, 2016 19:18:58 #
May 18, 2016 19:52:48 #
AzPicLady wrote:
I've read in this forum that WD puts out four different qualities of drives and that they are color-coded. I'm told that the black coded ones are the best. If I'm purchasing online, how am I supposed to know which color code is the one I'm looking at? The only coding on the ones I have is on the box, and once the box has been thrown away, who knows? Is there some other way to tell the coding besides the packaging?
Look for the warranty - your best option is to get a drive with a 5 yr warranty and purchase an external drive case - usually around $20 for a passively vented one, and $35 for one with a fan. Going this route is a bit more costly, but it is much better than the junk they sell to your average consumer for around $100.
May 18, 2016 20:10:33 #
AzPicLady wrote:
I've never seen one that had other than black as its plastic case color. But I was told by a fellow at Best Buy and also one on this forum who said that there are 4 different "qualities" of them - that black was best.
I can see four different models being of different quality, but the same model in a different color case, wouldn't it be the same quality? I cannot follow the logic there for different color cases for the same model being any better or worse.
May 18, 2016 21:37:45 #
May 19, 2016 06:50:07 #
Not WD specific, but this extensive report (actually many reports) is something that you may find interesting regarding HD reliability.
https://www.backblaze.com/b2/hard-drive-test-data.html
https://www.backblaze.com/b2/hard-drive-test-data.html
May 19, 2016 07:09:49 #
AzPicLady wrote:
I've read in this forum that WD puts out four different qualities of drives and that they are color-coded. I'm told that the black coded ones are the best. If I'm purchasing online, how am I supposed to know which color code is the one I'm looking at? The only coding on the ones I have is on the box, and once the box has been thrown away, who knows? Is there some other way to tell the coding besides the packaging?
You must be talking about WD drives. They will have the model name on the drive, usually the same color as the drive model, as Glide1340 said. I used to buy the Black model, but then I heard about Red, designed for NAS that get lots of use. Then I heard about their Re drive (Yes, they make both Red and Re - brilliant move). It's an enterprise class drive, designed to run 24/7. The next drive I buy will be a Hitachi, recently bought by WD. Excellent quality.
http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00HHAJRU0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1K6S0U4KGY5NH&coliid=I18K8FUZFOXLUP&psc=1
Some good links. Buying a bargain hard drive is like buying a bargain parachute.
http://www.backblaze.com/blog/best-hard-drive/
http://improvephotography.com/31924/best-hard-drive-for-photographers/
http://lifehacker.com/how-long-will-my-hard-drives-really-last-1700405627
http://www.zdnet.com/article/solid-state-disks-lose-data-if-left-without-power-for-just-a-few-days/
http://the10bestreview.com/top-10-best-external-hard-drives-in-2015-reviews/
May 19, 2016 08:26:10 #
AzPicLady wrote:
I've read in this forum that WD puts out four different qualities of drives and that they are color-coded. I'm told that the black coded ones are the best. If I'm purchasing online, how am I supposed to know which color code is the one I'm looking at? The only coding on the ones I have is on the box, and once the box has been thrown away, who knows? Is there some other way to tell the coding besides the packaging?
It depends on your use. WD Blue are the Data room models Red are for NAS (I think so be sure to look at the WD site) and Black are for internal desktop. My WD Cloud had WD red 4 tb drives. I am looking at purchasing 2 6tb SATA blues for my desktop though to use for Lightroom / Photoshop storage. These drives would be shared with the other computers on the network. My WD Cloud is strictly used for internet distribution.
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