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Western Digital Caviar® WD400BB 40 GB ATA-100 Hard Drive
Price Range:
$20.00 to $107.77
Western Digital - the leader for high quality hard drives, introduces the Caviar - a high performance hard disk drive. This series uses...
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Western Digital - the leader for high quality hard drives, introduces the Caviar - a high performance hard disk drive. This series uses Western Digital's proven technology and quality manufacturing to deliver outstanding performance and reliability. Western Digital hard drives are specifically designed and tested for flawless operation in your equipment. Its large capacity and high speed make it the perfect choice for demanding applications. The Caviar offers superior quality and reliability at an affordable price.
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5 Reviews from Shopping.com
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Put your life... Someplace else.
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Competitively priced, easy to install, readily available at many electronics retailers.
Cons: Unreliable.
The Bottom Line:
Unless you enjoy living dangerously with your data, avoid this drive.
You may think I have a personal vendetta against Western Digital; however, I do not. I own several of their drives, including a 20GB 7200 RPM drive that I have run nonstop in my Linux server for over a year since I bought it. I always recommended Western Digital and aside from an abused (used as a troubleshooting component while repairing PCs) 420MB drive that failed several years ago, I had NEVER had another problem with their drives. This drive changed the way I felt about Western Digital.
The first one worked fine for about four months. It then began making a loud high-pitched noise that fluctuated in and out while it was powered on. While performance seemed unaffected, it was annoying nonetheless. After two more months, I was unable to access a file on the system, so I ran Scandisk - sure enough, after it finally finished its "thorough" check, the drive had gotten bad sectors and lost some of my files. I played a game of cat and mouse with this drive for a few weeks. I used the Data Lifeguard Tools to "restore the drive to error free status", then Scandisk found more bad sectors. I finally tired of the game and got the drive replaced through the reseller I bought it from (who thankfully, offer a one year in-store warranty in addition to the manufacturer's warranty).
The second drive only made it a month before problems began. I turned on the computer one morning and Windows would not load. The system hung while trying to read the drive. Out comes the Data Lifeguard Tools disk - AGAIN. Yet again, Data Lifeguard Tools saved the day and restored the drive to "error free status", and a quick scankdisk later everything was back to normal. While I'm pleased Data Lifeguard Tools works as advertised, I'd much rather have a reliable product that doesn't need a Band-Aid fix to remain "error free". If this is the state Western Digital's products have degenerated into, I will no longer purchase or recommend them.
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