Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA Hard Drive Review

The cost of hard drive storage keeps getting cheaper and cheaper, while the capacity getting larger and larger. A year ago, 1TB drives were several hundred dollars. Now, they’re only a few tens of dollars more than their 750 GB and 500 GB brethren. Earlier this summer, Western Digital introduced three series of hard drives: Green, Blue, and Black. The Green series is for power-friendly applications, Blue for standard drives, and Black for performance. ThinkComputers presents its review of the largest in the Black series, the 1 TB WD1001FALS.

Features & Specifications
– Model number: WD1001FALS
– Capacity: 1,000,204 MB
– Size: 3.5″
– Cache: 32 MB
– Interface: 3 Gbps SATA
– Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
– Load/unload cycles: 5,000
– Power requirements: 2.075A peak, 8.4W read/write, 7.8W idle, 1W standby
– Shock resistance: 30G for 2ms during read, 65G for 2ms during read/write, 250G for 1 ms while non-operational
– Acoustics: 24 dBA idle, 33 dBA performance seek, 29 dBA quiet seek
– Warranty: 5 years
– Dual processors
– StableTrac, NoTouch ramp load technology
– Perpendicular Magnetic Recording
– Includes a SATA cable and drive screws

First Looks
There’s nothing outwardly unique about the WD Caviar Black 1 TB. It simply bears the WD Caviar Black logo on the label and has the standard information regarding the drive’s various certifications and physical specifications.

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA Hard Drive

The interface is a standard internal SATA connector for the data and power connections.

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA Hard Drive

The Insides
The WD Caviar Black series includes three technologies which have greatly advanced the mechanical architecture of WD hard drives. I thought it appropriate to highlight some of these features mentioned in the documentation which accompanied my review unit.

In a StableTrac drive, the “motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations.”

NoTouch ramp load technology causes the recording head never to touch the disk media. The result is “less wear on the recording head and media, as well as better drive protection in transit.”
PMR-perpendicular magnetic recording-is a technology best described by Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpendicular_recording).

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