WD10EACS 00D6B0 at MicroCenter - YMMV

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JazzJackRabbit
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WD10EACS 00D6B0 at MicroCenter - YMMV

Post by JazzJackRabbit » Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:08 pm

Just wanted to share the fact that I just got two 00D6B0 revisions of the 1TB GP drive from my local Microcenter at Downers Grove. We all have read the news but no reliable place to buy them. I emailed ZZF if they knew which revision they carried but never received anything back from them. So after seeing $10 price drop at Microcenter down to $160 for OEM version I decided to try my luck and got two 00D6B0, both made on 12th of May. Both feature smaller PCB compared to previous revisions and both have reenforcement bars at the drive's bottom which previous versions were lacking.

I know for a fact that my Microcenter went out of stock and received new shipment of those drives about a month ago, which probably explains why I got the newest revision. Perhaps if you got Microcenter near you, you could try asking them when did they get the drives, if they did within past month, there is probably a good chance it's the new revision. But of course, it's YMMV.

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Mon Jul 28, 2008 5:20 pm

A couple more notes.

Upon close inspection the drive does not appear to have black round sticker in the center of the drive. Instead the surface at the center is completely flat like on 500GB GP drive. This might be an indication that the platters no longer secured at both ends of the shaft. Of course it's just a conjecture, and I have no way of confirming it.

The drive also seems to respond to WDTLER command (my drives are going to end up in RAID 5 array, so setting TLER is essential).



On a more subjective note I'm impressed with the idle sound of the drive. Very, very smooth. I think I might finally ditch BarraIV I've been keeping for sentimental reasons (naaah... I'm still keeping it for posterity). It's kind of sad that Samsung is taking so long to put out new drives out though. First they've missed out their chance to sell me HD642, and now it looks like I will be buying GP drives instead of EcoGreen.

oberbimbo
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Post by oberbimbo » Fri Aug 01, 2008 1:31 am

So is that the 3 platter 1TB GreenPower?

GreenPower just had a 10% Price Drop in Switzerland making it cheaper than the F1 for the first time, so maybe they finally are shipping it?

Jasper
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Post by Jasper » Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:03 am

I recently purchased a quartet of WD10EACS in .nl and was quite chuffed to find out they actually were the newer 3-platter model. Originally ordered July 9, and they were reported as in stock (but the order was waiting on another component (an AOC-SAT2-MV8) with unknown time) by 22/7. They were shipped on 23/7, the AOC card apparently having arrived by then.

The shop was 4launch.nl, in case people care.

Avalanche
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Post by Avalanche » Mon Aug 04, 2008 7:20 am

Ha ha ha! I learned a new "word" today. :D

chuffed adj generally happy with life. You can also get away with saying you are “unchuffedâ€

line
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Post by line » Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:37 am

I've been trying to source the new revision for a while but so far all of the eBay resellers I've contacted said they stock the old revision. Somehow I get the impression that it remains in production.

florinp3
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Post by florinp3 » Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:16 am

Probably so, this what I got from WD support when I inquired about differentiating between GP revisions:
Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support.

There is no way to guarantee a certain number of platters in a drive. We do not keep track of what serial numbers have how many platters. It depends on what materials where available during the production run of that particular lot of drives.

Sincerely,
[...]

Shemale
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Post by Shemale » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:32 am

Here are some photos of the old (left) and new version (right):
Image Image

I measure the power consumption, and the new version is more energy efficient:
06 oct 2007 drive: 5.77W idle / 3.61W heads unloaded
23 jul 2008 drive : 4.52W idle / 2.86W heads unloaded
Its almost certainly after these values, that the new drive is a 3 platter one.
The noise is a little bit lower compared with the older drive, vibration is the same.

plympton
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Buy.com still has old version...

Post by plympton » Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:30 am

I'm kinda kicking myself, since I wanted the new version, and could have got an internal for about the same price these days, oh well. Looks like Buy.com's OEM bare drive stock is still the old version.

Copying my files over now.. much cooler and quieter than the 2 Samsung's that it's replacing - and they are cool and quiet as it is! Nice.

Looks like the price of the 1tb drives are falling fast - $129 for an internal Cavalry bundle (the old version of the GP drive, it says) now.

-Dan

tracker
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interesting...

Post by tracker » Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:23 am

Hello folks! I just want to say,that i've got my WD10EACS with production date on the label: 06.08.2008 and this drive is from old drives with 4 platters, which is strange for me.
http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 831wj4.jpg

whiic
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Post by whiic » Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:57 pm

I don't see it strange. 4-platter variant is mechanically different from 3-platter variant. They don't want the production line to sit idle until they introduce 1.2-1.5 terabyte 4-platter successors. 4-platter drives probably have a smaller margin for profit but it's still above zero.

KnightRT
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Post by KnightRT » Mon Sep 22, 2008 6:07 pm

Edited. I had some confusion over how I was sent the most recent revision of this drive back in May.

Derek Baker
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Post by Derek Baker » Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:02 am

Just received a new WD10EACS today. It's a 00ZJB0 dated 10 Sept 2008.

Not really bothered as I based my buying decision on the review of the original version here.

samuelmorris
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Post by samuelmorris » Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:38 am

One of my housemates purchased a terabyte greenpower, and it turned out to be a WD10EAVS, which I'd never heard of. Any info on how these compare? It was pretty good, certainly very low vibration and airborne hiss, but it did have a single tonal pitch to it probably around the 19-20dB mark, which can only really be masked by it being in a system which is a bit of a shame. Seek noise seemed relatively firm, but quiet. It's hilarious how much quieter than a 750GB 7200.10 I got it is though (don't kill me, I got it cheap :) )

bgiddins
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Post by bgiddins » Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:00 pm

samuelmorris wrote:One of my housemates purchased a terabyte greenpower, and it turned out to be a WD10EAVS, which I'd never heard of. Any info on how these compare?
See viewtopic.php?p=443343#443343

JazzJackRabbit
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Post by JazzJackRabbit » Tue Dec 16, 2008 6:22 am

FYI WD has changed retail packaging... again... My dad bought drive in new retail packaging and got 3 platter drive as well, although he had even newer revision compared to 00D6B0.

The new packaging has green stripe around the top of the package. If you are buying retail version, look for newer packaging, you'll have a better chance of getting 3 platter drive inside.

bgiddins
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Post by bgiddins » Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:25 pm

Probably the WD10EADS, in which case it will also be 32mb cache. I'm very happy with those drives.

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