WD Caviar 1 Terabyte Green SATA HDD

Product Summary

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...as more and more users come to accept less from their PC's in terms of processing power and performance, the consistent trend of combining technology with environmental awareness Western Digital might have something with their Caviar Green HDD lineup. For the most part it does an adequate job of combining generally expected casual tasks for today’s computing needs with notable power saving features that could put some ease of mind for you and your wallet in the long-term. That said for those people who ask for the very best and taxing abilities for their computers will probably be disappointed by the trade-off of reduced speed and performance for better economical efficiency... Manufacturer: Western Digital Model Number: WD10EACS Price: $229.99

Written by Herman Exum

We live in an age where operating a computer is as common as brushing your teeth, indeed we’ve all but fully embraced the concept of everyday technology being a vital part of our lives. We may be moving forward, but during the recent years the undeniable focus of being environmentally friendly has also played a prominent role on how things have changed, not only on how we live but how things are made to accommodate the self-satisfaction of “going green”.

In an effort to provide plenty of space capacity for your digital needs with a pronounced balance of efficient performance for energy-conscious computer users out there, Western Digital puts itself on the sensible forefront with their latest Green lineup of Caviar Series Hard Drives. At a glance there isn’t much for the common person to differentiate this storage unit from any others with technical specifications that are decent and the attraction of less energy usage (with long-term advantages of equal power and lower electricity bills) for those who happen to have their computers on all the time. Storage-wise the Caviar Green Internal HDD holds impressive numbers with 500GB (WD5000AACS), 750GB (WD7500AACS), and my tested WD10EACS model which has a 1TB (terabyte/1000GB) of space. Those figures alone would leave many impressed, but because this is one of the few available hard drives labeled as eco-friendly operation noise is kept to a minimum resulting a quieter PC, these appear to be more than empty claims during my experience with this hard drive as that familiar humming sound of processing was almost non-existent.

Performance is something that any storage device should have, so how does this green device do when handling everyday tasks of running programs and accessing your favorite media? Despite being tailored as a hybrid of sorts (people love those hybrids!) the WD Caviar Green does an admirable job of promptly loading up the applications I use everyday like Photoshop and low-profile programs that work in the background, but beyond the common stuff is where the deficiencies begin to arise.  Extensive procedures such as installation and file transfers aren’t the better traits whenever you put this hard drive through the medium-duty wringer as things can begin to take a more leisurely pace in speed, and performing multiple tasks at once could be a test of patience even  with its unique IntelliPower feature, which can change operation speeds between 5400-7200RPM with 16MB of cache data available. The total package from Western Digital is quite minimalistic as well, with only the included hard drive and manual occupying the box. There aren’t any supplemental cables which are of SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) interface instead of the standard ATA/EIDE attachments, so you’ll have to purchase additional dedicated cables or adapter(s) yourself, a slight disadvantage for those with older motherboard computers.  They weren't kidding when they said they were going green!

But as more and more users come to accept less from their PC's in terms of processing power and performance, the consistent trend of combining technology with environmental awareness Western Digital might have something with their Caviar Green HDD lineup. For the most part it does an adequate job of combining generally expected casual tasks for today’s computing needs with notable power saving features that could put some ease of mind for you and your wallet in the long-term.  That said for those people who ask for the very best and taxing abilities for their computers will probably be disappointed by the trade-off of reduced speed and performance for better economical efficiency. Even with the criticisms going green might have potential after all, as long as you keep those expectations of performance in check.