Seagate pipeline HD 2 500 gb v WD caviar green 500 gb ?

[mikk]

For use in a dual bay usb external hdd for movie storage/playback which would be preferable ? The western digital is going for more money on fleabay.

specs' :
Brand Western Digital
Model Caviar Green


Key Features
Enclosure Internal
Hard Drive Type HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
Capacity 500 GB
Buffer Size 32 MB
Spindle Speed 7200 RPM
Interface SATA I, SATA II, USB 2.0
Designation Desktop Computer


Technical Details
Platform PC
External Data Transfer Rate 300 Mbps
Internal Data Transfer Rate 108 Mbit/s
Form Factor 3.5" x 1/3H (Low Profile)
Average Latency 4.17 ms
Sound Emission 29 dB
Hot Swap Yes


Dimensions
Height 2.62 cm (1.03 in.)
Width 10.16 cm (4 in.)
Depth 14.71 cm (5.79 in.)
Weight 0.73 kg


Brand Seagate
Model Pipeline HD


Key Features
Enclosure Internal
Hard Drive Type HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
Capacity 500 GB
Buffer Size 8 MB
Spindle Speed 5900 RPM
Interface SATA I, SATA II
Designation Desktop Computer


Technical Details
External Data Transfer Rate 300 Mbps
Form Factor 3.5", 3.5" x 1/4H (Ultra Low Profile)
Seek Time 14 ms
Average Latency 5.08 ms
Hot Swap Yes


Dimensions
Height 2.03 cm (0.8 in.)
Width 10.19 cm (4.01 in.)
Depth 14.71 cm (5.79 in.)
Weight 0.42 kg

[happy_highlander]

For a start the spec on the wd Green is wrong. They don't run at 7200rpm They have intelli something or other which means they run at the lowest possible speed to do the task you are asking of them. This is the reason they are classed as green drives. The maximum they run at is around the 5400rpm mark. It is fast enough to do what you want but also keeps the temperature down making them ideal for extended use which is what you want it for. You should however consider one of the nas drives like the wd red range or other manufactures equivalent. These tend to have been tested in a 24/7 environment and the wd comes with a 2 or 3 year warranty and they aren't a lot more expensive.

[mikk]

I opted for the wd caviars, stuck two in my usb hdd enclosure, but they are not fully visible to my pc. 'Not fully' - as in 'devices' they are visible but from 'computer' nothing? So I cannot format or use.? Any ideas?

[happy_highlander]

Map them as network drives from devices if you can. You shouldn't need to format them for use in Windows they should be good to go

[mikk]

Tried that, nocando. The drives should be instantly visible being usb. I can't remember having trouble with the previous 300g drives?

[happy_highlander]

Do you have another enclosure or desktop you can try the drives in one at a time or use minitool partition wizard to format them. It seems unlikely that you could have 2 faulty drives but one may throwing up an error. May even be with trying them one at a time in the enclosure you have

[mikk]

Tried them on another laptop with same result. I will try them one at a time tomorrow.

[mikk]

Not appearing with one at a time either. On the front of the hdd there are jumper options- 'spread spectrum clocking', 'power up in standby', 'enable 1.5gb PHY' Do I need the second option?

[happy_highlander]

Never seen any jumper set on usb drive m8. If they are set that may be your problem.