Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATAIII 6Gb/s 16MB Cache 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive OEM

Had the drive working for One week now in a new build Computer. Performs well, Its Sata 3 so read and write times are good. Is faster than Sata 2 but not spectacularly faster In real world use I find, the data speed within the computer is also affected by what chipset you're motherboard has and what CPU you have. The drive is quite compared to some I've had in the past. Has the jumpers on the back which are used for limiting the speed from 6Gbps to 3Gbps and/or using the PUIS (power up in standby) mode, handy if you have a large raid array to save on power depending on motherboard compatibility and raid type. So overall a good hard drive, quite and for what you get a good price, would buy again for any more new builds in the near future. Any problems with the drive and I will update this review. PS, Two good tips when handling hard drives, always wear a anti-static wrist band if you have one, and once you've taken the hard drive out of the anti-static bag, don't put it back on top of it. The bag is only anti-static on the inside, not the outside.

This drive is identical to the drive supplied with my new Dell workstation and I wanted it to make a bootable Clone so that if the first drive ever fails I can simply swap this in and be back in business immediately. The Western Digital website has a free Acronis software download for use with WD discs and I was very easily able to make my clone using this. The disc arrived extremely well packaged in a wrap-around foam lined box. It is very quiet in operation, runs nice and cool and gives good transfer speeds as I know from the one in my workstation. I trust Western Digital over any other disc manufacturer and I'm very happy with this purchase for what I consider a sensible price. Dave.

There isn't really much to be said about this drive. I bought it to work along side my SSD which houses all my essential programs and the OS. This drive is fast, quiet and hopefully reliable (Western Digital are well know for quality). Basically it does exactly what you want it to do. If you're concerned about the "OEM" thing I can tell you that the drive works perfectly well. The only issue we might have with this drive is the warranty if it breaks down. I'm not entirely sure how OEM licenses work so there might be some issues there. The reason I haven't given it 5 stars is because of the packaging. The drive comes in the standard anti-static bag which is fine but then it just sits in a cardboard box. There is no padding in the box and no form of shock protection. I had this item delivered by special delivery so it was perfectly fine when it got to me but if you have it delivered by standard class I can see it getting bashed around. PS: If this is the first internal drive you have bought then it can be worrying when it doesn't show up right away in my computer when you plug it in to the SATA port. You need to go in to your disk manager and make the partition volume yourself. Basically it's a great drive especially considering the price.

After a hard drive failure in my 2007 iMac there was a big decision to make as to whether go for a new internal or external drive. I knew fitting a new one was not going to be a simple job, but decided it would be worth the effort. Ordered the Western Digital as it was already the make that was in the machine so seemed the right choice and the price on Amazon was incredible (as I had been quoted £200 by an Apple store for drive & fitting!). The drive arrived next day, safe and soundly packaged. Now, it's not a quick or easy job to fit a new drive into the iMac but with two people and a set of torx screwdrivers (bought for £12 from a certain high street car supply store (beginning with H & ending in FORDS!)). Find an online guide - there are plenty around - and TAKE YOUR TIME. All in all it took about an hour and a half to change the drive but that did include a trip to the shop and a darn good clean of all the dust inside. Good idea to have a can of compressed air and a hoover to hand. The drive is lovely and quiet & I now have lots more storage than I did before. Formatted easily once inside and now begins the job of installing all the software again (really must do back ups from now on!) 5 stars all round.

I've had the hard disk installed now for about two weeks. My hard disk failed and i thought it might of been an issue setting up the new one. It wasn't so bad after all. No other settings had to be changed on the motherboard, I just linked up the Sata cable connection, added the power supply and then stuck in the windows disk. Windows formatted the hard disk and hey presto, Bobs your uncle. Of course over time I've had to add the drivers for the other bits and pieces. Delivery was prompt and product works just as it should. No worries. I'd recommend it to anyone. Note the box it comes in is a a bit bigger than the disk, but this is good packaging for you. Make sure you're in when it's delivered or you'll have to pick it up.

I am a dinosaur! My disk drive failed the other day. The data is still on it but it is stuck in a RAW state (technicalities). I need a similar drive to clone my old drive to (the data is backed up but I would still like to clone the drive). Can I go to a shop anymore? No! I am forced to order what is a delicate mechanical device on-line. The sellers might be gentle but you can bet that once it has been kicked around a sorting office and delivery van it is 50/50 whether it will work. Mine didn't. Despite mediocre package it arrived with a dented case, that takes some force! (Take it from me who tries smashing these things with a sledge hammer when they are end of life, they are tough beasts). When attached to a PC it ticks loudly like a grandfather clock, will not format and is not recognised by WD SMART software and is stuck in RAW. In yesteryear I could go to a local PC component retailer and buy a disk at least under the illusion that they have just lifted it gently from a shelf before giving it to me! Bottom line is item did not work. Bottom, bottom line is I've ordered another one on-line from a different seller. Here's hoping!

had this a couple of months. installed no problem. I've got a asus p5k mobo which does take sata 3 but no real speed increase from sata 2 to be honest. it is quiet as well which is nice. needed this to replace my 4 year old 250 gig caviar blue sata 2 drive which died on me. I like wd I've had no problems with them at all and up to now this is just as reliable as the rest. pleased with it and should last another few years

Hello, After looking at many hard drives on Amazon there where cheaper ones and "green drives" but after some research I decided to get a more expensive one and I am glad I made that choice. The drive installed the OS no problem and boots up fine, although I am going to be getting an SSD shortly and use this drive for my main files. I believe hard drives only have another few more years before SSDs will be the main drive. If you are looking for a hard drive I recommend buying this one, I will be buying more in the future to RAID my current one. Thank you