# Western Digital Caviar Creen 2TB at Best Buy for $80 - good choice?



## oregonman (Jul 1, 2002)

Best Buy has a WD 2TB drive in retail packaging for $79.99:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western...rive/9234465.p?id=1218064150518&skuId=9234465

They list it as the Model WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN - no mention of the WD20???? designation, but I searched and found the following post here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8507588&highlight=WDBAAY0020HNC#post8507588

that says: The drive inside the WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN is a WD20EACS with a 16MB cache and the sticker on the top of the drive has the advanced format warning.

I am looking for a drive to upgrade my Premiere. I was hoping to get one soon for around $80 and was wondering if this is a good choice or if it should be avoided. I can't find either another WD or Hitachi at the $80 price point right now, though Fry's has a Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB for $77 right now. But the Seagates don't seem to be popular here and I found one post from someone who had problems with this drive.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

I recently got the WD20EARS at amazon.com for $70.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

ThAbtO said:


> I recently got the WD20EARS at amazon.com for $70.


You can take it back and pay $79 at Best Buy...


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

the prices are about to take a jump due to the production problems. get them cheap while you can.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

oregonman said:


> Best Buy has a WD 2TB drive in retail packaging for $79.99:
> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western...rive/9234465.p?id=1218064150518&skuId=9234465
> 
> They list it as the Model WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN - no mention of the WD20???? designation, but I searched and found the following post here:
> ...


If that little wrap-around sticker says 16MB cache, it's most likely a WD20EACS.

Go to the store and look at the bottom of each box. If you find one that says WD20000CSRTL, it's most likely an older WD20EADS, which is 32MB of cache, 3.0 Gb/s, jumperable down to 1.5, and the old non-advanced format 512 byte sector type. The little wrap-around sticker may say 32MB, or it may just say 2TB. You can take them to customer service to pay, and tell them you want to open it up to make sure it's a WD20EADS (you can see the label through the anti-static bag without opening it.

They should ring up as the same price as the WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN.

I wish the Best Buy here still had some, 'cause you don't have to do any voodoo to get them to work with Windows XP, and they should work in any TiVo that can handle a 2TB drive.

They're also good for using on an XP machine running Windows Desktop.

You format them as one big NTFS partition, and you can have as many as you can get your computer to run, have the "My TiVo Recordings" folder on a different, faster drive, and put shortcuts to them on that drive so the TiVo can see them, and transfer to the faster drive and then sort them into folders on the EADS'es.


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## Stuxnet (Feb 9, 2011)

oregonman said:


> Best Buy has a WD 2TB drive in retail packaging for $79.99:
> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western...rive/9234465.p?id=1218064150518&skuId=9234465
> 
> They list it as the Model WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN - no mention of the WD20???? designation, but I searched and found the following post here:
> ...


That BB drive looks to be the current offering from WD, and that's a good price. Per the WD site, it comes with AF and a 32MB cache. I don't know if there's any history with that drive, but the other WD green drives have performed well for TiVo.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Stuxnet said:


> That BB drive looks to be the current offering from WD, and that's a good price. Per the WD site, it comes with AF and a 32MB cache. I don't know if there's any history with that drive, but the other WD green drives have performed well for TiVo.


If you enlarge the picture on the Best Buy page, you see the little wrap-around sticker on the right says 16MB, which almost certainly means the WD20EACS.

I don't know of a Caviar Green with 32MB of cache and advanced format.

The WD20EADS is 32MB, but 512 byte sector, non-advanced format.


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## Stuxnet (Feb 9, 2011)

unitron said:


> I don't know of a Caviar Green with 32MB of cache and advanced format.


You can't miss the WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN on the WD web store. It clearly states 32MB and AF.

I wouldn't trust the BB web photo. I've seen incorrect photos on NewEgg WD drives, and it would surprise me that BB has done the same. Instead, buy the model number, not the photo.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

unitron said:


> I don't know of a Caviar Green with 32MB of cache and advanced format.
> 
> The WD20EADS is 32MB, but 512 byte sector, non-advanced format.


Does Tivo take advantage of more cache and AFS?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Stuxnet said:


> You can't miss the WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN on the WD web store. It clearly states 32MB and AF.
> 
> I wouldn't trust the BB web photo. I've seen incorrect photos on NewEgg WD drives, and it would surprise me that BB has done the same. Instead, buy the model number, not the photo.


Buy the model number on the sticker on the drive, not the model number on the box.

I don't trust anyone's photo. Not even Western Digital's.

Back in May of this year (2011) I bought a WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN from J&R based on the photo on their site which showed the box with the 32MB on the wraparound sticker, and their photos on Amazon which actually showed the top of the drive sticker of a WD20EADS, which was what I wanted.

When the package arrived the bottom of the box said

WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN

and the sticker on top of the drive said WD20EACS

Apparently WD has some stock numbers that they use for whatever they feel like putting in the box at any given time.

The 2TB WD Elements external is known for containing anything from the EACS up to a Caviar Black.

With the floods in Thailand, we're probably going to see a bunch of counterfeits anyway.

And that WD link you give clearly states 32MB, but as to advanced format, you have to read the fine print and interpret that where they say (RS and RSDTL models only) they mean the RS in WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN

You'd think drive makers would brag about the new 4k sectors big time, but they all work overtime to make it a chore to find out which models do or don't have them.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Soapm said:


> Does Tivo take advantage of more cache and AFS?


No.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Soapm said:


> Does Tivo take advantage of more cache and AFS?


I'm not sure if it's been settled beyond all question whether which models of TiVo do or don't have any problems with "advanced format".

Admittedly my understanding of the whole TiVo partitioning scheme is limited, but then again I'm no expert on the DOS way either.


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## oregonman (Jul 1, 2002)

These are on sale again for $79.99.

Thanks for all the info. The price had gone back up before I had a chance to read the replies, so I didn't end up getting it. I did check one Best Buy and the drives on the shelf were the advanced format version according to the info provided in unitron's post.

I'll probably check another Best Buy and see if they have any of the old versions on the shelf and get one if they do. It sounds like the newer version should work fine as several people apparently use advanced format drives without problems, but I ended up hooking up an old DVR expander drive that I had, thinking that I might not see decent prices on drives for a while, so if they only have the newer drives, I'll pass and wait to upgrade for a while.


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## Guy Kuo (Feb 10, 1999)

I use a WD20EURS (4K block advanced format) drive without difficulty in a Premiere XL. You should be fine with an advance format drive in a Premiere XL.


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## qdemn7 (Jun 7, 2005)

I picked one up at a BB here in Fort Worth, and got a WD20EARS - 64MB cache. So I'm happy. Going to upgrade my Premiere to 2TB using JMFS.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

qdemn7 said:


> I picked one up at a BB here in Fort Worth, and got a WD20EARS - 64MB cache. So I'm happy. Going to upgrade my Premiere to 2TB using JMFS.


What is the model number on the bottom of the box?

Perspiring minds want to know.


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## Gai-jin (Feb 28, 2000)

For the slight price difference, it looks like you could get a 64MB cache for sure with this one:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western...tops/9837529.p?id=1218253426139&skuId=9837529


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Gai-jin said:


> For the slight price difference, it looks like you could get a 64MB cache for sure with this one:
> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Western...tops/9837529.p?id=1218253426139&skuId=9837529


That appears to be the bare drive, not a retail box, if that matters to anyone. All WD is putting in their retail boxes these days is 4 screws.

The 16MB of cache of the WD20EACS should be more than enough for a TiVo.

And it's $13 more.

Thanks for the link, though, it's interesting to see that Best Buy seems to be holding down hard drive prices more than most everybody else. Maybe they'll have something really good on Black Friday.

And, of course, for anyone looking specifically for a WD20EARS for some other application it's a good find considering what others are doing with prices just now.


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## qdemn7 (Jun 7, 2005)

unitron said:


> What is the model number on the bottom of the box?
> 
> Perspiring minds want to know.


WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

qdemn7 said:


> WDBAAY0020HNC-NRSN


There's a wrap-around sticker on the right hand side of the front of the box.

Does the part that wraps around to the right hand side of the box say anything about cache size or does it just say 2TB?

Thanks in advance for the intel


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## qdemn7 (Jun 7, 2005)

unitron said:


> There's a wrap-around sticker on the right hand side of the front of the box.
> 
> Does the part that wraps around to the right hand side of the box say anything about cache size or does it just say 2TB?
> 
> Thanks in advance for the intel


Just 2TB, nothing about cache.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

qdemn7 said:


> Just 2TB, nothing about cache.


Okay, thanks, I guess that box number is their generic "It's a Caviar Green and it's 2TB and it's whichever one we have handy at the moment".


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## lkinley (Mar 28, 2002)

Mine ended up being an EARX; SATA III model w/ 64MB cache. Nice!


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## BigBud (May 20, 2012)

Hey!
If some one wants to change his HDD to newer one!!!
I strongly need WD20eacs 2tb with 16mb cash!!!
I will buy used but working HDD for the price of new one (135$).

Write me on my e-mail or here!


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

BigBud said:


> Hey!
> If some one wants to change his HDD to newer one!!!
> I strongly need WD20eacs 2tb with 16mb cash!!!
> I will buy used but working HDD for the price of new one (135$).
> ...


Are you seriously going to pay $135 for a hard drive when you can get one new for lower price?
WD20EACS is an older model when WD20EARX is the newest.

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Desktop-WD20EARX/dp/B004VFJ9MK/ref=wl_mb_recs_1_dp

Best price so far.

But if you are going to use it in a Tivo, you would need to use JMFS.


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## L David Matheny (Jan 29, 2011)

BigBud said:


> Hey!
> If some one wants to change his HDD to newer one!!!
> I strongly need WD20eacs 2tb with 16mb cash!!!
> I will buy used but working HDD for the price of new one (135$).
> ...


OK, just out of curiosity, why do you need a drive with only 16MB of cache? Having more cache than that is certainly no problem in a TiVo. What are you planning to do with the drive?


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## BigBud (May 20, 2012)

* L David Matheny, ThAbtO,* Ok
I've bought a year ago WD20EACS and putted all my data on it with all pics with my little son. And my son dropped it on the floor. So the specialist told me that I need to buy the same HDD as mine was for recovering data.
He will use parts from working one to fix old broken one. 
I can't find it. I've got WD20EARX but it is not what I need to recover my data.

*So if some one have it please sell it to me.*

My sister live in US, so she can pay with paypall or Visa or cash.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

BigBud said:


> * L David Matheny, ThAbtO,* Ok
> I've bought a year ago WD20EACS and putted all my data on it with all pics with my little son. And my son dropted it on the floor. So the specialist tald me that I need to buy the same HDD as mine was.
> I can't find it. I've got WD20EARX but it is not what I need to recover my data.
> 
> *So if some one have it please sell it to me.*


If the problem with your hard drive is that printed circuit board on the bottom, but the actual heads and platters inside are still good, then getting the exact same drive (which means both the same model and the same firmware) would let you transfer the board from the good drive to the damaged one and maybe retrieve your data, but no guarantees.

But if the problem is with the heads and/or the platters inside the drive, another drive of the same model won't help, and your only hope would be one of those data recovery outfits that charge very painful prices.

One of those outfits will already have or be able to get another of the same model drive if they need it.

How far did the drive fall when it hit the floor?

Was it running at the time?

Was it in a case of some sort?

Have you actually hooked it up to a motherboard and tested it?

If so, what happened?

Did it make any unusual noises, and if so, what kind?


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## BigBud (May 20, 2012)

It was an external HDD in a box. 
HDD fall from 1.5 feet.
It was working but a while (cant reed some folders -> freez)
Then it stopped working. The lamp is blinking, the HDD is spinning (i feel it).
Specialist took the boxes apart and said that the heads are broken, so he need new one to replace or old HDD to new box or new heads to old box.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

BigBud said:


> It was an external HDD in a box.
> HDD fall from 1.5 feet.
> It was working but a while (cant reed some folders -> freez)
> Then it stopped working. The lamp is blinking, the HDD is spinning (i feel it).
> Specialist took the boxes apart and said that the heads are broken, so he need new one to replace or old HDD to new box or new heads to old box.


I gather that you yourself, and the drive, and this specialist, are outside of the United States?

If you were not, I would question if that specialist knew what they were doing, but perhaps they do but have trouble getting parts.

Did he remove the drive from the external enclosure?

Or did he actually open up the drive itself so that the heads and platters were showing?


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## BigBud (May 20, 2012)

That specialist fixed me videocard in my laptop once. So i believe him. And it is my last hope. I don't want to pay for outfits. I think i can afford 135$ for trying. But outfits wants more.
He opened up the drive itself so that the heads and platters were showing (the sticker is broken).
I'm in Belarus, but my sister is in US.


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