# What about this western digital drive in bolt?



## Mad Davey (Nov 29, 2016)

This is an external drive, has anyone tried to open it and use the disk in the bolt or does anyone know why not? See the link, it makes me wonder why WD doesn't sell anything over 1tb as a bare 2.5"?

WD 3TB Black My Passport Ultra Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 : WDBBKD0030BBK-NESN

I purchased the Seagate 5tb 2.5in drive but after some reading on this forum I think I will send it back due to people saying that shingle write tech doesn't work well and fails in a year. I want reliable, way past a couple years preferably. I've had bad luck with Seagate in the past in addition. I need at least 2tb, preferably more.

Is the only real solution going to be having an external 3.5" instead, what other reliable drives are there that fit inside?

I know there are a ton of threads about drives so I apologize in advance.


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

I believe that those WD externals are hard soldered with usb connectors -- that is no sata connector is inside.


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## Mad Davey (Nov 29, 2016)

Rats, so what are the biggest RELIABLE 2.5" drives available?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Mad Davey said:


> Rats, so what are the biggest RELIABLE 2.5" drives available?


When I bought a basic Premiere I bought, from TiVo, the WD external My Book 1TB drive. I then bought a basic Roamio, and put the Premier in a box. I now had a 1TB drive on the shelf. So I opened the external and found a WD10EURX. I removed the drive and installed it in my Roamio. It worked perfectly for a year then started have errors on recordings. These got worse, only on recordings, not real time TV. I ordered a new WD10EURX and installed it and it has been perfect. I have another basic Roamio with a WD30EURX. I don't have 4k, so no reason to buy a Bolt. Yet.

The external drive is not soldered in. The new WD10EURX dropped my motherboard temp by 3C.


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## Mad Davey (Nov 29, 2016)

The Toshiba 3tb 2.5" is looking like a very good option.

Joe, as I've just learned there is something new that seems to effecting 2.5" portable drive enclosures. They are soldering the SATA to USB controllers directly to the hard disk, eliminating some connectors and perhaps some electronics. I have not yet seen or heard of this with the 3.5" drives such as yours, however it's likely to be happening as well on some models.

Fyi, Bolt will only accommodate a 2.5" drive but luckily any thickness not just the thin ones. Internally that is.


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## Mad Davey (Nov 29, 2016)

As far as I can tell after exhaustive research at the time of this post there are no reliable options over 3tb for direct fit into a bolt. I am hoping the 3tb Toshiba is the answer. The longer three year warranty and 600,000 hour rating is much more inspiring than most Seagates. There is a Seagate 2tb firecuda with 5 year warranty, however I have personally had very bad luck with Seagate (years of building pc's). It seems to me 2.5" drives in dvr's is a new thing and inherently due to size, reliability may suffer no matter what. This makes a strong case for external 3.5" drives.


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