Surface Temperature

We monitored the surface temperature of the Western Digital Elements Play media player as well as the other two 3.5" external hard disk drives during their benchmarks. The following chart shows their operating temperature range, from idle to maximum load. Please note that instead of giving you the absolute numbers, we are showing the temperature delta, which is the difference between the actual temperature and the ambient room temperature.

It was no surprise to see the Western Digital Elements Play posting such a low surface temperature. Even at full load, it was much cooler than the other two 3.5" external hard disk drives. After all, the hard disk drive in the WD Elements Play has ample space and plenty of ventilation holes surrounding it. The other two hard external disk drives, on the other hand, have much fewer ventilation holes. The Seagate FreeAgent Pro in particular has a very tight form factor with no ventilation holes, and the results speak for themselves.

WinBench 99 Version 2.0

Platter Data Transfer Profile

This drive appears to be limited by its USB transfer rate of just above 19 MB/s. That's an abysmal transfer rate even for USB 2.0, which can reach speeds of 40 MB/s. This is very unfortunate since it would mean you will need to take about twice as long to copy files to the Elements Play drive than other external hard disk drives with faster USB transfer rates.

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!