Western Digital AV-GP Drives
Western Digital divides their internal hard drives into four distinct families :
- the WD Caviar Blue for their basic models,
- the WD Caviar Green for their quieter, cooler hard drives,
- the WD Caviar Black for their performance-grade hard drives, and finally,
- the WD AV for their CE (consumer electronics) model.
At press time, Western Digital has two AV models. The older WD AV drives run at full 7,200 RPM but have a maximum storage capacity of 500 GB. Their newer WD AV-GP drives are based on the award-winning WD Caviar Green drives which Western Digital claims has 4-5 watts lower power consumption compared to their competitors. They claim this is equivalent to reducing CO2 emissions by 13.8 kg per year. Of course, that's a mere drop in the ocean but if you can help save the environment while you work or play on your computer, why not?
The Western Digital AV-GP drives are targeted at consumer electronics (CE) applications, such as PVRs, DVRs and CCTV systems. Hence, they have a feature set that focuses on this segment :
- Long-Term Reliability - These drives are designed to last in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR, DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders.
- Quiet - Noise levels have been minimized to less than one sone* - virtually below the threshold of human hearing.
- Reduced Power Consumption - WD has reduced power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to competitors' drives with the combination of WD's IntelliSeek, IntelliPark, and IntelliPower technologies.
- Compatible - Tested for compatibility in a broad range of AV products including set top boxes, DVD recorders, and mainstream surveillance systems.
- SilkStream - Optimized for smooth, continuous digital video playback of up to twelve simultaneous HD streams. SilkStream is compatible with the ATA streaming command set so CE customers can use standard streaming management and error recovery options.
- IntelliSeek - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
- IntelliPark - Delivers lower power consumption by automatically unloading the heads during idle to reduce aerodynamic drag.
- Preemptive Wear Leveling (PWL) - The drive arm frequently sweeps across the disk to reduce uneven wear on the drive surface common to audio video streaming applications.
Today, we will look at Western Digital's largest capacity AV-GP hard disk drive - the WD20EVDS. This hard disk drive is not only quieter and cooler than regular hard disk drive, it also packs a whooping storage capacity of 2 terabytes! Let's take a look!
Packaging
Like most OEM-packed hard drives, the WD AV-GP 2 TB hard disk drive came in just a sealed anti-static plastic packet with a sachet of dessicants to keep it dry. Other than the sparse packaging (and no documentation), this OEM-packed drive is no different from the retail version, right down to the 3-year warranty.
All you need to do is just cut open the plastic packet and slide out the drive. Be sure to ground yourself before removing and handling the hard disk drive as static can damage it. In particular, you should try to avoid touching the exposed PCB located at the base of the drive.
If you like your packaging or need to deliver this hard disk drive by mail, you can always opt for the retail version of the drive. It comes with its own box and proper padding to ensure the drive survives a mail delivery. Of course, the retail package comes with a price premium as well.
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