Hello,

I think this product is quite straightforward, also known as the HD203WI, it's a high capacity hard drive. I'd like to see some good information on this regarding noise and power consumption. I have donated 25$, perhaps somebody else is also interested in seeing this.

Ideally I'd like to see several high capacity drives (2TB+) reviewed against each other, if anyone else would like to suggest other drives, feel free.

newegg link

geizhals link

This is an excellent review nomination because Samsung simply does not provide HDD samples for any reviewers. At the same time, Samsung HDDs have consistently been among the best rated in our reviews, which makes newer models of very high interest for SPCR. Our previous samples in the past couple of years have come from friendly stores and dedicated readers. Please donate for this review.

25$ from me too !

[EDIT : Darn, I forgot to mention my forum account name...]

$100 sent. Only need a few more people to donate.

Fantastic. I'm going to simply order one now.

I have recently installed three HD203WIs and one HITACHI Deskstar HD32000 IDK/7K (2 TB) on a Biostar TA790 XE. I have compared these, along with an EcoGreen F2 HD103SI 1TB, and a 1 TB Deskstar HD31000, using DiskMark 2.2.0 and HDTune 2.55. I have screen caps from these applications that I will post if someone can tell me how to attach images, or the preferred third party host. I will also happily run other tests if the group requests.

Mounted five in the cage (including one Samsung HD502HJ 500GB 7200RPM), the Samsungs run at least 5*C cooler than my Hitachis, The 500GB Samsung is on the bottom, and the Hitachi is on top. A 120mm Scythe blows intake air directly across the cage. As I type, the disks are relatively idle, and my HD502HJ is 32*C, the Hitachi is 41*, and the HD203WIs range from 35 to 37*, with the one closest to the Hitachi being the warmest. During heavy use, the Hitachis warm up 3-4*C, at most; the Sammies, typically 1-2.

Both makes are very quiet. During seek tests or large transfers, my Hitachis have been just audible above my Scythe fans; the sound of the Samsungs could be missed if one is not paying attention.
Regards!

Another $25 dollars from me, as I am itching to increase my storage by 6TB.

Hopefully one more donation and we're good to go.

Hello,

today, on my Synology DS209, I swapped my two (different) 500GiB drivers (one WD and one Seagate) to 2x Samsung EcoGreen F3 2000GB, SATA II (HD203WI)
After almost 9 hours "checking parity consistency." was completed without errors. Then I checked the SMART values. Both almost equal besides one value:

Disk 1 has Raw_Read_Error_Rate like value:100, worst: 100, threshold: 51, status: ok, raw data: 31
Disk 2 has Raw_Read_Error_Rate like value:100, worst: 100, threshold: 51, status: ok, raw data: 0

I really did not find any useful information on the web yet. My Seagate had very high Raw_Read_Error_Rate, my WD did not, my Seagate had its firmware fixed, the WD was a replacement for a 320 GiB WD that actually broke! Both ran "mostly" normal, only once the Raid1 broke and had to be rebuild (no idea why though, maybe because of different disks).Kindle Wireless Reading Device Electronic Book Reader

Now they are the same model almost the same serial number (like the last 2 parts of the serial number only differ on 2 digits) - am I in danger of a broken Raid 1 soon? How can I interpret the values?

King regards, and Synology: keep up the good work, much better NAS than the Thecus I had 2 years ago (using the DS209 for 1 year now)

Donation sent... We should be at the $200 mark now. Wu-hooo!

There is only one problem with getting a 2TB F3, the 2TB F4 is now out!

http://www.i4u.com/article37039.html

Working on the review.

I'm not able to donate at this point of time, as my wallet is completely emptied.

I would suggest SPCR to review the WD Blue 1 TB (WD10EALS), the successor of the highly popular WD Blue 640 GB (WD6400AAKS), recommended by SPCR themselves. There's practically no thorough review of that drive on the web yet.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Samsung_2 ... een_F3_HDD

Thanks to all who contributed for this review!

Wow, good timing on the review! I was just waiting for midnight to arrive yesterday to order three of these (free shipping after mitnight) and got cold feet upon reading the review.

One question - the WD 1500GB only has 3 platters, whereas this has 4. Would it be safe to assume that the WD 2TB would be louder than the 3 platter model? What's the expert opinion here? I'm looking to put 3 such drives in my computer, so noise is rather important here.

Samsung F2 1.5TB was louder than any WDC i have (WD10EADS - 3x333GB platters, WD20EARS-00S8B1 - 4x500GB platters, WD20EARS-00MVWB0 - 3x666GB platters), so it is a safe to say that 2TB will be louder too. Unless you don't have problems doing the wdidle thing on your drives, your best bet right now is WD20EARS-00MVWB0. In "hdparm -t" test, it averages at 112MB/s, compared to 80-90MB/s of WD20EARS-00S8B1 or 74-87MB/s of WD10EADS.

There is a WD20EADS in the comparison chart on the last page. Comparable level of vibration, much lower noise.

Thanks, I must have missed that. That actually makes the decision a lot closer, seeing as the Samsung is similar in vibration levels, but I've had some bad experiences with WD recently. I'll mull over it until Wednesday before I order.