Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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rpsgc
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Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:24 am

If you value silence (and your sane mind) do not buy the Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gbps (WD10EALX).

- It doesn't support AAM (WD must be mad)
- It emits an annoying and nerve-wreaking hum (and yes, it's suspended!)


I assumed the WD10EALX was similar to the WD10EALS but I was wrong. Don't fall for the same mistake.

WD should be ashamed for releasing this crap.

loimlo
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by loimlo » Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:38 am

I am not surprised by WD's AAM removal action........ Hitachi already jumped on the bandwagon during the later period of 7K2000 manufacturing. There's also no love for 7K3000 now. :|

vick1000
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by vick1000 » Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:44 am

Huh, I have two of them, and they are just as quiet as the 500AAKS they replaced. They are just used for storage though.

ccwrc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by ccwrc » Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:38 pm

rpsgc wrote: - It doesn't support AAM (WD must be mad)
It depends on the date of manufacture, I described it here:

http://forum.pclab.pl/topic/672826-mikr ... 0EALX-1TB/

(google translate required ;) )

rpsgc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:12 am

ccwrc wrote:
rpsgc wrote: - It doesn't support AAM (WD must be mad)
It depends on the date of manufacture, I described it here:

http://forum.pclab.pl/topic/672826-mikr ... 0EALX-1TB/

(google translate required ;) )
So, older drives had AAM, newer ones don't? That's even worse.

Bloody WD has gone mad.

Xeanor
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by Xeanor » Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:57 am

I can't manage to enable AAM on my new WD1002FAEX either. Have they gone completely mad removing it from all series of drives??

rpsgc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Thu Sep 08, 2011 3:07 am

Xeanor wrote:I can't manage to enable AAM on my new WD1002FAEX either. Have they gone completely mad removing it from all series of drives??
Looks that way. And WD support is useless. They take no responsibility and insist on me returning the drive to the store, even though they wouldn't accept it (working fine) and even if they did they would just replace mine with another one of the same model, thus, same problem.

Xeanor
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by Xeanor » Thu Sep 08, 2011 3:52 am

I'll just sell it to someone I think. Never any WD drives again for me. Samsungs and Seagates still work fine?

rpsgc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:24 am

Xeanor wrote:I'll just sell it to someone I think. Never any WD drives again for me. Samsungs and Seagates still work fine?
Yes. Hitachi too. At least current models.

tawd1992
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by tawd1992 » Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:14 am

I just bought a WD10EARS for my htpc & it doesn't support AAM. What is Western Digital thinking?
I hope Samsung doesn't do away with AAM also.

rpsgc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:22 am

tawd1992 wrote:I just bought a WD10EARS for my htpc & it doesn't support AAM. What is Western Digital thinking?
I hope Samsung doesn't do away with AAM also.
Considering Samsung sold its HDD division to Seagate, I don't think that bodes well for us.

tawd1992
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by tawd1992 » Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:31 pm

I just bought a WD3200AAKX drive & AAM isn't supported. So WD dropped AAM from all of their drives?
Did they have to pay a licensing fee for AAM, so they decided to cut costs & get rid of AAM?

I bought this drive from a local shop for $47 & Newegg is asking $75 for it now, so I'm not too mad. :D

rpsgc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:34 pm

Oh well, I guess it's boycott WD from now on.

CXZB
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by CXZB » Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:31 pm

Good to know, thanks for the info. I'll stay with Seagate which has long been my preference for quietness and stability. Good luck with the return, it can be a real pain.

The Gangrel
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by The Gangrel » Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:57 am

Xeanor wrote:I'll just sell it to someone I think. Never any WD drives again for me. Samsungs and Seagates still work fine?
Well, I have had 3 or 4 Samsung 2TB HD204UI's through my hands now, all have had problems with data corruption and most had something rattling around inside them.

rseiler
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rseiler » Tue Nov 29, 2011 9:34 am

I noticed AAM-related comments on Newegg for WD1002FAEX, indicating AAM does work, but I just realized that they're all at least six months old--which along with what's mentioned early in this thread suddenly makes sense. This is baffling though. For the relatively few people who'd want to use it, it should be there.

Oscar
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by Oscar » Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:18 am

I have replaced two quiet WD5000AAKB-00YSA0 with two WD10EALX-009BA0 that have a firmware date of Jan-31-2012 this past weekend, and the two WD10EALX are not louder than the WD5000AAKB that they replaced.

Having read this and other threads in SPCR forums, I had planned to return the WD10EALX if they turned out to vibrate a lot, but they didn't. As far as I can tell, my WD10EALX are not noisier than my WD5000AAKB, so I intend to keep them now. My case is a Lian Li PC-60, and both HDDs are hard mounted vertically in the case's drive cage with one empty slot of separation above, below, and between the two drives.

rpsgc
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by rpsgc » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:38 am

Oscar wrote:I have replaced two quiet WD5000AAKB-00YSA0 with two WD10EALX-009BA0 that have a firmware date of Jan-31-2012 this past weekend, and the two WD10EALX are not louder than the WD5000AAKB that they replaced.

Having read this and other threads in SPCR forums, I had planned to return the WD10EALX if they turned out to vibrate a lot, but they didn't. As far as I can tell, my WD10EALX are not noisier than my WD5000AAKB, so I intend to keep them now. My case is a Lian Li PC-60, and both HDDs are hard mounted vertically in the case's drive cage with one empty slot of separation above, below, and between the two drives.
This is not about being quiet or not. Noise is subjective.

This is about WD dropping AAM support from their newer drives.

PartEleven
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Re: Warning to all SPCR members: do not buy the WD10EALX

Post by PartEleven » Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:47 am

I thought Seagate also dropped AAM support as well. Just about the only manufacturer I haven't heard about removing AAM support is Hitachi GST, which was recently sold to WD I think? If all of this is true, it means no AAM for anyone. Time to build that separate data storage server and relocate it to your basement/closet :lol:

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