I fully agree, I`m using a WD blue as a storage drive along with an ssd and it`s annoying having to wait for the drive to come out of sleep before accessing my files. What`s ironic is that this feature is almost never used in laptops (where it`s needed the most) as in this case it`s going to be the system drive.

Oh dear, this Velociraptor sounds like something hidden inside a beige 486DX box, loading the finishing move in Mortal Kombat or a new level in Doom2. I mean, I haven't heard such rattle since childhood, so a big plus for nostalgia

Great to see a review of the Scorpio Blue. Notebook hard drives are becoming more interesting as very small cases become popular (Silverstone just announced the Sugo SG-09, Fractal Design the Node, and Bitfenix the Prodigy). Dealing with 2,5" drives is also much easier than big 3,5" drives.

And now, we see a really quiet 2,5" drive. I'm very glad to see that.

Thanks for the review. I agree on the 20-sec sleep feature - that's annoying.

As many people opt to use a 2.5" drive for data storage in a desktop to reduce power/noise, it would be great to see a best-in-class 3.5" drive in the same rpm range (like the WD Green) added to this review for comparison - not asking for additional testing, just adding whatever comparables exist to the tables/charts from previous testing.

Wow, this WD 500GB did impress me favorably. I'm tempted to get one for my download/media box ..... Quiet, efficient, low vibration, plus cheap ..... seems a perfect mate for my box!

I have a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB (WD5000LPVT) sat on my desk, I didn't even realise that it was this very drive that I had bought to start with until I noticed that it was only 7mm high, so I read the label.

I am currently copying data to it, mostly small files (sub 3MB), it is stunningly quiet, so quiet that I can honestly claim that I cant hear it with my ear 2 inches from the drive due to the various other noises around me.

I will also add that it has a very low level of vibration, and although the seeks can be felt they don't seem particularly urgent (i.e. they don't cause much movement in the drive itself) and I cant hear them due to the 2 laptops on my desk as well as an open case with a desktop drive copying the data to the WD Scorpio Blue 500GB.

I concur with SPCR's take on this drive, albeit without any scientific backing.


Andy

PS: It was cheaper than other WD 500GB models.

very nice to hear personal experiences with the hard drive too. When you say the drive on the desk, does that mean that it's used as an external harddrive without any HD enclosure?

Sorry I was in a rush and wasn't as clear as I could have been.

The HDD was bought as a replacement drive in one of my customers laptops.

I had the drive up and running for no more than 20-minutes in total while I imaged it from an SSD I use for such purposes that was already fully installed for my customers laptop, I then copied the customers data to their new drive, it was then installed in their laptop, tested and then returned to the customer.

All of my "testing" was done whilst the drive was copying the customers data across.


Andy