Anybody using the Western Digital 500 GB My Book (USB)?
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Anybody using the Western Digital 500 GB My Book (USB)?
If so, how is the idle / seek noise, and transmitted vibration from external enclosure to whatever surface it is resting on?
I recently bought the 320GB version of it. So far I am not so impressed with the noise. The enclosure is just plastic with many big holes in it, so it doesn't do anything to reduce the noise. You can just look through the holes and see the disk. For reference, I have been using a 120GB Samsung housed in a generic aluminum enclosure for about a year now.
At idle, the Samsung is barely audible, I can only barely hear it at 3 o'clock at night when everything is very quiet. The seeks are somewhat audible but not disturbing.
The WD however is plainly audible at idle, not unpleasant but definitely not inaudible from a meter away. The seeks are quite loud, not very bad, but still loud.
It has two rubber strips on the bottom to reduce vibration (when vertical) and four round rubber thingies that you can stick to either side (for use when horizontal.) They seem to work ok, but then again, the enclosure doesn't seem to vibrate all that much in the first place.
For me the biggest problem is a pure tone that I think is caused by the plastic sides. I cannot figure out how to get rid of it, placing it on something soft like a pillow reduces it but does not get rid of it.
Overall I think it's not bad, but I think the next time I will buy something that is really enclosed preferably in something other than plastic. The saving grace is that it spins down after a couple of minutes.
At idle, the Samsung is barely audible, I can only barely hear it at 3 o'clock at night when everything is very quiet. The seeks are somewhat audible but not disturbing.
The WD however is plainly audible at idle, not unpleasant but definitely not inaudible from a meter away. The seeks are quite loud, not very bad, but still loud.
It has two rubber strips on the bottom to reduce vibration (when vertical) and four round rubber thingies that you can stick to either side (for use when horizontal.) They seem to work ok, but then again, the enclosure doesn't seem to vibrate all that much in the first place.
For me the biggest problem is a pure tone that I think is caused by the plastic sides. I cannot figure out how to get rid of it, placing it on something soft like a pillow reduces it but does not get rid of it.
Overall I think it's not bad, but I think the next time I will buy something that is really enclosed preferably in something other than plastic. The saving grace is that it spins down after a couple of minutes.
I've been searching for a large external drive for some time now, but I'm left with the assumption that there is no perfect large external drive. Maby not even a good one. Looks like the large drives either run hotter then small ones, or are expensive enough that manufacturers want them to survive.
Even models where everything below it are fanless, manufacturers have added a fan to the 500GB model. There's also no site with reviews about external drives that covers sound even remotely well.
SPCR should take this under consideration in form of a series of reviews covering external drives, and home targeted NAS devices.
Even models where everything below it are fanless, manufacturers have added a fan to the 500GB model. There's also no site with reviews about external drives that covers sound even remotely well.
SPCR should take this under consideration in form of a series of reviews covering external drives, and home targeted NAS devices.
I got it yesterday, but used it at the office till now. It's clearly more silent then all of the drives we have there (Maxtor and LaCie), but the environment is not good for judging noisiness.
I brought it home tonight, but plugged it in so it was under the desk. Like that I could not hear anything, but I guess it does not mean anything yet. I crawled under the table, and the fan sound was clearly audible all the time. The seeks sounded pretty muted (this perceived from about 10cm away). I'll try to move it on the table during the weekend, and see how disturbing it is, my first impression is still positive (I expected worse).
I brought it home tonight, but plugged it in so it was under the desk. Like that I could not hear anything, but I guess it does not mean anything yet. I crawled under the table, and the fan sound was clearly audible all the time. The seeks sounded pretty muted (this perceived from about 10cm away). I'll try to move it on the table during the weekend, and see how disturbing it is, my first impression is still positive (I expected worse).
Heh 
So I just took the drive away from under the table, and started to have a closer look at it. I could not find a fan... So actually there is not one.
The main sound comes from the HD spinning. Seeks and writes are extremely silent apart from an occasional positioning of the head when it wakes up from sleep.
The loudest sound it makes is when it occasionally goes to sleep with the computer staying awake. There is an audible "pooooing".
I took it next to my 20" Core 2 Duo iMac on the table, and the drive was more silent the the iMac. Even when transferring quite large files I could not really hear anything above the sound of the platters rotating (and for that I had to bring my head within 10-20cm of the drive). It seems the sound was slightly more audible from the side of the drive (I had the front facing me) then it was from the front.
It gets pretty warm during use, but not hot. On the other hand the plastic cover might not take the heat out extremely well?
Nothing too scientific, but I'm happy with this.
So I just took the drive away from under the table, and started to have a closer look at it. I could not find a fan... So actually there is not one.
The main sound comes from the HD spinning. Seeks and writes are extremely silent apart from an occasional positioning of the head when it wakes up from sleep.
The loudest sound it makes is when it occasionally goes to sleep with the computer staying awake. There is an audible "pooooing".
I took it next to my 20" Core 2 Duo iMac on the table, and the drive was more silent the the iMac. Even when transferring quite large files I could not really hear anything above the sound of the platters rotating (and for that I had to bring my head within 10-20cm of the drive). It seems the sound was slightly more audible from the side of the drive (I had the front facing me) then it was from the front.
It gets pretty warm during use, but not hot. On the other hand the plastic cover might not take the heat out extremely well?
Nothing too scientific, but I'm happy with this.
"The loudest sound it makes is when it occasionally goes to sleep with the computer staying awake. There is an audible "pooooing"."
Is it the HDD, the enclosure or your system that makes the pooooing?
My WD3200JB makes a "meoooowrrr-r-r" noise (with some vibration as well) when spun down via software. (Removing power doesn't cause such a scary sound.)
Is it the HDD, the enclosure or your system that makes the pooooing?
My WD3200JB makes a "meoooowrrr-r-r" noise (with some vibration as well) when spun down via software. (Removing power doesn't cause such a scary sound.)
I had it on top of a not very sturdy wooden table yesterday during my testing, and it did not vibrate a lot. I have heard others complaining theirs vibrate, so I don't really know what to think.
The poing sound is definatly coming from the disk itself. I only hear it when I disconnect the drive manually (eject it from the computer). This causes it to shut down, and the sound seems to be the head coming of the platter (or something like that). The drive goes to sleep with the computer, and then I don't get a sound like that.
The poing sound is definatly coming from the disk itself. I only hear it when I disconnect the drive manually (eject it from the computer). This causes it to shut down, and the sound seems to be the head coming of the platter (or something like that). The drive goes to sleep with the computer, and then I don't get a sound like that.
Mine doesn't vibrate much. I meant it vibrates while making the meowwwrr noise. I don't know if it's the same as pooooing noise. It may just be a difference in transliteration of real-life sound to "English". Or maybe it's the same phenomenon but sounds different due to different enclosures. At least the requirements for pooooing or meowwwrr to occur appears similar: software spindown of the disk.
Is your noise something "metallic"? Like hitting a big Chinese gong?
It's hard for me to describe the noise my WD produces as it hardly ever makes the noise. I uninstalled OneTouch drivers and use Windows default drivers, so WD no longer performs software spindown (at least not until 3 hours of idling).
The noise starts with a meowing sound but soon becomes jerky. When the jerkyness increases it starts vibrating too and becomes silent after spindle stops.
Is your noise something "metallic"? Like hitting a big Chinese gong?
It's hard for me to describe the noise my WD produces as it hardly ever makes the noise. I uninstalled OneTouch drivers and use Windows default drivers, so WD no longer performs software spindown (at least not until 3 hours of idling).
The noise starts with a meowing sound but soon becomes jerky. When the jerkyness increases it starts vibrating too and becomes silent after spindle stops.