Question 1

does this come with a sata cable?

Accepted Answer

These are bare drives so they do not come with cables or mounting screws. You would have to get a retail kit to get any of those. It's better to get your own, anyway, to ensure you get the correct cable and screw length for your case or enclosure.

Question 2

Does this require more than a SATA cable?  Specifically, is there a secondary cable for power, and if so, what is it?

Accepted Answer

Yes you need to provide power to the drive. Your PSU should have a compatible SATA drive lead or it's possible to obtain converters from Molex. Here's an example image of what you need SATA+Power: You'll have to search yourself as newegg won't allow external links...

Question 3

would this WD Blue 4tb desktop hard disk be compatible/FIT to MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)?

Accepted Answer

No. This is a 3.5-inch drive for desktop computers. Your MacBook Pro uses a 2.5-inch drive.

And check the drive thickness too. There are 7mm and 9mm-thick 2.5-inch drives. A 7mm drive will fit in a 9mm bay (though you may need to add a spacer to prevent rattling), but a 9mm drive won't fit in a 7mm bay. If a listing doesn't mention drive thickness, assume it's 9mm, they're more common.

Question 4

Are these brand new in the box drives?  Or are these refurbished?

Accepted Answer

The one I bought was brand new and came directly from NewEgg. In the "More Buying Options" section, it looks as though all of the choices are also for new drives, except for the one from STARMICRO, which says it's offering refurbished ones. (This is as of Aug. 13, 2018.)

Question 5

I see that there was a lot of con's saying that this HD died within 6 months to a year and was running hot. My question is to those buyers of this HD. Were they using this WD Blue HD as their main HD or was it used for storage only that the WD Blue HD was design for?

Accepted Answer

I have been using this drive since November 2015.  No problems whatsoever.  It is used only for backups.  However four backups are run daily which probably exercise the drive about three hours daily.

Question 6

Are these SMR or CMR?

Accepted Answer

No, Frank, it does not use both.

CMR is traditional recording technology, which is high-performance, and suitable for general-purpose use.

SMR is the dreaded "shingled" recording technology, which is about 11% higher density, but much slower. It is best used only for applications which do very large sequential writes (typically, periodic archival backups, i.e., the sort of thing which we used to use tape for).

I found an article about this, entitled "Western Digital Comes Clean, Shares Which Hard Drives Use SMR." (You can find it by searching for that quoted title.)  According to the article, the second-to-last character in the model number should indicate which type it is.

Red and blue 3.5" drives with "A" as the second-to-last character are apparently SMR drives. Blue and black 2.5" drives with "Z"  or "S" as the second-to-last character are also apparently SMR drives.

So WD40EZRZ should be CMR (the good kind!).  WD40EZAZ would be SMR (avoid!).

Since this drive is advertised as WD40EZRZ, it should be CMR. But if you buy it you should double-check the model number when you receive it, and make sure you really got the CMR drive.

Question 7

Just got it in the mail, put it in to Windows and in Disk Manager the drive apparently came with two partition / volumes. I cannot figure out how to delete one of the volumes/partitions and merge it with the other so that the drive will only have 1 volume / partition. Help?

Accepted Answer

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us in regards to your question.

You can search Youtube for a step by step guide using this title: "Completely format hard drive removing all partitions (including OEM)" And follow along to format the drive.

Also, you may need to contact the manufacturer to get assistance with the steps.

The best way to confirm specs is actually by checking the manufacturer's website. With many of our products you can click on the "Warranty & Returns" tab and you will find the Manufacturer's contact info, including the manufacturer's website.

Thank you, 
Newegg Support

Question 8

does WD 2 yr warranty cover this drive?

Accepted Answer

it comes with a warranty  but if it is considered  a OEM/baredrive then the warranty comes from the seller not WD.
i called and they said we cant tell if  OEM or warranted by WD in till you give us the serial number off drive. so if OEM  it has no warranty  by WD.

Question 9

How does the power consumption of the Blue drive compare to a WD 2 TB Green Drive from 4 years ago?  Also, I have multiple WD green 2 TB hard drives in my Windows 10 PC, that store videos.  I prefer that when the drive is not in use, for the hard drive to go into "park" mode to conserve energy and hard drive life.  DO these newer Blue Drives have that feature, or do they spin all the time?

Accepted Answer

WD says  'NoTouch Ramp Load Technology: Safely positions the recording head off the disk surface to protect your data'....so i'm not sure if that means they spin down/off but that sounds like it might be more important for long life....i have this drive and it runs relatively cool over a long time period....and as for energy usage, when in a desktop pc or a powered enclosure, i'm guessing it cant be much of a factor....but if its in a bus powered usb enclosure that might be pushing the current draw that the usb spec allows....always use an enclosure or case that has its own power supply and u'll be better off, i'm sure....

Question 10

Can I fit this into my Dell Inspiron 2320 all-In-One to replace a Standard WD 500GB Caviar Blue Drive?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I looked it up.  It looks like that all-in-one 2320 Dell uses a full sized hard drive. It will fit.  It has the same standard dimensions as your 500GB drive.

Questions & Answers