WD Black² is a unique hard drive that brings multiple features. You can use it like an external or an internal hard drive. It brings dual benefits of 120GB SSD + 1TB HDD storage. This the first dual drive that brings both benefits of a SSD and a regular 5400 rpm hard drive. This type of drive is amazing solution for laptops and pc. You get enough storage with SSD support where you can keep your important files. But somehow it looks like the drive does not perform like other SSD drives. This can be due to the controller which is trying to manage both of the drive at the same time. Surely something has to be compromised. Dual Drive is a new concept. Before we can see Hybrid drives that comes loaded with a panel of ssd chips with normal disk platter. The SSD chips takes care about your most used programs offering fast performance. But that remains limited to a certain space. And the regular platter takes care about the data. But Dual Drive is something different. It brings two different hard drive packed in the same enclosure. This might be a start of revolutionary storage solution. WD Black² is a costly product.
The cost of this hard drive is Rs.18,000 approx (Amazon). As per the specification it runs on 20nm architecture. WD uses a custom controller on the same that powers the drive to give amazing transfer speed. But actual results were different. I was testing a 60GB SSD at the same time which is lot faster compared to WD Black².It brings dual drive feature which is a kind of new thing for people and the cost is not easy to digest. But it can be a very helpful storage solution if the price falls in future. If we go for separate drives, that is, buying a 120GB SSD and 1TB Hard drive then we have to pay around Rs.10,000 approx. Compared to that WD Black² remains a secondary choice. I am quite sure that this type of products will surely sell better if more versions come out with variation in price.
Features:
- Combination of SSD and hybrid storage with portable size
- High performance SSD Speeds
- Massive 1TB Storage Capacity
- Power Efficient
- 2.5inch form factor.
- WD Shift Technology for faster performance and data management.
- Durable Design
- 5 Year Warranty
Specification:
- Interface – SATA 6 Gb/s
- Load/unload Cycles – 600,000 minimum
- Buffer To Host (Serial ATA) – 6 Gb/s (Max)
- Capacity – 120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD
- Form Factor – 2.5 Inch
- Internal transfer rate (read, max) – 350 MB/s
- Operating Temperature – 32° F to 140° F
- Non-Operating Temperature – -40° F to 158° F
Package:
WD Black² comes packed in a stylish black box. The box symbolizes a performance hardware. It has exclusive packing with few accessories. There is a SATA to USB Cable that is provided for the purpose of cloning, but still you can use that for making a WD Black² as an external hard drive. There is a manual with WD Internet key that takes you to the official page of WD Black² for more information. To use the drive you have to download a free software from the website. Like a partition software and a Data Transfer tool.
Design:
WD Black² comes with a durable enclosure. This drive is capable of resisting shock that makes it more comfortable to carry. The design still looks like it is a small internal drive. It features a 2.5inch form factor where you can use it inside your pc or as an external usb drive. It is essential that you must take care of the drive from water or any liquid. If you are planning to use it inside your pc then better hook it on an enclosure. The top part features a glossy vibrant black finish with WD Black² logo at the right bottom.
WD Black² is a 2.5inch form factor hard drive. It is sleek in design. The width of the drive is around 69.85 mm and the weight is around 0.125 kg. It is extremely lightweight and has portable design.
At the backside there is no additional cover. It remains open with the ports at the bottom. Circuit is clearly visible towards the port side. I was expecting this drive to be completely closed so that it won't get affected by static charge, water, pointed surface, dust, etc; when we are trying to use it as a external drive. A closed drive enclosure would have more reliability in the design. It is good to buy a good 2.5inch case separately if you are going to use it like an external hard drive. WD Black² is designed for notebooks and laptops. It is an ideal upgrade choice if you are looking for a large storage size with SSD solution. Being a single dual drive it saves a lot of space. And that is why it is recommended for laptops. The installation is not time consuming if you really know about computer hardware. Or else it is good to take help from a technician. It is not recommended to use it without an enclosure if you want to use it as an external drive.
Performance:
WD Black² has 20nm NAND flash based SSD that offers you a space of 120GB. And separate disk platter that holds around 1TB of space. So the overall space you are getting is 1120GB composite. You can use one drive from it for cloning purpose. It can be a reliable choice for data backup. Transfer speed fluctuates depending on the pc. If you are using the driver on 6GB/s SATA interface then the output will be amazing on the SSD. While 1TB drive speed is limited to the 5400rpm media. No doubt WD Black² is a great choice for both installing application/OS and for storing data. To use the drive you have to install WD Black² Software in your pc or else the 1TB partition is not visible. After installation you can use the 1TB storage space in Disk Management. You can partition it or you can use it like a single partition as per your need. As per the specification the drive is capable of giving you 350mbps, but the test speed is much higher.
The drive offers good read speed, while the write speed fluctuates depending on your system. If you are having multiple drives then you might also not be able to see the SSD storage due to maximum storage space limitation of Bios. WD Black² is an ideal solution for gaming notebooks. You can use the SSD space for installing games and application while the other 1TB storage will handle the data. 120GB SSD storage is not directly visible in Windows Disk Management when you connect the drive to SATA port or through SATA to USB Cable. It is only visible when you format your pc and use the 120GB space to install the operating system. The second 1TB remains separate. You can then create multiple partitions on the 1TB storage and use it.
Using WD Black² as secondary drive is quite useful. You have a large space in your system to keep your videos, games, data and audio files. The entire 120GB SSD can be used for operating system and application. It offers great performance. No doubt WD Black² is a great upgrade solution for your existing notebook or pc. It is simple to install. WD offers you free Acronis True Image WD Edition Software for cloning the partition.
Conclusion:
WD Black² is a unique and first storage solution in its kind. It is a costly upgrade and also an effective solution for laptops. The drive costs around Rs.18,000 approx. where it offers you dual benefits of a SSD and a regular 5400rpm hard drive. Dual drive does not mean it will be thick or heavy, it is very portable with 2.5inch form factor. You can load variety of data on the same and also use it for gaming. Data transfer speed is impressive. But sometimes the drive does not perform well. For SSD it is not upto the mark. WD offers you a Shift Technology where it runs on a much enhanced firmware to keep the performance at peak. This also allows a lot more data management and integrity while using the same. Data migration will be faster if you are using it on the 6GB/s SATA port. Overall WD Black² hard drive is a good choice for different type of system.
Pros
- Dual Drive with Mass Storage solution
- Portable Design
- Ideal for laptops and notebooks
- Good performance
Cons
- Fluctuating Data transfer speed
- Costly upgrade
