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Western Digital SSD and HDD Dual Drive Hybrid
Western Digital announced the release of the WD Black2 dual drive, a unique storage innovation that fuses a 2.5-inch 120 GB solid state drive (SSD) with a 1 TB hard disk drive (HDD) to offer a powerful dual drive solution. Perfect for consumers and service providers looking to upgrade notebooks, small form factor desktops, and single-slot and all-in-one (AIO) systems with both SSD level performance and HDD capacity, the WD Black2 dual drive connects through a single cable and fits into a conventional 9.5 mm slot.
"Our customers told us they like our Solid State Hybrid Drive technology, but our tech savvy users asked for more control of where they store their data," said Matt Rutledge, senior vice president of WD's Storage Technology business unit. "The WD Black2 dual drives empower our customers to enjoy SSD performance and access high capacity storage in a no-compromise package. The WD Black2 dual drive is a direct result of our interaction with our customer base through WD Labs initiatives. WD devised its beta labs program to provide an exclusive testing arena for key customers and technology influencers of existing and emerging WD storage products."
2-in-1
Designed for enthusiasts, creative professionals, gamers and PC builders, the WD Black2 dual drive provides improved overall drive capacity, performance, and reliability, while offering the flexibility to choose how and where their data is stored. Utilizing the benefits of both flash and magnetic disks, WD Black2 dual drives offload data usage from the SSD to the HDD, which increases endurance and life of the SSD. Users maintain greater data control, which can eliminate the need and expense of cloud-based storage.
WD Black2 is free of caching algorithms and benefits from SATA 6 Gb/second interface speed. It is neatly packaged in a standard 9.5 mm, 2.5-inch form factor with legacy SATA connector, making the WD Black2 dual drive compatible with popular PC operating systems ranging from Windows XP to Windows 8.1.
Price and Availability
Available at wdstore.com and through etailers such as Newegg.com, WD Black2 dual drives are covered by a five-year limited warranty. MSRP for the 2.5-inch 120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD WD Black2 dual drive, model #: (WD1001X06XDTL) is $299.00 USD.
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SirDremor
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#4710496 Posted on: 11/25/2013 05:47 PM
Errrmm, what?
I clearly remember WD telling that its new hybrid Blacks will use special caching software... looks like either they couldn't get it working or the results were poor...
I am not happy at all with such "solution" =(
Yes, this drive has some potential market, but its value is hugely diminished for me... Also - Jmicron controller... 2 available volumes over one connection... (I am not saying it will be saturated, I am more worried about the complexity of tech\firmware of doing so...)
Well, let's wait for benchmarks and reviews... also some benchmarks of available current SSD caching software will be nice...
Update: May be this Black^2 is simply another category of drives?... and we will see a "proper" Hybrid Black in the nearest future...
Errrmm, what?
I clearly remember WD telling that its new hybrid Blacks will use special caching software... looks like either they couldn't get it working or the results were poor...
I am not happy at all with such "solution" =(
Yes, this drive has some potential market, but its value is hugely diminished for me... Also - Jmicron controller... 2 available volumes over one connection... (I am not saying it will be saturated, I am more worried about the complexity of tech\firmware of doing so...)
Well, let's wait for benchmarks and reviews... also some benchmarks of available current SSD caching software will be nice...
Update: May be this Black^2 is simply another category of drives?... and we will see a "proper" Hybrid Black in the nearest future...
sykozis
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#4710651 Posted on: 11/25/2013 08:08 PM
$299 is too expensive. You can buy a 120GB SSD and 1TB mechanical, separately, for less.
$299 is too expensive. You can buy a 120GB SSD and 1TB mechanical, separately, for less.
sverek
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Maha Guru
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#4710656 Posted on: 11/25/2013 08:19 PM
I don't get hybrid drivers.
User himself knows better what frequent software he/she uses and what requires speed.
Buying separate HDD/SSD as sykozis mentioned, makes much more sense.
I don't get hybrid drivers.
User himself knows better what frequent software he/she uses and what requires speed.
Buying separate HDD/SSD as sykozis mentioned, makes much more sense.
Ryu5uzaku
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#4710703 Posted on: 11/25/2013 08:56 PM
those 8gb ssd with 2tb drives at 120 are pretty good for gaming imo. faster then traditional huge drives and way cheaper then ssd's by far and offer nice speed boost.
those 8gb ssd with 2tb drives at 120 are pretty good for gaming imo. faster then traditional huge drives and way cheaper then ssd's by far and offer nice speed boost.
automaticman
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#4710719 Posted on: 11/25/2013 09:23 PM
Yeah, but you can't fit them both into a laptop with only 1 2.5" drive slot.
Also, PCPer has a nice review with benchmarks:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Western-Digital-Black2-Dual-Drive-Full-Review-120GB-SSD-1TB-HDD-single-25-package
$299 is too expensive. You can buy a 120GB SSD and 1TB mechanical, separately, for less.
Yeah, but you can't fit them both into a laptop with only 1 2.5" drive slot.
Also, PCPer has a nice review with benchmarks:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Western-Digital-Black2-Dual-Drive-Full-Review-120GB-SSD-1TB-HDD-single-25-package
Kaarme
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#4710728 Posted on: 11/25/2013 09:49 PM
That's exactly it. I don't know why anybody would put them in desktops (unless it's some tiny mATX box), but I might be interested in getting one of these for my 15" laptop with only a single HD slot. But the price would need to be a bit more interesting, and partially for that reason 120+500 would be enough for me. Since I would just get a 250GB SSD otherwise, due to pricing and the fact I don't need so much space.
Yeah, but you can't fit them both into a laptop with only 1 2.5" drive slot.
That's exactly it. I don't know why anybody would put them in desktops (unless it's some tiny mATX box), but I might be interested in getting one of these for my 15" laptop with only a single HD slot. But the price would need to be a bit more interesting, and partially for that reason 120+500 would be enough for me. Since I would just get a 250GB SSD otherwise, due to pricing and the fact I don't need so much space.
D1RTYD1Z619
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#4711289 Posted on: 11/26/2013 04:57 PM
Rumor has it that this is to thick to even fit in a laptops hdd bay.
Rumor has it that this is to thick to even fit in a laptops hdd bay.
Andrew LB
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#4712710 Posted on: 11/28/2013 06:59 AM
Yeah, But does your laptop have room for two hard drives? most don't.
Also, I can see this being a good solution for people with a PS4 once the price gets a little better. Well... that's if the PS4 will allow a drive like this to function.
$299 is too expensive. You can buy a 120GB SSD and 1TB mechanical, separately, for less.
Yeah, But does your laptop have room for two hard drives? most don't.
Also, I can see this being a good solution for people with a PS4 once the price gets a little better. Well... that's if the PS4 will allow a drive like this to function.
Andrew LB
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#4712711 Posted on: 11/28/2013 07:01 AM
Rumor has it you just made that up out of thin air. If you read the article, it clearly says the drive fits in 9.5mm high locations.
Rumor has it that this is to thick to even fit in a laptops hdd bay.
Rumor has it you just made that up out of thin air. If you read the article, it clearly says the drive fits in 9.5mm high locations.
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.
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2 drives 1 cable. I wonder how it will affect max read/write speed.