Western Digital My Book Essentials 4TB - external

Hi all,

I came across this smokin' deal

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/890490-REG/Western_Digital_wdbacw0040hbk_nesn_4TB_My_Book_Essential.html

It has a single 4TB drive in it but I can't find any info on what type of drive it is and whether it has a custom controller or is SATA. Does anyone know?

Thanks,

Ben

here is the listing on newegg http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236385

a reviewer mentioned the drive is a Hitachi / HGST HDS5C4040ALE630 Deskstar 5K4000, 5400 RPM, 32MB cache.

Hitachi is the only brand offering 4 TB disks at the moment. If you crack the My Book open you might end up with a disk without warranty though. Might not be such a great deal after all then.

Hitachi is the only brand offering 4 TB disks at the moment.

?

https://www.zercom.eu/?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=246&ajax=1&subcats=Y&features_hash=V21879

Sorry, my bad. But look at those prices. But 5 year warranty.

disassembly video:

I'll remind everyone that I have been burned doing this. the drive died a month later me. nothing i could do to put it all back to together and get a replacement. it is a gamble..

If i am not mistaken. the WD 4TB RE's are based on the 7200RPM Hitachi Deckstars? one of the reasons they bought them.

Also, the Seagate 4TB Barracuda have been out for over a year. Just really hard to get your hands on one. I am not sure if there is a 4 platter version yet. we have some of the 5 platter ones at work.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I had shucked a few Hitachi 2tb drives a few years ago and the serials worked for RMA warranty when one of the drives failed. That was before WD bought Hitachi's HD business though. It's always a crap shoot I guess. I don't have any 3TB drives at the moment, just a mix of 2 and 1.5 TB drives. It sure would be nice to just skip to 4TB drives as I replace the 1.5s. We need these prices to drop!

Ben