<story><title>Western Digital is trying to redefine the word “RPM”</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/western-digital-is-trying-to-redefine-the-word-rpm/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ha5u</author><text>The German-language forum that the article mentions has been doing some great detective work: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.hardwareluxx.de&amp;#x2F;community&amp;#x2F;threads&amp;#x2F;crystaldiskinfo-zeigt-fakewert-an-alle-wd-my-book-8tb-drehen-anscheind-mit-7-200rpm.1235655&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.hardwareluxx.de&amp;#x2F;community&amp;#x2F;threads&amp;#x2F;crystaldiskinf...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The conclusion on page 4 of the above thread:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Non-Pro RED = 5400rpm according to data sheet&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Pro Red = 7200rpm according to data sheet&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Internal both 7200rpm and 120Hz.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Apparently &lt;i&gt;all&lt;/i&gt; WD &amp;#x2F; HGST helium plates have real 7200rpm, no matter what it says.&lt;p&gt;Simply absurd, if true. Here, for example, is a screenshot of WD&amp;#x27;s WD100EFAX store page: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;HseW9Pa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;HseW9Pa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;No mention of an RPM &amp;quot;class&amp;quot;. The spec sheet does refer to it as &amp;quot;5400 RPM Class&amp;quot;, but with no further description of what the term means: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;media.flixcar.com&amp;#x2F;f360cdn&amp;#x2F;Western_Digital-3805661149-eng_spec_data_sheet_2879-800002.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;media.flixcar.com&amp;#x2F;f360cdn&amp;#x2F;Western_Digital-3805661149...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;What a world when you can&amp;#x27;t even trust the spec sheet. What&amp;#x27;s next, 10 watt class drives that pull 20 watts? 3-year class warranties?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>floatingatoll</author><text>Does the spec sheet have &lt;i&gt;inaccurate&lt;/i&gt; decibel and watts information provided, such that the drive being purchased has &lt;i&gt;inappropriate&lt;/i&gt; noise (decibels) and thermal (watts used) properties when compared to the specifications printed for those specific properties? Or has everyone been taking for granted that &amp;#x27;5400 rpm&amp;#x27; is a shortcut for &amp;#x27;cool and quiet&amp;#x27; and is just now realizing that they should have been reading the actual &amp;#x27;cool&amp;#x27; and &amp;#x27;quiet&amp;#x27; specifications instead of using search keyword &amp;#x27;5400&amp;#x27; to stand in for that diligence?&lt;p&gt;I think Western Digital just made a year&amp;#x27;s worth of profits off of people who don&amp;#x27;t read spec sheets, and they have a plausible interpretation that would unfortunately will probably survive a court challenge. Western Digital has clearly taken the position that &amp;#x27;5400 RPM&amp;#x27; has always been a statement of disk I&amp;#x2F;O performance, never a statement about  other characteristics, and so by saying &amp;#x27;5400 RPM Class&amp;#x27; they only mean the drive&amp;#x27;s I&amp;#x2F;O performance, not any of those other secondary characteristics that led to the uproar we&amp;#x27;re discussing.&lt;p&gt;Western Digital is in the wrong here — not for repricing &amp;#x27;cool and quiet&amp;#x27; drives, but for communication — and should have just openly said:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We&amp;#x27;re ending production of quiet-cool 5400 RPM drives in our consumer product lines. If cost is of most concern to your installation, our consumer products will continue to meet your needs. If heat and noise are of most concern to your installation, our professional products with WhisperDrive(tm) will continue to meet your needs.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I also think WD should be publishing thermal characteristics, not just &amp;quot;watts used&amp;quot;.</text></comment>
<story><title>Western Digital is trying to redefine the word “RPM”</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/western-digital-is-trying-to-redefine-the-word-rpm/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ha5u</author><text>The German-language forum that the article mentions has been doing some great detective work: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.hardwareluxx.de&amp;#x2F;community&amp;#x2F;threads&amp;#x2F;crystaldiskinfo-zeigt-fakewert-an-alle-wd-my-book-8tb-drehen-anscheind-mit-7-200rpm.1235655&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.hardwareluxx.de&amp;#x2F;community&amp;#x2F;threads&amp;#x2F;crystaldiskinf...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The conclusion on page 4 of the above thread:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Non-Pro RED = 5400rpm according to data sheet&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Pro Red = 7200rpm according to data sheet&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Internal both 7200rpm and 120Hz.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Apparently &lt;i&gt;all&lt;/i&gt; WD &amp;#x2F; HGST helium plates have real 7200rpm, no matter what it says.&lt;p&gt;Simply absurd, if true. Here, for example, is a screenshot of WD&amp;#x27;s WD100EFAX store page: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;HseW9Pa&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;imgur.com&amp;#x2F;HseW9Pa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;No mention of an RPM &amp;quot;class&amp;quot;. The spec sheet does refer to it as &amp;quot;5400 RPM Class&amp;quot;, but with no further description of what the term means: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;media.flixcar.com&amp;#x2F;f360cdn&amp;#x2F;Western_Digital-3805661149-eng_spec_data_sheet_2879-800002.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;media.flixcar.com&amp;#x2F;f360cdn&amp;#x2F;Western_Digital-3805661149...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;What a world when you can&amp;#x27;t even trust the spec sheet. What&amp;#x27;s next, 10 watt class drives that pull 20 watts? 3-year class warranties?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jdndkai</author><text>60 watt equivalent light bulb</text></comment>