Product ReviewsWestern Digital Caviar 80GB Internal 7200RPM 3.5" (WD800BB) HDD

Western Digital Caviar WD800BB 80 GB ATA-100 Hard Drive

Western Digital brings a highly regarded name brand to computer hard drive choices. The WD Caviar Edition at 80GB is small sized compared to modern standards (160GB - 2TB), however its price and reliability make this item perfect for a secondary back-up drive. Coupled with Western Digital's free software which clones your primary drive and you have a secure, inexpensive, on-hand complete total computer software backup.
Western Digital hard drives are a breeze to setup and use. All Windows/Linux based computers bio's chips automatically recognize Western Digital drives and without any fuss or worry begin to format and partition them without the usual need for special hard drive drivers that is often the case with many of the other 'name brand' hard drives.
Western Digital hard drives typically have well over 1 million hours of use before any expected hard drive failures which make other hard drive brands envious by comparison. The WD800BB series only has a 2MB write buffer but at 7200 RPM speeds this smaller buffer is rarely noticed.
I recommend this item as a Good buy for a secure, inexpensive backup of your computer files, or as a good replacement for older computer hard drives.Read full review...

Great Replacement for older, smaller HDD's found on many older desktops!

I bought this product to replace an aging, slowly dying Hitachi DeskStar HDD that was the OEM installed HDD on my Dell Dimension 2400.

Unfortunately, the OEM installed HDD wasn't the only present issue, so it fixed nothing. However, the one that I bought (& reviewing) has made an excellent backup drive, after purchasing an enclosure for it. Great for backing up older computers with smaller HDD's, or for Data backup.

As far as it compares to other storage devices, it costs far more per GB, not to mention that it's an IDE device, rather than SATA. I don't recommend it for a backup drive, but made the most of the product, considering the condition of the desktop that I bought it for.

However, for those who needs such a HDD, it's a decent value for the money spent, given that new ones are hard to find.

CatRead full review...

Great Value

I have recently got into rebuiding older computers. So naturally I am working with IDE style hard drives. Whereas all old drives will eventually fail( they are a mechanical device), I have yet to have a Western Digital fail. As a second hard drive in an old Windows XP machine this HDD seems to have the right size and speed for the job. As far as relics go, this is one of the best.Read full review...

Easy Installation

The Western Digital Caviar 80GB works just fine with my PC. It's exactly what I wanted to replace a failed hard drive. In addition, it's very easy to install.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: angelrobcalvo

How to rate a hard drive? Check with me in 5 years.

How do you review a hard drive? They either work at the specifications stated or they don't. I suppose I could mention the drive isn't the loudest I've installed and it was the correct dimensions and capacity (like every hard drive I've ever ordered and seen except counterfiets). The drive didn't seem to generate much heat, but no plain 80GB drive I've seen does.

Ask me again in about 5-7 years if the drive is still working to get a better review.

Western Digital seems to make fine drives but I'd buy a few other brands too...except Maxtor.

These are great replacement drives for your average non-gaming system.Read full review...

80 GB HD, fits Todays Computing extremely well!

It's really big enough. "This drive holds: 20 two hour DVD-quality movies or 80 hours of VHS-quality video or 55 days of around-the-clock MP3 audio or 20,000 vivid digital photos or 114 action-packed games".(Source, tigerdirect.com). Knowledge of the capacity of this drive, makes it ideal for upgrading my Dell Optiplex GX 270 Mini-Tower to a like new computer. Good price too! I also connected new cables, it loaded Windows Operating System extra smoothly.Read full review...

Fast, but gets very hot

I imagine this series of 80GB 7200rpm hard drives by Western Digital predates hard drives made with fluid bearings which I believe were responsible for allowing high-spindle-speed drives to run much cooler. This drive would get almost untouchably hot running for several minutes in open air. I would imagine drives running this hot wouldn't last more than a few years in 24/7 operation without some kind of cooling aid. If you decide to jump on a good deal for these drives made between 2001-2003, make sure you can fit a decent cooling fan in your computer case to constantly blow air across the drive to help keep it cool.Read full review...

Western Digital and Seagate are terrific drives, along with Transcend SS dr

MY OLD DRIVE GAVE OUT. So I wanted a small drive and a good drive and WD is supposed to be good if not one of the best. I have always got 4 or 5 years out of them. My old one gave out on the fifth year so I guess I am good for another five or more. Thanks to eBay and Amazon I can find small drives. If I could of found laptop adapters I would of use some of my laptop drives for one they run cooler faster and last usually longer. But my laptop adapters were a few millimeter off on screw spacing and wrong pin location. Now how did I miss that.
I have so many Transcend solid state drives and really that is the way to go, but again I am out of 2.5 to 3.5 drive adapters.So for 15 or so bucks it was still worth it.
RussellRead full review...

Great used hard drive

Needed hard drive for secondary computer, but didn't want to spend alot on a new one. In todays tough times, it is great to be able to buy good used at great prices like you can on Ebay. Recycling used items and saving money, is good for everyone.Read full review...

Working good but it makes a little bit noise

I bought the hard disk twoe weeks ago. The hard disk was working good and reasonably fast. One thing I was unsatisfied at is that it makes a little bit noise whenever it runs. Overall, I'd recommend the hard disk if you're on a budget.Read full review...