Western Digital Debuts World's First SSD+HDD Dual Drive

[Cristian_25H]

WD, a Western Digital company and storage industry leader, today 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. Additional information about WD Black2 dual drives and limited warranty terms may be found on the company website at http://products.wd.com/wdblack2.

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[TheLostSwede]

Now we're talking, this is perfect for notebooks, might just have to get one of these for my work notebook...

 

[jboydgolfer]

looks interesting, but kinda pricey. I know that SSD's are dropping in Cost , but STILL not enough of a drop for ME to justify the purchase.......I DO like the way that this is going though, I wonder if there will be any issue's with the O.S. recognizing the Drive, or if they are TOTALLY separate. Very interesting.

 

[badtaylorx]

too bad it's so expensive... i could see this as a good alternative to hdd+cacheSSD

 

[TheLostSwede]

Uhm, I just changed my mind, I think I'll get an mSATA SSD instead...

"Performance Specifications (SSD) Target Performance Internal transfer rate (read, max) 350 MB/s"

Install video if anyone cares http://bcove.me/idzt0sbj
It looks like the OS only sees the SSD part initially and then you have to install something to make the HDD part appear.

 

[birdie]

It must have been made so that it represents two different storage devices to the OS.

Right now it's Windows specific, and if its SSD part dies, your whole data is jeopardized ('cause you cannot access the other part from another computer which doesn't have specific WD software installed). Also WD says, that SMART software is incompatible with it - so you have to trust WD's word whether your two drives are OK or not.

Thank you, but no, thank you.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Some more details here http://techreport.com/review/25690/wd-black-notebook-drive-combines-120gb-ssd-with-1tb-hdd

JMicron based 4-channel SSD...

 

[tacosRcool]

Its expensive but it may be worth it considering most users don't have more than 1 hard drive bay on their laptops. This would have been great on my HTPC but too bad I already have a 128 GB SSD in it...

 

[Sempron Guy]

if the hdd craps out? Can we still use the ssd part?

 

[birdie]

if the hdd craps out? Can we still use the ssd part?

Yep. They are more or less independent (however SSD must be alive in order to boot and access the HDD part).

 

[radrok]

Meh, a 512 GB Crucial M500 retails around the price of this thing.

I don't see this as an attractive solution over an SSD, even if it's half its capacity, it could have been a good product a couple of years ago when people were asking for more than a measly 8GB flash storage on hybrid HDDs.

Could make kinda sense for laptops but I'd still take that 512 GB ssd to be honest.

 

[ensabrenoir]

GREAT IDEA..... like what was said earlier ...too pricey. You could simply get a 500 gig ssd for the same price. Great option for those who must have with 80+ gigs of itunes or family photos at their finger tips at all time while randomly downloading anything else that looks cool.

 

[Castiel]

Been wanting this for a long time, best laptop drive.

 

[rougal]

Can't wait for a review...
Big storage+fast boot time....
Wanna see how much is this new tech gonna cost.

 

[dj-electric]

"Western Digital Debuts World's First SSD+HDD Dual Drive"

this title is simply incorrect.

 

[newtekie1]

It must have been made so that it represents two different storage devices to the OS.

Right now it's Windows specific, and if its SSD part dies, your whole data is jeopardized ('cause you cannot access the other part from another computer which doesn't have specific WD software installed). Also WD says, that SMART software is incompatible with it - so you have to trust WD's word whether your two drives are OK or not.

Thank you, but no, thank you.

At actually shows up as on large storage device to the OS, with a 120GB Partition and a 1TB Partition. I'm not sure if it requires special drivers to see the second partition after you initially set it up.

 

[ironwolf]

"Western Digital Debuts World's First SSD+HDD Dual Drive"

this title is simply incorrect.

Wait, there is an existing product that does the exact same thing as this? SSHD drives do not.

 

[Athlon2K15]

First review:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/59...-drive-2-5-consumer-hdd-ssd-review/index.html

 

[rougal]

thanks for that. I really wanna see the good/the bad/the unique features of this Dynamic Duo

 

[alucasa]

Finally. God damn. Finally.

 

[D1RTYD1Z619]

Why cant I pull it out of the screen after throwing money at it?

 

[CowboyFromHell]

..the WD Black2 dual drive connects through a single cable and fits into a conventional 9.5 mm (3.5") slot....

....MSRP for the 2.5-inch 120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD WD Black2 dual drive...

So is it 3.5" or 2.5"?

 

[Athlon2K15]

2.5"

 

[BorisDG]

Best website for storage reviews for me:

http://www.storagereview.com/wd_black2_ssd_hdd_review

The drive is mediocre.

 

[NC37]

Ya know I really appreciate WD for continuing the tradition of not listing RPMs on HDDs. Yeah they list them on some of their models but they have many, mostly low end or external where they purposely omit it. No surprise they are omitting it here in preference of showing off how amazingly they packed both together. WD wants you to be amazed by that, not by the specs.