Review on Purple 4TB Surveillance Hard Drive by Shane Bullion

Before you read a review, please read: There is a key issue setting up this section. For some reason a very old (2014) model of this drive is listed along with the same improved new generation model. The bad news is that user comments are mixed up, so any issues with the original drive show up at the top of the list and can be misleading. Then it's very important to look at the tiny writing at the top of each comment and see if the user is talking about old-gen style or new-gen style. To be clear, I'm talking about a new generation of improved styling. If you don't already know the difference between a universal hard drive and a video security hard drive, let me start with a very simple comparison. This comparison is very broad and by no means a textbook definition. HOW IT WORKS Computers write and read their information to and from a hard drive in tiny chunks that are randomly distributed across the drive, so the record/playback heads are constantly jumping from place to place. Place. Access speed in a computer is extremely important. On the other hand, CCTV recorders record and read their information like an old-fashioned tape recorder, much like what the cameras see in real-time. The record/playback heads only need to be moved to a different location on the disc when you want to play back an event. Therefore, random access seek time is of much less importance than the uninterrupted task of a reliable 24/7/365 write with no errors. These two processes represent completely different work tasks. COMPARISON: BRAND A VS. BRAND B There are two main brands of dedicated video surveillance hard drives. My NVR is one of the most respected among experienced users who have decided to use another brand of hard drive. Big thanks to them because a lot of other CCTV manufacturers think you'll never know what's inside, so they install the cheapest nameless generic hard drive money can buy. I've been buying this security system for years and have been very happy with it, and when I was looking to upgrade my drive from 2TB to 4TB I had no idea if switching to a WD branded drive would make any difference at all. The engineers told me that the two brands are not identical in their design philosophy, each brand considers certain design parameters as a slightly better way. IS THERE A DIFFERENCE because the NVR software, firmware and other factors play an equally important role. For hard drive performance, I wanted to improve the following things: 1. Drive noise 2. Manage heat3. Jerking (when the picture suddenly jumps or drops for a few frames, mostly during playback) I measured the operating temperature of both drives in real life under identical conditions with a precision instrument. The original drive ran at 97.7F and the WD was measured at 91.6F. This 6 degree difference is significant but not significant. I also used a calibrated sound level meter for each drive. The original drive had a noise level of 47 dBA. WD was 46.9 dBA, which is almost identical. The latter condition is more difficult to quantify because stuttering occurs sporadically. So, in my opinion, would I classify differences in a typical use case as atypical if I experienced less stuttering, more stuttering, or roughly the same thing? I've tried to make my comparison without prejudice for or against any brand because I really don't care whose name is on it. I bought the WD primarily to double the recording capacity and therefore the number of days that events are recorded. That being said, I have to lean towards WD a bit in day-to-day use, as my particular system experiences fewer jumps, stutters, or frame drops, and it seems to go back a few seconds, smoother than the original drive. Maybe another way of saying that WD seems to work better with the NVR software/firmware than the brand the manufacturer originally listed. WILL THIS IMPROVE MY SAFETY. Short answer: not really. Any differences in operating temperature and noise levels are too small to be significant, and both brands are optimized for video safety, so deviations like stuttering are just that and aren't entirely related to the hard drive. We can categorically say that the brand or type of hard drive you are using does not improve the picture resolution (image quality) of your system. big fan of always paying more when i don't have to. Based on a few things I could measure and just feel, I have to say I love this disc and think I made the right choice.