WD Easystore 8TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (WDBAMA0080HBK-NESE) - Black - Only at Best Buy

A bit slow for nowadays thought the capacity is the contemporary one. It's not the 7200 rpm certainly. Forget it. It's the 5700 rpm one(still not the fastest experienced in this class writing speed). The primary reason I deducted stars from the rating however is due to the units poor heat management. This drive runs much hotter than other units I have previously used and consistently sits at or above 50C even when idol, and well over 60C when writing any medium to large data transfer or tasking which if not addressed has been found to directly lead to higher instances of drive failure as well as significantly reduced drive. Personally I addressed this by 3D printing a custom fan shroud which fits an 80mm computer fan to the top of the unit , fully circulating air throughout the drive as pictured below. Overall great functionality and aesthetic compared to others I have previously used & would plan on purchasing more in the future/ recommending to a friend for increased storage needs.

The new WD easystore 8TB version changed the case front and drive inside. 7.27 TB actual usable space. Made in Thailand. The box it came in was not shrink wrapped. The old, discontinued 8TB version contained a helium filled drive, while these new ones are air filled WD80EDAZ-11TA3A0. The new drive runs hot and loud. Older helium 8TB easystore idles around mid-30C and mid-40C under load. This new version reaches 59C under heavy use. Even though it reports itself as a 5400rpm drive, it might actually be 7200rpm, which explains the heat and loudness. Benchmarks via USB 3.0: 205 MB/s sequential read and 206 MB/s sequential write when empty. Great speeds for a hard drive, but worried about longevity due to excess heat.

Holds a lot of stuff. Xbox storage works great untill it starts to not power connect to the xbox. Now it starts my cable need to be plugged in to a different usb port. So now i cant access my gamessssssssssss.

This drive is big (8TB) and fast. I'm getting 200+ MB/s transfer rates (verified by timing large file transfers as well as benchmark utilities like Crystal DriveMark). I'm extremely happy with the performance. Prior to getting this drive, I had tried a Seagate Backup Plus Hub 8TB, which was slow (often sub 100 MB/s) and inconsistent (maybe 130 MB/s one time, then 90 the next, then 150, then 70), which I returned and got the Western Digital Easystore instead. The Western Digital was $30 more expensive, but it's worth it because it performs so much better. I've seen some reviews saying that it is loud. I have not found that to be the case at all.

I got this drive because I needed a bigger and faster drive to do backups but it might get shucked for a NAS in the future. So shuckers may want to take note. This drive is purchased and tested in February 2021. Some say that the WD80EDAZ inside this enclosure is actually spinning at 7200 rpm, which it might be since the sequential performance of this drive closely matches that of my Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm. https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/ikk0rv/psa_multiple_wd_5400rpm_drives_are_actually/ On one hand this is WD and their screwed up, misleading marketing (See: SMR drives sold as CMR drives). The other comments complaining that the drives run hot and loud are warranted. This drive is air "filled" instead of helium filled like the old ones which adds to the heat this generates. 59 C under heavy load in a 21 C ambient is HOT. It also gets even louder once the head starts moving. On the other hand, I can live with its compromises for a drive that only needs to run around once a week. The 200 MBps sequential dramatically increased the speed of my backups. But the high temperatures this generates is still a concern. 60 C is usually the maximum operating temperature for mechanical hard drives so if you plan to run this under extended periods of time like in a NAS, it may need active cooling. If you're keeping this drive in its enclosure, keep it vertical so it can passively exhaust its heat through the top vents.