Both criteria are hardly any issues for the Firewire drive. The WD205AA drive operates at 5,400 rpm, thus it does not receive much attention. Thanks to the plastic case, most of the remaining noises are muffled quite well. Usually, the power supply fan or any installed 7,200 rpm rive will produce more noise than the WD Firewire model.

The drive cover never reached more than 35°C (95°F). Even after opening the case, the WD hard drive was only tepid. I also put several sheets of paper on the drive case for half an hour, but not even this could lead to higher temperatures.

Conclusion

Western Digital is pushing into the Firewire market with a complete product range. I commend WD for this good idea, as it is certainly heading the right way, substantiated by the increasing acceptance of 1394. Besides the Firewire hard drive, you can also get a PCI-to-Firewire controller or a PC-Card (PCMCIA) Firewire interface from Western Digital.

The drive is very easy to handle and satisfies all expectations of a mobile storage solution: Fast and easy installation, decent performance, high capacity and acceptable pricing. In addition, the Firewire drive makes a robust impression.

One big advantage over other solutions is the modular setup. Western Digital of course uses their own hard disks and combines them with proven Firewire components. On the one hand this makes it rather inexpensive, as WD does not need to buy the hard drives from a third party manufacturer. On the other hand, you may even exchange the drive yourself, in case it should become faulty after the warranty time has expired. Only if the internal logic should break down, you will have to get a whole new drive.

Approximately $500 for 45 GBytes of mobile storage is an acceptable prize. An external SCSI solution of this size will easily cost double, and buying MO or other exchangeable drives only pays off if you should use lots of media.