Western Digital

Western Digital converts Green hard drives to Blue in branding makeover

Western Digital has given their hard drive line-up a makeover, with the company rebranding all Green drives to Blue drives in an effort to make it "easier for customers to choose the right drive for their PC."

Under the new branding scheme, Western Digital goes from having four main consumer hard drive lines to just three: Blue, for entry-level drives; Red, for NAS systems and long-term reliability; and Black, for ultimate performance from a spinning disk drive.

However, by merging the Green and Blue lines, Western Digital has made their line-up more confusing for people wanting an entry-level drive. Previously, all Green hard drives featured 5,400 RPM-class performance, while Blue drives featured 7,200 RPM-class platters, making it easy to choose between energy efficiency (Green) or performance on a budget (Blue).

With the new line-up, you'll have to look closer at model numbers to determine whether you're getting a 5,400 or 7,200 RPM hard drive. Western Digital suggests that the best way to do so is look at the last letter in the model number: if it's "X", you're getting a 7,200 RPM drive; but if it's "Z", it's going to be 5,400 RPM.

The branding changes have already come in to effect at most retailers around the globe, so make sure you look at the model number when purchasing a Blue drive to ensure you're getting the performance you're after.