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I have been considering the Western Digital "My Book" series of external hard drives. However, I wonder if they might be a bit "gimmicky". Like a number of other recent designs, they are fanless and I've read that fanless drives should be avoided.
I have an Iomega 120GB with no fan (or at least no AUDIBLE fan) that has so far retained data and functionality for more years than I remember and another 250GB unit from the same company that does have a fan and is pretty noisy ALL the time it is on.
Did fans become necessary when hard drives exceeded a certain size ?
If the "My Book" switches itself off when it's not being accessed - will this help prolong its life and trustworthiness by keeping it cool - or is it just something else to go wrong - a "feature" that could become a "vulnerability" where simple functionality might be preferable ?
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