Excellent price as this model is being replaced by the ST3000VX010
However, this older model is better as it has 4x the cache (256MB vs 64MB) and uses half the operating (3.5W vs 5.6W) and idling (2.5W vs 4W) power.
CMR and 3 year warranty - full specs here:
https://www.seagate.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/skyhawk-…
"Overall we can say, both drives are good at their parts. Though surveillance drive performed better than desktop, but it doesn’t mean you use surveillance drive in PC. Both are engineered for different functions, so if you are setting up a PC go for a desktop drive while setting up a CCTV better to choose video-optimized surveillance drives."
It sounds like this is due to cost reasons, as this is on sale go for it
Don't forget these are 5400rpm so they will be slow for desktop usage …
I would've thought there are better options for similar money if you just need a hard drive for bulk storage: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/hard-drive
Whilst smaller drives don't tend to get a lot of front-page time on OzBargain, even the 4TB drives which are a similar price point ($100-$130) may be a better option IMO.
This is what I found whilst researching
https://linustechtips.com/topic/1110533-4tb-seagate-skyhawk-…
In short, seems to be that lower cache on the Skyhawk vs a typical desktop hard drive will lead to lower read speeds.
If you're looking for something for bulk storage, there are likely to be better value for money options as others have said.
Why would they be selling a new model with worse performance specs?
Shrinkflation
The same reason why people will buy phones that don't have a headphone jack
Specialization of the product. Or due to chip shortages they are cutting a few corners.
I guess read-speed is less important when it comes to a survelliance drive.
Error handling questions pop up every so often in relation to these. Here's one take:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/guh2xm/can_you…
I ended up with a few 16TB Skyhawks early last year for desktop bulk storage and backup use, as Barracudas (which exist for that purpose) weren't available, so these stood in as the cheaper alternative to IronWolfs.
Without having to do background research myself, would anyone aid in advising the utility of this as a system HDD as opposed to surveillance? Currently running some old (2014) 2TB WD Blacks as bulk storage with SSDs.