PiDrive 1TB buy separately?

Community Graveyard WD Labs Products
1

Hello,

Is it possible to buy the PiDrive 1TB separately?

Also, I have a question. The PiDrives can be directly powered by the Raspberry Pi? If yes, why do WD sells kits with a special USB setup to power the PiDrive via USB?
Or is it just the 314TB that can be powered by the Raspberry Pi but not the 1TB?

Cheers,
rtur

2

Pi Drives don’t consume a lot of power (also with the help of the special usb) … leaving plenty of options to connect other devices eg. keyboard, mouse, camera, dongles etc

My Raspberry Pi 3 can handle a 4TB My Passport Ultra (USB Powered Portable) … so it’ll have no problems with a 1TB Pi Drive (which will consume less power)

3

Hey rtur :slight_smile:

As @JoeySmyth pointed out, both PiDrive versions (314GB and 1TB) are designed for low power consumption and are powered by the Raspberry Pi itself.
The unique cable that comes with the kit gives you the option to plug external power into it, power the Pi AND the 1TB PiDrive and connect the drive to the Pi in order to transfer data between them without the need for any additional cables. The Kit also provides you with a power adapter (5V 3A) and a USB cable for it, 4GB microSD card and a SD card adapter and an enclosure for the Pi and the PiDrive.

The 1TB PiDrive is currently only available with the whole kit in our official WDStore.

Let me know if there’s anything else that I could be of help!

Captain_WD.

4

I thought the purpose of the unique cable was to function as a sort of powered USB hub, powering the Pi Drive directly from the external power supply. You seem to imply the drive is powered by the USB A port on the RPi. Could you please clarify?

I already have some heavy draw on the RPi USB ports, so I was hoping the unique cable would power the drive directly.

5

You are correct. The 1TB PiDrive can draw more power compared to the 314GB PiDrive and the cable ensures proper and correct amperage to both the HDD and the Pi even under heavier loads. :slight_smile:

Captain_WD.

6

This is very confusing!

So, my question is now:
In the scenario where we would use the USB cable from the PiDrive 1TB Kit (to power HDD & RPi), what advantages the 1TB PiDrive has over, for example a WD 1TB Ultra external HDD (ie, https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Berry-Passport-Portable-External/dp/B00Y0R9DMA)

Cheers,
rtur

7

Compared to a regular external drive the 1TB WD PiDrive is specifically designed for the Raspberry Pi to help with the power requirements and comes with the special cable in order to get the necessary power without disrupting the Pi’s operations. :slight_smile:

Captain_WD.