Western Digital Scorpio Blue 640 Drive draws too much power in a MacBookPro

I just received a Western Digital 640 gb (WD6400BEVT) Scorpio Blue Drive for my MacBookPro. I've noticed that the drives "Throttles" a lot, i.e. seems to accelerate/spin and slow down/stop in a way I've never seen in any other drive, and I've been through lots. It wouldn't be a problem if the computer didn't seem to be sluggish in response, much more sluggish than with the 200G Hitachi drive I had before. I will sometimes start typing something and the computer will be slow to react; I also see the spinning ball much more often.
I contacted WD and was told that "It is quite possible that the computer cannot manage the capacity and energy demand of this drive. If the previous drive was under 250 GB, a 640 GB drive will encounter these issues."
I'd never hear of this problem, and I'm really confused since the new drive has a lower rated energy requirement (it's a 5400 rpm vs 7200) than the previous drive. Has anyone else had these problems? Can someone tell me whether this is reality or obfuscation on the part of Western Digital?
Message was edited by: jdcineaste

Hi Brody - what makes you think the 640Gb isn't a 'notebook' drive? I've a 640Gb one that's been in my Macbook Pro, although now it's in my Samsung Netbook.
The unit worked perfectly fine in my late 2008 unit? It's a 9.5mm unit that as far as I know adheres to the 2.5" SATA specifications? Like I say, worked fine in mine.
This is the unit in question: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-322-WD&groupid=701&catid =14&subcat=896
...or full specifications here: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=683
Even WD's spec says 'Big Capacity for Mobile Computing'.
Personally I doubt whether this issue is with power - it's probably more to do with the random pausing that some machines experience with certain drives. I had it before I upgraded to an SSD back when I had a 500Gb 5400RPM Seagate Momentus for example - you can read about my experiences with there here: http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2009/6/13Macbook_Pro_Hard_DiskUpgrade.html
I know that doesn't help the original poster that much unfortunately, but I don't think it's an issue with the drive being inherently incompatible with the Macbooks/Laptops as such. Saying that, the OP has a 2.33Ghz MBP and I don't think the pausing issues apply that far back, well not in the same manner anyways.

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Western Digital Scorpio Blue 640 Drive draws too much power in a MacBookPro

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