THE DT01ABA100 & DT01ACA100

Both drives arrived inside the usual moisture barrier bags as do most drives (bulk editions).

Compared to the Seagate Constellation ES.2 and the HGST Ultrastar 3k/4k models both the DT01ABA100 and the DT01ACA100 feel a lot lighter (and less rugged) and they are since for example the Constellation ES.2 weighs 680g while both the DT01ABA100 and the DT01ACA100 weigh just 407g each.

The usual large sticker is present at the top side of both drives and includes information such as country of origin, electrical specifications, factory rollout date, serial number, sectors, capacity, speed, model name and more. What is however worth mentioning is that the manufacturing company is actually Hitachi. Now i was aware that WD was somewhat forced to sell HGST to Toshiba (or at least part of it) but i didn't expect them to retain the company name on their drives (not that it really matters in the end).

Turning both drives upside down we see that each uses a different colored PCB (DT01ACA100 Light Blue/DT01ABA100 Dark Blue) and that as expected all of the components are placed on the interior for increased protection.

Both drives use the same SATA III connection and also have two pins at the rear (most likely for factory performed firmware updates).