Is old 2TB SATA HDD still reliable?
 

How old, is to old to rely on "new" 7.2k rpm 2TB WD 3.5 sata and sata II HDD's ?
The market is wild with these in "new" condition, but I have seen manu dates from 2000's till current.
What WD drive color (green, blue, black, purple, red, gold) are good for vhs to digital & archival storage ?
Do some manu's have better "new" longevity ?

I'm not fond on Western Digital, but I've rarely had issues with the 2tb Green drives.

Seagate 2tb tends to be the most reliable, followed by Samsung. The Hitachi are noisemakers from day 1, and the 7200 WD have too many vibrations.

7200 is really not needed for SD lossless capturing.

I am also sour toward WD, as I used an external (I think 5 TB) WD SSD, for backup, then it self terminated.

Are the numeral date codes on Seagate and other hdd's, Julian date coding ?
(There are Julian date decoders tables online)

Good advise........ I ended up buying a unused vintage 2020 Seagate 2TB, SATA HDD