Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDG1U5000
by Western Digital
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List Price: Our Price: $199.99 You Save: $130.00 (39%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $74.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDG1U5000
Customer Review: Power Hungry! Read this if you're having problems or are buying this new
Summary: 5 Stars
If you get a message about "USB Device Recognized" and then your computer launches the Device Driver Wizard, YOUR DRIVE IS UNDERPOWERED. Cancel the wizard, don't even bother trying to install a driver. The MyBook does not have any drivers, and does not need any. I'm a little dissapointed that WD would let this slip by, but this fix is simple - plug it into a less crowded power strip, or into the wall by itself. It's a bummer, but not enough to knock a star off of an otherwise perfectly great product.
I love this drive, and bought one for my mother, too. It works great (so long as it's got enough juice). It's smaller than I thought, has a longer than average power cord and is picked up by my laptop and tower instantly and easily. There are no drivers - just plug it in and you've got access. Linux Defender mounted this drive and BartPE recognizes it, too - makes this a great recepticle for data recovery.
USB2 is basically the same speed as firewire. You'll get the same speed but spend less if you add a $15 USB2 PCI card to your computer (if your computer doesn't have USB2 already) instead of getting the more expensive (non-"Essential") versions of this drive for the firewire connection. Plus, you'll have upgraded your computer to USB2 for thumbdrives and whatever else.
Customer Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
I had 3 computers all with hard drives barely having a few hundred MB left since I need to keep a huge amount of data for research purposes. I used to go through the cumbersome task of backing up the data on DVDs, but recently even this solution wouldn't be as helpful.
I got the WD My Book 500GB and I'm totally relieved now. Its black casing is stylish and it works very quietly. The installation of My Book is as easy as plugging in its USB connector (I've a machine running on Windows XP Professional with USB 2.0 jacks). The button on the front is very helpful for turning the device on and off if you want to switch computers.
I've also downloaded a backup/restore program called "Second copy" which is powerful yet simple to use. I got it to work in a matter of minutes and scheduled automatic backup updates every day (which takes a few seconds). It can't get easier than this!
The only issue is that it comes with a FAT32 file system, which most probably you want to change to NTFS (in case you don't need to operate it in a DOS based environment). The formatting takes a substantially long time. I would rather to have had the option of file system while buying this device. Nevertheless, it's a one time procedure and thereafter you can enjoy your huge, fast and reliable storage.
Customer Review: Takes a Lickin' and keeps on Tickin'
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a DJ that also does a good deal of traveling from gig to gig and goodness, I don't know HOW many times my WD external drive has been banged around in my travel bag, dropped on hard floors, and suffered innumerable power surges/outages and the thing just hasn't DIED! (NOT Complaining!) I guess I just might be one of the lucky ones that has a tough little external drive.
Setting up the myBook is pretty intuitive, anyone that is moderately tech saavy won't have a problem figuring out how to get their myBook to work with their computer. I purchased this version because of the price and amount of space that I pretty much needed to save all my music. I have been able to work with this while DJing live very comfortably. It is fast, reliable, and has taken one hell of a beating in the 2 years that I have owned it and it works as good as the first day I bought it.
I will close this to say that I am a VERY happy customer and if my WD ever does keel over, I won't hesitate to buy another.
(And, I'm eyeballing the Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive WDME5000TN (Midnight Black) and planning on getting it anyway...can't go wrong with backing up your files ^^)
Customer Review: My experiences with the Western Digital My Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I've now had the My Book for over a month and thought I would add my review to the others. People seem to be having some quite different experiences with this. Mine has been consistently positive.
Some complain about the noise. Mine makes virtually no noise. Perhaps this is because of the way I use it. I use the My Book exclusively for data storage. I put photos, camcorder videos, and music files on it. I have not installed any programs on it and never will. I suspect that some of those who have problems with it making noise have made the mistake of installing programs onto it. If you use it only for storage, it should make very little noise. Running programs off it would also cause it to run hotter and wear out more quickly. I have two cats and so am also concerned with the effect their fur could have on it. So I would never consider it for anything other than storage.
All in all, I couldn't be happier with this. You get a huge amount of storage for very little cash outlay. Used properly (i.e., for storage only, not to run programs) I expect this to be with me for quite some time to come. But I also am using them only for back up. I have all the same data on an internal hard drive. It is the only smart way to go.
Customer Review: Best Hard Drive I've Ever Owned
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best hard drive I've ever had. It's solidly built, runs completely silently, runs cool, and is at a fantastic cost. I've owned dozens of hard drives through the years and this one is hands down my favorite from my favorite company ever. I bought it over a year ago and it still is perfect.
Some things to note however to get the best out of this device.
1) As soon as you get it format it in NTFS using either My Computer>Right Click>Format>NTFS in Windows or if using a Gnome Edition of Linux such as Ubuntu (like myself) open terminal and type 'sudo gpart'. This allows you to store files over 2GB on it such as your DvD ISO backups or back ups of your games.
2) Buy a refurbished or used one. New this product is $300. You can find it all day long on Amazon between $60 and $90 cutting the cost down to almost 1/6 on a good day.
3) Some other customers have complained about this product breaking after prolonged use. This device does have a limited lifespan with write usage. This being said try to put data on it that you want to back up and then set it to 'read only'. This will save you some headaches in the future. It's meant to be a backup drive after all and not one for installing applications on.