Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB 3.5" External Hard Drive

Comment:
This drive is in continual use and has worked flawlessly. I run it with 3 diverse partions. 1. NTFS for the Computer2. fat32 for Videos on the PS33 WBFS for the wii Requirements firmware update to take away the Virtual Drive (software). I have utilized the WD backup software program ahead of and had no troubles with it. No system slowdown or something.Pentium Dual-core 1.60GHz1GB RamIntel Mobile Graphics

Comment:
It Operates. It not to large. None Tends to make a little sound when beginning up.

Comment:
Nice piece of hardware. Backup software program that comes with the unit, WD Smartware is a joke. It utilizes 100% of your CPU and only does partial backup of files defined by WD. Assistance is negative, just appear at WD's forum about Smartware computer software backup troubles.. If you purchase this external hardrive, be prepared to use yet another computer software for backup. It's sad that a great piece of hardware can be ruined by negative software.. Stay away from WD, seems like they need to have to learn the tricky way...

Comment:
n/a it has a auto mounting vcd utility that is embedded in the firmware that is non removable even with formatting so it usually pops up no mater what you do western digital would have a superior item if the put it on a separate partition so it could be removed if the user wanted to in stead of embedding it in the bios of the drive ps this will drive you insane you are greater off with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136172

Comment:
Straightforward to install, straightforward automatic or drag and drop backups. It crashed my technique ("serious error") twice before I referred to as WD and identified out that it is not compatible with Norton GoBack, Roxio or Sonic programs. This is not in the literature or specs simply because they just located out in November 2009. The drive came out in Sept. 2009.If you do an automatic backup and have lots of folders, it separates them and you have to search endlessly to come across the file you're searching for.It is not very rapid. Took all day to backup 240GB the 1st time. It's a bit bulky but smaller than my old My Book from 3 years ago.I would never ever have bought it had I identified it was ONLY a continuous backup and not meant to back up just when you pick, or that it was incompatible with so a lot of programs (patches are NOT offered as WD says, btw). If you call WD they will tell you how to download A thing THAT WILL DISABLE TWO OF THE Functions SO YOU CAN USE IT AS AN OCCASIONAL DRAG AND DROP BACKUP rather than CONTINUOUS WITH THE WDSMARTWARE (THAT'S THE CULPRIT).

Comment:
Works fantastic for about 4 months then fails I have replaced this hard drive twice and each occasions the challenging drive failed. The heads crashed on the 1st one particular and the usb port in the casing broke off the second a single. And, BTW, WD does not do data recovery even if the product is defective. I will by no means purchase a different WD difficult drive once more. For the additional funds, purchase a seagate HD instead.

Comment:
Size. Shape. Reliability. Comes with that **** virtual CD and computer software. Built into its firmware. Seriously, WD? I like WD a lot, but the Virtual CD drops the score by 1 and a half (if I could) egg. READ beneath for a workaround: I was quite Incredibly disappointed to know that the software program and Virtual CD come normal on the FIRMWARE. Negative move, WD. Great news, although is that you can HIDE the Virtual CD from popping up by working with these instructions: http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdsmartwareutilities So now it's a regular drag and drop. We shouldn't have to go by way of that, but whatever, when the five minute process is done, I like it again.

Comment:
Extremely very good for it's price. Constantly really like Western Digital drives. They hardly let me down.Warranty has incredibly excellent coverage. Even physically damaged by falls, they will replace it for you. And provide a shipping label most of the time. Obviously due to the fact it's an HDD, breaks very easily upon physical impact. Not significantly else to say about this drive. It's run about 50MB/s read speeds for me, and it runs nicely. Not superior for operating programs directly off of it although. Greatest for storing things.

Comment:
1) Uncomplicated to use (my non-tech spouse has no issues working with this device)two) ultra quiet - the drive is well dampened in it's easy case3) rapidly adequate - it's not on par with my internal HDD's, but i don't mind - reliable is a greater value for insurance than speed.4) capacious "enough" - i prefer not going for the bleeding edge in efficiency in my storage - reliability is a high value for mefive) professionally, i prefer separate-powered peripherals6) superb cost/storage unit7) the "sleep" mode is convenient when i don't require the drive, but like to preserve it at the ready 1) failure to offer you/provide plug multi-country adapter to power provide (would be quickly accomplised by way of already-in-place user-detachable plugƜ) not really a con - just a note.... it's interesting to not have a power-on switch, but again not a con Newegg rocks!!!!This external HDD has been a great asset to my computing/photography/videography needs. It serves exactly as intended by Western Digital; a primary digital storage web site. I have other ext. HDD's and this is my latest iteration. I will purchase a couple a lot more when i'm subsequent property (currently live abroad).As alluded to in the "Cons" section of my review, Western Digital could incredibly merely give this device a significantly higher advertising advantage by offering the modular plug adapter to the public instead of getting to get a region-particular supply or discover a plug adapter (i know i'd acquire a WD adapter for mine). The included power source is multi-voltage with the (modular) physical adapter getting the only distinction between energy sources sold in distinct regions (thinking btw US/North America and EU).I've located Western Digital hdd's to be most dependable/trouble-totally free. There are lemons in just about every brand, but in my genuine-life knowledge WD has consistently the lowest fail rate.

Comment:
I got this in a good deal for ๪ a few months ago and I love it so far. My computer system got infected with a virus or something that I couldn't be bothered with so I downloaded my computers drivers on the net and swapped the difficult drive with one I had laying around. I employed this external to copy more than the files and I had no difficulty. I now use it every day for HD movies, backing up music and backing up big programs like World of Warcraft.-Space-Quiet-Straightforward to use-Looks cool-Doesn't get very hot-Fits good side-by-side with yet another of the similar model The only downside I can see with this is the reality that it prompts you to install software program each and every time it is plugged into the personal computer or the laptop or computer is turned on or restarted.This is not a flaw, just an annoyance as there is no alternative to cease it. If you opt for to not install it you are fine until the next time you either turn the pc on or plug the HD back in. Alot of the men and women here are more than criticizing the drive due to the software program, and if you can deal with a speedy "download or no?" prompt maybe every day or a couple of times daily (laptop users) there is nothing incorrect with the drive.-Software program I wish I could make the lights on it quit flashing, I have it no a lot more than one foot to the left of my monitor but it isn't really bright sufficient for me to stick tape more than it but or get annoyed.-1 egg for the irremovable software, 4 nonetheless remain due to the excellent.

Comment:
The obvious 1 TB of storage, slim design, uncomplicated plug and play, and the cost is decent.Came formatted NTFS, and not FAT32 like alot of other well-known WD drives in Really recent years. this is a definite PLUSDrive capacity meter, which is kinda nice to have if you're not paying attention, and folks like have ALOT to store. I can fill up a 1TB in a couple of weeks, so it's often excellent to do a Fast visual check to see where I stand Space-wise. None yet, still searching. the guy that wrote about how smartware is so horrible must not have seen the X button on the install window of the Smartware software autorun when he 1st plugged the drive in. If you put a checkmark in the box at the bottom it says "don't show this window once again" and then close it like you would a common browser window with the X. the software doesn't install, and you can instantly becoming working with your drive. SM no cost!:) also there are directions on the WD web site for those whom wish to UN-Install the software program if the choice is created that it isn't required following a previous install. Good DRIVE!!

Comment:
Owned for almost a year now and it has worked flawlessly. Gets a small warm under difficult load, but not worryingly hot. Quiet, indicator lights that show how significantly space you've applied (needs Smartware installed to work). Shows up as a standard external drive so you can drag and drop files if you prefer to backup that way. Most backup programs, Smartware included, aren't really excellent. Stick to the included backup in Windows 7 and you really should be fine. Case feels a bit low cost, I bought a metal enclosure for a diverse drive to travel with due to the fact this won't hold up to the rigors of travel. As everybody else has stated, the Virtual CD and SmartWare is kinda annoying. I disabled the VCD (nothing tough) and use SmartWare to for the indicator lights on the front and to safely remove, otherwise it just runs in the background. Power brick need to be inline so it doesn't take up so much space on a energy strip, but that's just nit-selecting. All-in-all a extremely great get for an external hard drive. I've been operating mine almost a year without having any trouble and now that it's practically full I'm thinking about either a different 1 or one of the new 2 TB drives.

Comment:
This is a fantastic backup drive. And it works just fine. It's easy to use. I had a drive that stopped working. It was still within the 1 year warranty, and Western digital replaced it without any problems. They are pretty quickly too. It only took a week. Due to the fact it is a typical difficult drive with spinning platters, if you knock it over although the drive is on, I guarantee you that you will lose all of your data. I think the style of the drive is gorgeous. Except that if you use this drive, preserve it laying flat. If you stand it up like a book, make positive to brace it and don't bump it. Also, I'm impressed with Western Digitals return policy and turn about time to replace it's bad products.

Comment:
The hard drive itself is a good unit .. Western Digital makes superior difficult drives ... that's no secret! Back up software is an absolute joke!! Best to use your own back up computer software. Would also have been nice if the energy adapter had the block inline and had a regular size plug so it wouldn't take up so considerably room on a energy strip.

Comment:
This is a very good value for your money. Great storage space, but a usb 2.0 is a little slow for large transfers, but serves very well as a backup drive.

Comment:
Got this item when it was on promotion. I look forward to using other Western Digital products in the future.

Comment:
I bought this item a 1.5 years ago (not from ncix)This item worked very nicely for a year but unfortunately it died after a year and half approximately....Which is kinda dispointing since at that time, this item was kinda expensive....and the warranty was for 1 year! I lost all my data and the worst ...loss all my pictures!

Comment:
It more or less does the job I bought it for, which is backup storage. However, with hindsight, I probably would've gone for a simpler external drive than one with all the extra features this one has, that I don't use. Something like this, also from WD:http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=52473&vpn=WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN&manufacture=Western%20Digital%20WD%20RetailThe software that installs off the virtual CD that's meant to make backing up easy and quick doesn't work for me. It runs /extremely/ slowly, causing me to simply give up on it and back up my files normally. The casing of the drive is also quite bulky compared to a more conventional external drive.

Comment:
They're great. I've had them for 1 year now and it works like a charm. The only downside is the spin up from idle, but that doesn't make any difference considering it's an external storage!

Comment:
It's not a standard USB drive. It installs a virtual CD that is difficult to disable. It work be fine if it was easy to disable the virtual CD drive. It requires a firmware update  to disable it.

Comment:
The only thing I found wrong with this drive is that when I owned two of these, my computer would not be able to recognize when both were plugged in at the same time

Comment:
Overall, I would highly recommend this drive. I've owned Seagate drives in the past, and they gave me nothing but problems. Western Digital is definitely a brand that has excelled in storage, and I hope they will continue to do so in the future. One thing that is a bit irritating is the lack of manually selecting files to backup in the software. If you were hoping the software could do this for you, it doesn't :P. Of course you can always manually backup the files yourself. Although the software seems to have been "Macified", it still destroys the Maxtor backup system.g.All in all, I'd give this drive 5 stars because of it's epicness ;D.

Comment:
I use this to backup my macbook and store some pictures. I have yet to have any problems. I would not consider this to very portable. I bought a 2.5 laptop drive as my portable external drive.

Comment:
Pretty awesome device, especially for the price, it is a great buy to watch movies if you have a nice LCD or Plasma TV at home.

Comment:
i bought this on sale at $109. The user guide mentioned there is a CD for the software/drivers and it's actually stored as a separate partition in the harddrive. The unit turns on itself automatically when it 's connected to the computer. Thus don't really know what the power button is for