Western Digital 1TB My Book Mac Edition USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
by WESTERN DIGITAL - RETAIL
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Our Price: $149.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $89.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital 1TB My Book Mac Edition USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
Customer Review: Chunky Look, Mega Storage, with some potential issues
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Western Digital My Book ITB to increase my Mac's Time Machine back-ups and to use for additional backup storage for my other computers. I expected the performance to be a little slow -- and it is, although not annoyingly so -- but that mattered less to me than the capacity and reliability. The capacity is a given, but what about reliability?
First, how it works: set up is easy. The drive plugs into an outlet (make sure you plug it into a surge protector) for power and through a USB slot to connect to the computer. Two bright blue bars alternate to show that the drive is working; when at rest, only one blue bar remains lit. Since I first bought this several months ago, it has been working without issue, doing Time Machine backups as scheduled. It does have an annoying low frequency hum that pulses during use. My other external drive, a Seagate ST302504FDA1E1-RK FreeAgent Desktop 250 GB 3.5" USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, is completely quiet.
I have one concern which may not show up until a year or more: the case has numerous open slots and holes, presumably for ventilation, along the top and back, exposing the interior almost entirely. I'm afraid that dust settling in through these holes might compromise the device. So far, so good, but I wonder what will happen in the future. Consumers should take this possibility into consideration when purchasing.
The box is chunky: 6.5" tall, 5.25" front-to-back, and 2" wide.
In general, I'm pleased with this drive's performance, but I removed one star for the hum and for the potential for issues that I may have to face in a year or two.
-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Customer Review: Hard Drive
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased this product in conjunction with a new iMac computer for use as the "Time Machine" backup. It does what it's supposed to do without problem since purchase about three months ago so we should be past any infant mortality failure (knock on wood). We chose this unit in spite of some negative reviews and take this opportunity to comment on three concerns. First would be early unit failures. I suspect all brands have this potential to varying degree and hopefully, if this occurs, it is within the warranty period. After that I suppose it is luck of the draw. Previous hard drive failures I've experienced (two drives out of seven) turned out not to be failure of the basic hard drive unit but rather the computer interface (software hiccup) or USB/Firewire interface (external drive). All data was intact when the basic units were connected to a USB universal drive adapter. The second concern was the bright white "night light" which struck me as a situational problem. We put our computer to sleep at night and the hard drive obediently follows (the lights go out). A third concern, perhaps again situational, was the lack of an on/off switch. Our previous external drive (that had the interface failure) had an on/off switch and a loud fan. Because of the noise, the on/off switch got a lot of use and may, in fact, contributed to the interface failure if power on surges stressed the interface circuitry enough to fail. The new Western Digital drive is so quiet we haven't had any reason to switch it off other than vacations when we turn off or pull plugs on a lot of electronics.Customer Review: Easy Set Up, Somewhat Slower
Summary: 5 Stars
Setup: VERY easy. Hook up power source and USB, and then drag the files/folders I want backed up and drop them on top of the My Book icon on the desktop. And that's it! With Time Machine, it backs up regularly on its own and is working pretty quietly.
Aesthetic: Small, does not take up much desk space at all. Sleek. I like the narrow white/light blue activity light. The drive also shuts off when the computer shuts off/goes to sleep, which is a) an energy saver and b) prevents the light from glowing at night when I am sleeping.
Value: 1 TB for $119 and pre-formatted for Mac? Waaaaay better than Time Machine, which is both a hard drive and a wireless router. Why pay for a wireless router when I already have one?
Con: I am on OSX 10.5 with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 1 GB of memory in a MacBook Pro. The *only* complaint so far: my computer slows down a bit when the automatic back ups run sometimes. I may get the pinwheel for 3-10 seconds, especially when I am switching between applications. I usually have no more than 2-5 apps running at once. But nothing freezes up or crashes. Just slows a bit.
Besides that, highly recommend for ease of setup and seamless use with Time Machine.
Customer Review: Perfect Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this item over a year and a half ago with a fair bit of trepidation given my previous experience with external drives and a number of less-than-complimentary comments here on Amazon. I took the plunge because I needed the storage space and because of all the choices, this one appeared from user reviews to be my best option.
Happily, after more than a year and a half hooked up to my laptop, getting disconnected, transported in a messenger bag, and generally used every day without abuse but also without pampering, this drive has yet to cause me even the slightest bit of trouble. It has done all that has been asked of it and done so flawlessly.
It could not have been simpler to set up and use. It works quickly, quietly, and efficiently. It has never failed to be recognized by my laptop or other computers I have used with it. And it has never failed. In any way. Period. As far as I am concerned this is an excellent unit and I would recommend it to anyone for whom this is the appropriate piece of gear.
Customer Review: NOT RELIABLE!!
Summary: 1 Stars
sure, it's easy to set up, it's small and compact, and works with time machine on your mac seamlessly...but what's the use, if this thing is not reliable? It's a very fragile machine that cannot be handled like an ipod or a laptop.
It was sitting on my bookshelf vertically and just tapped on its side and all of a sudden it died on me.
I think the sole purpose of a hard drive is to keep its contents safe...I can see if I dropped this hard, but it was a soft tap, and everything was gone. It now said that my disk was unreadable and wanted to initialize. (but that would erase all content)
Keep in mind that data recovery companies charge 600 bucks and up to 1500 for macs (what was quoted for me) ([...] and [...])
I researched other outlets and downloaded Boomerang recovery software and it got it back! they let you test it out first in demo.
I never knew how fragile these were, and a friend confirmed it with their experience with Western Digital as well.