Western Digital - 1Tb 7200 Rpm 16Mb Ext Hdd
by Western Digital
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital - 1Tb 7200 Rpm 16Mb Ext Hdd
Customer Review: Western Digital MyBook 1 TB - Great Capacity But Shorter Lived Than Other MyBooks
Summary: 3 Stars
The Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB Hard Drive has great capacity but might not be well suited for this design. I've had great luck with my Western Digital drives, but may have bitten off more than I could chew with this 1 TB model. The bottom line is I now think that 1 TB might be too much capacity for a USB-only connection. Even though it might not be because of the size I did experience a hardware issue with the 1 TB model that had to be repaired. That was the first HD failure I've had with any of these WD external drives.
The larger capacity means that the disk geometry has to work harder for the same form factor. When you consider that neither the speed nor the buffer were improved with this model, it's easier to see why the performance is slightly less than the 500 GB model.
Ultimately I think it might make sense to step down to the Western Digital 500GB My Book Home Edition or the Western Digital My Book Premium 500 GB model instead. If you need 1 TB you might want to look at the Premium, Home, Studio or Professional versions in that capacity. I am nervous because of the negative press some of those have gotten, but the extra and faster interfaces would have to be better than this USB only Essentials version.
For a 1 TB drive, the buffer has to get larger. This guy is still limited by the 480 Mps connection speed of USB 2.0 but gives you only a fraction of that in production.
You can unplug the AC adapter to manually power it down from behind, or it will power down with your computer. The AC adapter helps it perform a little faster than the USB powered ones.
The software utilities should be deleted by anybody but the most novice user. Just do cut and paste backups instead and use some other shareware or NTFS if you need to enable encryption.
Connecting WD drives to different systems has always been a plus, and this drive connected to my Windows XP, Vista or Mac OS X computers.
The only factor that should change whether or not you get this drive or another one would be size and connection type. Obviously, WD makes Pro and other versions of these drives that have firewire and SATA connectors. For most Mac users, firewire 2 connectivity is a must.
I did experience my first drive failure with the 1 TB after only 3 months of use. From now on I'm stepping up to the higher end models for this capacity. Still, I may have just gotten a bad one and you might be luckier.
Pros
+ Works well on multiple platforms: Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X
+ Nice 16 MB buffer for faster copying speeds is still acceptable
+ New sleek body, more pleasing to the eye
+ Turns on and off with your computer
+ Very easy installation, virtually plug and play
+ Integrates nicely with my growing stable of WD MyBook drives
+ 1 TB truly is amazing capacity in one drive
Cons
- 1 TB capacity is probably the largest you would want for USB transfer with a 16 MB buffer
- Software will only be useful for novice users and is not very good (after several years of these drives being on the market)
- New shiny body attracts fingerprints and dust, may not appeal to everyone
- Transfer speed still limited by USB only connection, must step up for FireWire ports
- Price for 1 TB of capacity not as good as some smaller drives in $ price per gigabyte
- AC adapter for power, not USB powered
Conclusion
This drive is great for those who want a large capacity drive. It's better to get a pair to guard against drive failures and backup your backup. Watch the price and try to get it on sale. Those looking for extra connectors (firewire, SATA) will want to step up to the other models.
Enjoy!
Customer Review: Acoid totally : Replaced umder warranty, fingers crossed, buyers beware
Summary: 3 Stars
Aug 31 2009 : The replacement unit for my first unit turned its toes up last week.
With this one I was only using it one a week for a 1hr 30 min backup. With all the time invested (a) changing the format to FAT32 to the other type I didn't even bother to ring WD. Straight back to Officeworks "WD have had a batch of units with power supply problems... I wasn't sure whether this was the power adaptor or something in the HD case itself. Whichever there was no way I was taking a 3rd one of one of these turkeys homne (in 6 months) and investing more of my valueable time.
Officeworks credited me back $AUD199 (the units are now on sale for $AUD159 and by Xmas they could be $AUD100).
I wouldn't take one of these even if they were free. A complete heap of junk... I never want to see that green box or that stupid blue light again.
My first WD 1TB external drive purchased in Mar 2009 had a short but chequered career... ultimately after a recent series of the drive not be accessible and a couple of hour long sessions on the phone to WD support in Singapore when after re-formatting the drive, I only had 1GB free space (but no files on the unit) they said take it back to where you bought it as there is nothing further we can do over the phone.
So I took it back to Officeworks (a sort of Australian Home Depot) and against my better judgement came home with a new replacement in a box. Secretly I would have loved to have come home with another make or model after my first experience.
So second time around I installed #2 closer to the desktop computer I use it on. #1 was connected via a 3m USB extension cord. Finding #1 is that having #2 connected on the factory supplied USB mini lead made no difference to the backup speed. Once again I reformatted #2 in NTFS format... this only takes a few minutes. I backed up the WD files on a separate USB stick first so as to be able to copy these straight back after formatting.
#2 device I've decided only to have running during actual backup... in my case Acronis True Image 2009 which takes about 2hrs a week to image 50GB.
So before starting this I plug in the WD AC adpator and then plug in the USB lead. #1 was probably running about 60hrs a week.
So in summary based on my experiences with my first WD drive I don't think these external drives are very robust (nothing like internal ones in this dept) and hope cutting usage back to actual backup time only will extend its life. I'm also planning to alternate Acronis backups to another external HD (not a WD but a Verbatim 250GB drive).
Based on my experience I wouldn't be solely relying on one of these drives for backup and certainly as an extension to a laptop or desktop they are not reliable enough in my experience to be used for extended every day usage. Perhaps my 3 stars should be a 2.
Customer Review: A Technoplegic point of View
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought two of these from Amazon in April of 2009 for about $105.00 each. Now I wish I had purchased 10 of them. They have been that reliable for me and they are now $135.00.
I have had them running nonstop from the day I got them.
I have never reconfigured anything on them. Just plugged them into my PC and started using them.
I have never downloaded any of the programs that are prompted by the new external hard drive (ExHD).
I have full usage of my hard drive space.
My PCs recognize each different drive separately and there is never any confusion or issue moving them from one PC to the other and no issues using them both at the same time on either of my PCs.
I have never had any issues of them heating up or making noise. I was so paranoid from reading reviews about them getting hot and crapping out on people that I check them often. I touch them and can feel no perceptible heat. I listen to them and hear no noise at all. (It is very quiet in my home office; amazingly quiet in fact.)
Now I will tell you that I lay them on their side; my logic being that this leaves none of the ventilation slots blocked and I think they get very good cross ventilation but seriously when I touch them they feel actually cool to my touch.
The only issue I have with them, and really it is minor, is that I have to unplug them from my PC if I am going to reboot the PC. After I reboot the PC I plug them; in a moment it will begin doing a scan of the ExHD and I hit cancel. Then it opens another window and wants to load some other program and again I hit cancel, it does and then all systems are a go.
I have them on a separate battery backup from my PC batteries. Maybe a wee of overkill but it makes me feel better.
I feel the need to tell you that I am a "Technoplegic" (my term for someone that computer geeks look at and say "you're too stupid to own a computer") and basically these units have been plug and play and very, very easy to use, very reliable. Once I got it through my thick Welsh/Irish skull that I needed to unplug the ExHD from my PC when I reboot the PC... Well then they were a wee bit of heaven on earth to use.
Mind you now, it hasn't been a year yet, only nine months... so... maybe I will be saying "DowgGowneGobilityGookHorsefeathers" in another three months or so. I have no clue. But if I do I will post an update and tell you everything that I have to do and go through with Western Digital... Good or bad issues in dealing with them.
Again, I am a Technoplegic so please forgive my lack of geek terms and phrases; my lack of "use this and that program to override this and that other program" and all the other geeky, however smart sounding dribble the Tachnopros have memorized.
David C. Maughan
Customer Review: It just works - and well.
Summary: 4 Stars
Like many others, I have a fairly large library of music in my iTunes folder...I was pushing nearly 200 GB between all the music and Podcasts and I wanted a way to move my iTunes library from my smaller (250 GB) internal hard drive. I have my library backed up on two separate USB portable Western Digital hard drives for safety. Obviously I NEVER want to have to rip all those CDs again, which took several months doing a few a day. But I wanted something larger to use not only for music but for movies, and all the other data files you accumulate over time, and having a whole TB of storage seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I've always had decent luck with Western Digital hard drives (even the ones that died were replaced under warranty quickly and easily without too much hassle), so I chose the Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop Hard Drive.
Like most people, the first thing I did was reformat the drive to the NTFS file format because that way you can directly address files larger than 4 GB - absolutely necessary for movies and the older FAT32 file format that the drive comes formatted as doesn't do that. The formatting wasn't hard to do and took only a few minutes. After that the hard drive was ready to use. I like the fact that it powers up and down with my PC, so once it is installed I never really have to think about it. It is just there like having an internal drive, but one that will be easy to move around and connect to another PC when the need arises.
Future drives will have better connectivity for faster transfers using eSATA and USB 3.0 interfaces, but I needed something now and didn't want to wait. I would recommend this drive highly. If you *move* your iTunes library to this external drive (as opposed to backing it up to this drive) always remember to let the drive get up to speed and be recognized before firing up iTunes, so that iTunes will find your library and not want to create a blank one on your internal drive.
As an aside, if you buy this drive you will have a huge space for all your music, so go ahead and rip them in higher quality (256 Kbps mp3 or m4a files )for better sound. Right now, you might be listening to your music on a iPOD compatible boom-box, but down the road, you will have a much better stereo with better fidelity sound quality. In other words change the default ripping quality in iTunes to be "custom" and choose 256 Kbps. You'll be glad you did. There's no use going through all the time to rip them in mid-fi 128 Kbps quality.
All in all, a good solid product. I just wish it weren't made in China. With unemployment pushing nearly 10% as I write this, there have to be some unemployed Americans who would love to make these drives and who would not ask for an unreasonable salary to do so.
Customer Review: Plug and Play External Drive
Summary: 5 Stars
I currently have 2 terabytes of storage, 6 do-it-yourself "DIY" external drives housing various sized hard drives, and a MyBook. This review compares their performance. All drives are currently on-line connected to a 7 port USB hub.
In the Box
A black box housing the drive, a brick power supply, and a USB cable are key items. 2 instruction sheets, and a warranty card complete the kit. The My Book is about the size of a bible one finds in hotel and motel rooms.
The drive case, power and cables leave a very clean design. All my DIY drives comes with stands, awkward sized power supplies and cable placements that are not well thought through.
Installation
Simple: Plug the USB cable into the MyBook, and into your PC USB port. Plug in the power supply to AC and the MyBook.
The MyBook has no power switch, and turns itself on/off if the USB port is powered, when the PC is on.
The drive was recognized by WinXPSP2 without a hitch, and re-formatting the drive to NTFS was easy using WinXP built in disk utilities. The drive ships with FAT32 format, which is less desirable if NTFS can be supported. I backuped the shipped "trial" utilities inside the MyBook in case they were useful; they were not, and it was not clear were it was stored: C:\Program Files\Western Digital. I used Western Digital's disk utilities that shipped with my other drives to check partitions and drive status. These programs can also be downloaded free from Western Digital's web site.
Break-in
The drive ran over 1 week for 24/7 for a burn in, and has done a 24 hour long disk encryption format routine. it is currently a month old running 16 hours/day. Its surprisingly silent, and runs cooler than my DIY drives.
USB 2.0 Speed
It has a transfer rate of 10MB/sec. This is not the raw transfer rate, but includes delay from encryption I use. This is about 6x slower than the maximum USB transfer speed of 60 MB/sec but is the same rate as my other DIY drives.
Conclusion:
Excellent bang for buck. The cost to build a DIY external drive today may often be more than buying a pre-made external drive. USB 2.0 transfer speeds suggests the MyBook drive is a decent speed drive. The auto on/off feature is very helpful, given most DIY kits require manual power-down.
Note, there are a number of complaints about the higher end MyBook drives. The simple electronics of the low end 'Essential Edition' maybe the saving grace to this drive's performance, keep this in mind as the display boxes look the same. Further, all drives can malfunction, so a burn-in is a must to insure your drive is not among the few bad eggs.