Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDG1U5000

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.

I purchased this drive last year and used it to store my Time Machine backups. It was quiet and attractive looking and served the purpose well. However, it just broke down a mere 2 months out of warranty. Classic. The hard drive had an easy life too, so this is totally unacceptable to me. When I told a friend of mine about the incident, he reported that he has had two of these break prematurely on him as well.

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.

I got this hard drive after I had filled up my 320GB MyBook. I was very impressed with my 320GB drive, so when I needed a new one, there was no doubt which brand I'd be buying. I did have a small problem however. After I'd added about 50GBs to this drive, and tried to add more, it started telling me there was no space available. I was able to fix the problem by moving everything back off the drive, formatting the drive, and then moving it back. After that I've had no problem thus far. Looks really nice sitting right next to my 320GB drive. I really like the fact they stand up so nice next to each other. I do leave about half an inch, to an inch of space between them to prevent any excessive heat. One of the best features about these drives is the fact they turn themselves off after 10 minutes of inactivity. They probably aren't the only drives to do this, as I'm sure many companies have followed suit, but still a nice feature to have. I definitely suggest this hard drive to anyone on the market for an external hard drive, who need this much storage. Very pleased with the shipping from amazon. Very speedy delivery, and nicely packaged.

Western Digital has a good reputation, and their products are generally good. But my situaiton was as follows: a couple of DAYS after installing it, I could no longer access it. I went to their support line, and, after a number of tests, it was clear that the product was defective. Amazon only refunds 50% of the value of opened and used products, according to their policy. Western told me to return it to the seller. I explained Amazon's policy, so they had me return to them and replaced it with a refurbished model. So even though I had the product only a few days, I have a used one in its place. The good news is the the refurbished one is working well. If return/replacement issues are significant to you, you might take this into account. New info: I and another respondent have had trouble with the hard drive info being completely lost. Apparently this is not the fault of the unit but the nature of hard drives. Leave it off when you do not need it. Even though it can take the heat, sometimes, when you turn your computer off (or on), a stray static charge can erase the info from your external drive. So use this as a storage drive (backing it up first) and leave it off except when you need it, and then turn it off.

I purchased this in June of 2007. It worked very nicely for about 4 months. I had a computer problem that forced me to shut down my computer improperly. When I turned everything back on, I could not access the drive. I got a message saying the drive needed to be formatted. I had a technician access the drive and my files are still there. The master boot record is gone, however. I have to buy another drive to move them to and then format the drive and all should be fine. After I do this, I won't trust this drive again. I will only hook it up when I need to and not leave it plugged in all the time as I was doing. I have had the My Book Essential Edition 250GB for well over a year and have never had a single problem. It is on all the time (and was on when I had the computer problem that caused the 500GB drive problem with no errors to the 250GB drive). It is a very good product. I'd go with two of the 250GB My Books and stay away from the 500GB altogether.

I bought this product twice -- once for my home PC and once for the local Museum's PC. I really like the Premium Edition that I bought for my home because of the ease of use, friendly back up software, and large storage capacity. So when I ordered the second WD500 gb My Book for the Museum, I discovered that it lacked the friendly back up software and I sent it back. The Essentials Edition does not include this back up software but the description of the product by the online retailer did not explain it. So be sure to purchase the Premium Edition and not the Essentials Edition if you wish to do back up easily.

Pros: It's got lots of storage and transfers data relatively fast. It's quiet (no fan) and looks stylish. I knew what I was getting into, though, so I'm not complaining about the size and weight. Cons: If you want an easy to pack and move portable, this AIN'T it. Get a USB powered 2.5" drive. The things I didn't like about it and was uninformed when I got it are: 1) the little rubber feet on it like to fall off REALLY easy. 2) There are no pads as it comes to lay it on its side. Sure, it takes up less room, but I keep knocking the thing over. 3) It's a FAT-32 drive. Convert it to NTFS or else you won't be able to store ISO's of ripped DVD's, single layer or dual layer. 4) it comes with pre-loaded software that seems useless for what I bought it for -- Storing digital pictures, music, and ripped DVD's. -- Bottom line, I'm going to have to buy a 2.5" USB powered external for dragging my media to and from work. I REALLY like my friend's passport Western Digital 160 GB USB 2.0 Passport 2.5" External Hard Drive ( WDXMS1600TN ) . A 160 gig would really be the ticket!!! ** UPDATE ** The drive died and took all of the data with it. Got slower and slower, so I started transfering the important data off and it died halfway through the transfer. I am disappointed that it lasted only two hears with light use.