Advantages: Very easy to use Disadvantages: USB only
The ‘Essential Edition’ of the Western Digital MyBook only has USB2.0, which for me, is fine as I can plug it into any computer I wish. Other editions include Firewire, which of course costs more and not all computers support Firewire.
It has a (fairly long) 3m power cable, a standard USB (type B) cable to connect to the computer and the box itself, that is very simple to set up and to use. The front has a green circle that lights up when switched ... ...is completely black in colour and has no other distinguishing features. It took me 2 minutes to set up and start to use, and that included opening the cardboard packaging!
I decided to buy the 500gb capacity, as I already had another external hard disk which has 320gb, which was completely full. I needed another 500gb as backup and storing extra files. I’m in the middle of converting the vast collection of family videos to DVD and it’s surprising ...
orrin31 30.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Advantages: Good value for money, very simple to use Disadvantages: Not portable and has a power cable and usb cable
...500gb available.
Produced by Western Digital who are a confirmed producer of storage devices both internal and external, I chose it because of it's confirmed brand and at the time the price was good.
It is a quirky shape in that as the title suggests it is book shaped. To give further guidance it is about the height and width of the paperback edition of the Da Vinci Code and as such fits nicely on a book shelf., obviously without the wiring.
The ... ...it is quite quick and transfers your files easily.
- It is externally powered which means it is faster.
- You can do drag and drop backups if you only want to back up one folder to save time.
- It is good value for money is that it gives you what you want for a reasonable price.
- It is easy to use and will self install on most machines above Windows 2000 (which includes Vista), although drivers for Windows 98 were also available online.
- Unlike ...
Ohajiki 19.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Advantages: space, price ease of use Disadvantages: none
I really do love Western Digital hard drives as they deliver great performance and storage at very reasonable prices. This is no exception.
This is a very cool and compact metal-cased storage device that works as well as you would expect from Western Digital, which means phenomenal performance at a great price.
Design
Its presented in a big box, and I was very relieved (and also surprised) to see how small it actually is! At 8cm in width, by 1.5 ... ...on/off button to as on the MyBook western digital range. During powerdown of your computer, the hard disk will automatically turn off, so there is no need to turn it off yourself.
I would thoroughly recommend this product due to its great reliability and very good value for money. ...
thewhitewolf 05.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Advantages: Fast, nice design, prevents data loss and corruption Disadvantages: slows down the start up time (unknown reason)
===General===
Western Digital specialises in producing external hard drives therefore their products are of good quality. The My Book Essential offers 500 GB which is more than enough for a standard user (Family usage). You can back up your pictures, videos, documents and programs without running out of space.
===Design===
The HD has a slick design and the shape of a book; it is small - however not small enough to be a portable hard drive. But ... ...the included set up from Western Digital that allows you to manage sync groups and automate backups or update files on the external drive. Based on my personal experience data stored on the drive is really secure! It happened more than once that my friend unplugged the drive while being used - regardless this fact I was happy enough not to lose data or discover that it was corrupted. USB/memory sticks often break down after being accidentally pulled ...
FirstToTry 11.12.2007 (03.07.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Advantages: Lots of space Disadvantages: A bit noist at times
...cover or has it ruined the hard drive system itself. I am very happy with this and all my friends I have spoke to that have external hard mostly have western digital ones as they are very trustworthy and basically reliable to the amount of money you spend on it. ...
ravstar11 09.09.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Advantages: Fast data-transfer (USB 2.0), reliable, nifty look Disadvantages: FAT32 (if chosen, noisy), USB 1.0 (potentially slow)
I bought this on the basis of knowing WD is a reliable brand, and I'm happy to say the results have been solid. I've owned this drive for around 10 months, and usually move large chunks of data around (between PC and drive) without any issues whatsoever. The disk itself is full now, yet it's still as quick and easy to manage as when I first begun using it. There's nothing I can complain about, personally, although if it's formatted as a FAT32 drive ... ...mini washing machine. I use Windows XP, so for me setup was effortless. Plugged it in and it popped up, pre-formatted, and ready to go. The drive will be quite slow if your computer only has USB 1.0 ports, however.
I would recommend this drive to anyone looking for a very cost-effective and nicely-designed solution to backing up their stuff. ...
Eetron 27.09.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Advantages: Build quality, price,easy to use. Disadvantages: Limited speed (USB2), no software.
Before you buy this product, it's worth making sure that it's the one for you as there are 3 versions - Pro, Premium and Essential.
As the name suggests, "Essential" gives you the basics - 500MB with USB2 support. It's easy to install, and although it should work via an additional powered usb hub (if you have one), it's probably safer to use a spare USB port direct to your machine.
Other than that, it's really just a question of plugging it in ... ...file system it comes preformatted with - at the time of writing it's FAT32, and most users will probably want to make their first job that of changing this to NTFS, which is both simple and quick.
500GB is obviously loads of space for either making backups on, or holding ripped copies of DVDs.
The "Essential" edition has perhaps just two main drawbacks. 1) It comes with no backup software, and this alone can cost £30 -£40. 2) It only has a USB ...
nemo183 12.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Quick review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
Good hard drive. Nice plastic case. When the drive spins up, it makes a bit too much noise in my opinion. It's easy to install, windows finds it automatically. There is some extra software with it (I think backup software), but I didn't use it. Summary: good product. ...
BelgischeFriet 19.04.2007
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
...I would buy from Western digital again. saying that there has been a few complains in the past about the reliability of this product and from personal expierence i use my PC 24/7 and having western digital products in the past for years and they still are all in working order. good luck people. ...
ajpycroft 03.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Western Digital My Book Essential Edition WDG1U5000 500 GB
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