Advantages: small, lots of storage and really reliable
Disadvantages: less portable than a small form hard disk drive, needs main to use

...This is my second hard drive. The first one I bought was a sony vaio that I bought off of ebay - a portable 120GB hard disk drive from the far east. It started giving me disk read and write errors about three to four months after I bought it. Moral of the story, buy from a reputable manufacturer and seller. So I bought this from Amazon co uk, who are by far a superior online seller. Prices have come down and i managed to get this for £60 including free delivery. The drive is compact, not portable. It needs to be plugged into mains as well as the computer which makes it less portable, but it is so quiet I can't even hear that is switched on even when it is writing or reading. I would highly recommend this product or even one of the bigger sized ones, though I couldn't afford the 1TB mybook. Remember 500GB is marketing... Read review

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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 on and flickers when in use. Apart from that, it 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... Read review

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Advantages: Reliable High Quality WD Drive Inside, Good Looks
Disadvantages: Expensive, Blue Circular Space Indicator Useless

...the backup software included, and the drivers to control the disk's operation and front panel display are multi-platform. **************************************************************** I'm looking at this now, and it seems very expensive! What do I get for my ~£110 investment? **************************************************************** You're getting 250GB of storage space which of course is varied depending on which filestructure you format it with. I use HFS+ which is the standard OSX format and I get access to 232GB. NTFS for Windows 2000/XP would give you something similar. You're also getting triple-interface design, with USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800 which gives the user the widest range of compatibilty and speed. USB 2.0 runs at up to 460Mb/s FireWire 400 runs at up to 400Mb/s FireWire 800 runs at up to 800Mb... Read review

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Advantages: looks great, quiet, funky green ring light on the front, good value, easy/no setup
Disadvantages: cant think of any yet

...hard drive, i also wanted to have a backup of everything that is on my laptop, this my book allows me to do this, as i only had 2 usb ports on my laptop, i also had to buy a one to 4 usb hub to give me more inputs for example my mouse, webcam etc, this only cost me 5 pounds and may not be an issue to yourselves. soon after buying this, my flatmate bought the very same package, mybook 250 gb and a usb hub. overall i tihnk its a great buy, its great value, looks great and does the job very well.....what more can we ask for?!... Read review

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Advantages: Good quality, WD brand, nice design, very good price, silent, robust and resistent
Disadvantages: USB2.0 is relatively slow, formated as FAT32

...The price is unbeatable given the capacity and the manufacturer's brand. Though is the cheap series of external HDDs from Western Digital the quality is very good. The drive looks good, nice glossy design and is solidly built. The install is straight forward, just plug it in and your PC should recognize right away. The drive is quiet (it makes some noise, but it isn't annoying at all) and runs relatively cool (my ex-external HDD from IOMEGA has way hotter even on mild usage). The only issue is that the USB2.0 interface is not the fastest thing around, but it is ok for data backup and operations that do not require considerable speed ... if you want speed than your better off spending a couple more money on the edition that comes with eSATA. Also by default the drive was formated with FAT32 probably for compatibility reasons, but since I... Read review

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Advantages: The size, the look, everything
Disadvantages: price a bit hefty

...my hard disk, with access to files within the disk is as instant as a normal hard disk drive. It can be stored on it's side, or standing up right. They can also be stacked, if 500gb isn't enough for you! There is no circular light around the 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. At this size you will never need to buy another hard drive ever.... Read review

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Advantages: Good engine and good looks
Disadvantages: Plastic interior

...version which I feel adds to the continuity. There is a little spoiler at the top of the rear wind screen that contains a brake light and looks very good when viewed from another vehicle. The model I have has 5 spoke Peugeot alloy wheels. These give the PUG a sporty look and add to the overall appeal of the car. Other PUG's that don't have the alloys don't compare in terms of aesthetics in my opinion. I think that all 2.0 L versions come with spot lights at the front of the car which is a good thing as they certainly help to widen the beam of light on the road during foggy conditions. Also, they draw attention from fellow drivers and I have received many a compliment on the appeal of the lights. Internally, the dash board is primarily plastic which I don't mind as it is easy to keep clean. Luckily it is also black which ties... Read review

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Advantages: Portable, easy to use, never failed on me yet!
Disadvantages: Perhaps only the disc size, but it has taken me 2 years to fill it!

...Wester Digital, a respected brand name, and i agree! I have owned the unit now for around 2 years, and have 0 problems. My internal hard drive has died on me twice but my external one, never! This 80gb HDD is perfect for storing large files, home movies, photo albums, music etc. It's ideal when transfering data from one place to another, simply unplug it, plug it in elsehwre and hey presto! It supports drag & drop so moving files couldn't be easier. Standard power adpater with 3-pin plug, and USB 2.0 connection to your pc, mac, server etc. It is easily recognised by each operating system and i have yet to find one that doesn't support the unit. Plug it in, wait around 30secs and it's up and running. Can be stored horizontally, and if you have 3 like me, you can stack them perfectly, or store them vertically... Read review

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Advantages: Fast fast fast, good looking, quiet
Disadvantages: none so far

.../ planet saving feature no waste of energy, and no more forgetting to turn off the unit!). Also, the HD turn itself off with the computer, and start along with it. So no need to think again about it! Just plug, and that's it! THE GEEKY BIT: THE SPECIFICATIONS **************************************************** * roduct Description: My Book Essential Edition WDG1U3200 - hard drive - 320 GB - Hi-Speed USB * Type: Hard drive - external * Dimensions (WxDxH): 14.1 cm x 17.1 cm x 5.7 cm * Weight: 1.3 kg * Localisation: Middle East, Africa, Europe * Capacity: 320 GB * Interface Type: Hi-Speed USB * Connector: 4 pin USB * Data Transfer Rate: 480 Mbps * Average Seek Time: 8.9 ms * Spindle Speed: 7200 rpm * Buffer Size: 8 MB * OS Required: Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft... Read review

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Advantages: Holds tonnes of files!
Disadvantages: It is quite heavy.

...I decided to buy an external harddrive as I store a lot of music and photographs on my computer and I would like it to be backed up in case my computer breaks and my files are irretrievable. I decided to start on Amazon.co.uk and searched "external harddrive" on their main page. A number of different models came up - the Western Digital My Book external harddrive came up a few times with different storage sizes - 160GB, 320GB, 500GB etc. The Western Digital My Book external harddrive stood out next to the others as it looked to be a nice size, it was better looking than most of the others available with its smart black casing and it had more variety of what storage size you can get. Space The 320GB harddrive holds up to 90,000 photos or 80,000 songs or 25 hours of film. The 160GB harddrive holds up to 45,000 photos or 40... Read review

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