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Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive | 
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| Brand: Western Digital
Category: CE
Buy New: £59.94
New (33) from £59.94
Rating:  152 reviews
Sales Rank: 84
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Hard Drive Size: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 2.1 x 6.5
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of the product.
MPN: WDH1U5000E
Model: WDH1U5000E
UPC: 718037120928
EAN: 0718037120928
ASIN: B000WP0NM8
Release Date: November 25, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 147 more reviews...
 Want the latest gadgets? Here's how to get it for a fiver November 21, 2008
jennie
Christmas is coming so save your cash! Why purchase something you can get for a fiver.
Go to bargaingadgets4u.co.uk and sign up. Complete ONE offer- I would recommend Gala Bingo (you know, the one Sharon Osborne advertises for on tv),as this is cheap and fun (and you might win some money in the process!). If you really don't want to spend, there is a free Lovefilm trial.
All companies are well known so there is no risk involved- give it a go! I got my Ipod and many other things this way, so don't miss out.
I was a sceptic once but now I am SO glad I gave it a chance. BBC approved this system on their Newsnight programme a while back.
Many items to choose from; PDA's, Sat Navs, Ipods, Camcorders or even a Camera.
They send your gift Free of charge
Enjoy!
 lasted 12 hours.... November 14, 2008
A. K. Monro (London, UK)
I got my 1tb My Book on Monday, it lasted a whole day and then started smelling of burnt electronics. Contacted Amazon, they were excellent and sent me a replacement Thursday, started it up, backed up some files. Got home backed up some more files from home pc then suddenly it died. It lasted 8 hours.
Thankfully Amazon seem really good about replacing dodgy products but why stock them in the first place.
Quality Product November 13, 2008
R. J. Salusbury (Winchester)
This is a relatively small, sleek external HDD. I've had a 250GB WD My Book for over 2 years and it still works perfectly so there was no doubt about buying WD again. This drive is smaller in size than the 250GB and has a glossy plastic finish and is extremely quiet. The only real difference is the addition of an extra light which flashes constantly when the drive is in use (i.e. playing an mp3 file) - it seems unnecessary.
The drive comes with pre-installed trial backup software and some other unnecessary software. I'd advise anyone who doesn't want this software to perform the Quick Format function on the drive and this will remove this software. If you are using the drive for straight forward backing up of mp3, jpeg, etc. I'd recommend using the open source (free) "Cobian Backup" software (which is NOT pre-installed) instead of either the MS backup software you may have on your PC (it backups unnecessary MS components) or the pre-installed trial backup software. It's easy to use and runs quietly in the background.
In summary, highly recommended. At a cost of approximately 12p per GB, it's a bargain.
Edit: It would appear that Amazon is publishing reviews for the 500GB My Book on the 1TB My Book product page and vice-versa. This is a review for the 500GB My Book.
"Failure rate of less than 1%"? November 13, 2008
Sarah (London, England)
I ordered one of these drives about a month ago, deciding that although lots of people had warned against it, there were probably just as many satisfied customers who didn't bother to leave a review. Just like I'm doing now, probably most people only leave a review when they've had a problem with a product.
Unfortunately the light on the front of the drive just kept flashing and it just wouldn't connect to my Mac. I emailed Western Digital tech support and they suggested I returned it as it was faulty.
Undeterred, I ordered a replacement. When I plugged it in nothing happened for about 3 minutes and then it appeared on my Mac desktop. I have since found out that this delay was because the drive is formatted in FAT32 which means it's recognisable by Mac and PC, however it takes longer to be recognised by Mac and so various websites recommended that if you're only using it on a Mac to reformat it using Mac's disk utility tool. The next day I switched on the drive to reformat it and nothing happened. Again I contacted Western Digital tech support and they said that it appeared to be faulty and to return it, stating "This drive is usually very reliable as many of our customers have had no issues with it. We have a less than 1% failure rate with our drives."
In that case I must be extremely unlucky!
There does seem to be a high failure rate with these drives. Even if it works to begin with, from other people's reviews and my experience it seems that the drive can fail at any time, which defeats the object of using this drive to back up your data. I'm now looking for another drive of a similar size and price but that is reliable - if anyone has any recommendations that would be appreciated!
Very Poor Longevity November 9, 2008
michaelb104 (Notts, UK)
I've not got this specific model but I've had a 500GB WD external hard drive for just over 18 months and it has died. There is no help from WD because of course it's out of warranty. If this is the longevity of their products then it's very, very poor for something that just sits on a shelf and should be available when disaster strikes. I for one will not be entertaining WD products ever again.
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