- Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 62 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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15 out of 17 people found this review helpful
1.0 stars
"DOA - This Product Does Not Work"
Pros: Small and Fairly Light for 500GB
Cons: Cheap plastic case; functioned for two days only
Summary: This drive was too good to be true -- 500GB external drive with a small case and a cheap price. The drive repeatedly malfunctioned when writing -- I tried operating it using usb 2.0 on two different Windows XP boxes.
As a side note, the case while wonderfully small is made of very cheap plastic and has the fit and finish of a product you'd expect to cost $20 -- it's odd to put a 500GB drive in a flimsy plastic case that looks like a toy.
Unplugging power to drive and then reattaching helped a little, but this is just too risky for data. It's like gambling. It repeatedly wasn't recognized as a drive by the computer and had data copy and erase errors.
It took two hours to copy over 400GB of data and then another half hour to do an RMA at buy.com because I couldn't speak to a live person at Western Digital or Buy.com. The phone tree at both locations would require the patience of a monk to navigate over half a day.
I was not once able to stream video or audio using USB 2.0 although I could open several files I copied to the drive.
I was seduced by the price for this size drive, but now I have to wait to get my money back, I wasted hours copying data and I'm going to have to do it all over again. Was it worth saving $100 or $200? No. Unless you are retired and eating out of cans, spend an extra $100 or $200 and save a lot of trouble.
- 6 replies to this review
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I purchased mine May 2006 when I believe they first came out. I actually had no problems with recognition and file transfers, etc. I used the drive to keep all my video, audio, and picture files (almost 80% full). My drive stayed in the same place almost since I got it and about a month ago I get the "click of death" out of nowhere. Now I have to pay $1000+ if I ever want to see those files ever again.
What does WD have to say?...I get an email after sending them my issue on their "support " website saying "If we don't get a response from you in 72hrs we will presume your issue has been resolved" So I send them a reply and then I get a call asking me to fill out a survey...yada yada...moral of the story Western Digital NEVER AGAIN!!! And BACKUP YOUR BACKUP!!! -
I couldn't agree with you more. I have no faith whatsoever in Western Digital because of this. I have the My Book Essential. BUYER, GO ELSEWHERE.
After having to restart and reconnect the drive which, like the previous writer states, can be problematic, now I cannot access the drive at all and the data is lost. Technical support lasts a month from purchase, so naturally the product might work properly for a month. After that, it's over. And I was told that I had to reformat the drive. How can I reformat if the computer does not recognize it?
Buyer, BEWARE! Do not be sold by the rantings and ravings of someone in a retail store -- any of them -- who thinks that he or she knows something about this product when they recommend it. They are all working on commission and they are not as knowledgable as you would think.
I am going out and looking for something that is more trustworthy. I have lost sooo much.
Thank you, Western Digital. I should sue. -
I posted a similar review but was never posted why? This product sucks and so does the customer support, after I finally got through to WD they stated I need to buy a additional program to get back my data off the hard drive. This is the worst product I've purchased. Don't but this hard drive...
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Here is the answer, we can all thank him:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=144460 -
USB2 is not as fast as firewire despite rumors to the contrary. This drive is unpleasantly slow. When it's working. Which mine isn't. It suddenly decided not to mount and while I maanged to pull off 160gb of my data, it's all corrupt and now, garbage. Like the drive itself. I thought it looked cool, like Hal from 2001 which is why I bought it. But I guess, like Hal, it has a mind of it's own. Do yourself a favor and buy a different drive.
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I thought the product and price was perfect for what I needed. As a small business owner, inexpensive and the 160GB drive would serve my needs. Installed on two separate systems, in two locations, neither drive worked with XP perfectly. There were program freezes (various programs), shut-down freezes and even M Word & EXCEL errors. When I shut off the drive, the system (programs) unfroze immediatly and allowed me to continue working. I CANT be the only one experiencing this. Western Digital said they never experienced this (in e-mail after about 3-4 days) and Best Buy had no idea and said no one retured any of the drives they recently sold (on sale for $80 bucks). Good Luck All. I'm on my way to return the items as we speak.
Where to buy
Western Digital My Book Essential Edition external hard drive (500GB):
$135.00 - $295.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$295.99 | See Site |
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$135.00 | Yes |
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