Product Description
Package Includes:WDG1U5000 MyBook, USB cable, AC adapter with power cord, Quick Install Guide
The Western Digital WDG1U5000 MyBook is a small, simple, elegant and very easy to use portable memory tool. Just plug it in, and you've got plenty of room to back up and save your valuable data, music, photos, and movies. Plug it into your computer's USB 2.0 port and start saving -- it's all about simplicity. The 500GB hard drive will store either 142,000 digital photos, 38 hours of Digital Video (DV), 60 hours of HD or 200 hours of DVD quality video. It can also hold up to 125,000 songs in MP3 format, or 12,000 songs in uncompressed CD quality. Serial Transfer Rate(USB 2.0) - 480 Mbits/s (Max) Read Seek Time - 8.9 ms Track-To-Track Seek Time - 2.0 ms (average) Operating Systems - Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP or Mac OS X 10.2.8 (or higher) Requires available USB port Physical Dimensions(HxLxW) - 6.71 x 5.6 x 2.25 (170 x 141 x 57.2 mm) Weight - 2.90 lbs. (1.32 kg)
Amazon.com Product Description
Is your computer loaded with photos, music, video, and all sorts of important files? If so, you should make extra room, back them up, and keep them safe on Western Digital's WDG1U5000 My Book Essential Edition 500 GB Hard Drive. This reliable, easy-to-use external hard drive is the perfect storage solution for all your precious digital assets.
Save and back up all your digital assets with the My Book Essential Edition Hard Drive. View larger.
|
Simple, easy-to-use design. |
Connects to your computer via USB 2.0 interface. View larger. |
The elegant case takes up very little space. |
Installation is a breeze because you don't really "install" anything -- just plug it in and it's ready to use. There is not even an installation CD because all the included software loads automatically from the hard drive the first time you plug it in. The My Book Essential is all about simplicity. Just plug it into your computer's USB 2.0 port and you're ready to start saving and backing up your files.
But that's not all. Western Digital uses a smart design to make the My Book Essential look as good as it performs. The elegant case resembles a book and takes up very little space on your desk. Plus, it stacks horizontally and allows two or more drives to nestle neatly together like encyclopedias on a shelf. Inside the stylish exterior is an exceptionally fast, ultra-quiet, cool-running hard drive. Last but not least, the My Book Essential is equipped with free Google software that searches your drives, manages your photos, and simplifies Web searches.
My Book Essential Edition Hard Drives are ideal for:
- Simple add-on storage for your files, music, photos and movies
- Adding virtually unlimited storage with multiple USB 2.0 external hard drives
- Archiving the music stored on your MP3 player
- Adding plenty of space for digital video capture and editing
- Saving and organizing your digital photo collection
Note: For higher performance and automatic backup software, consider the My Book Premium Edition 500 GB Hard Drive.
What's in the Box
My Book Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 external hard drive, USB cable, AC adapter with power cord, and quick install guide.
Customer Reviews:
I wish there were 0 stars.......2007-12-29
I bought this - transferred 200GB of data to it, and next time I used it all the data, and the format of the drive was gone. It said I needed to reformat the drive. This has happened twice now. With so many people claiming this is defective it is no wonder they are on sale everywhere.
Lots of Storage for the money.......2007-12-29
This was brought out by WD several months ago at a hefty price tag of around 350.00 dollars. But I purchased this one for 119.00 and its a whopping 500gig external drive. I now have three of them, and all my WD hard drives work flawlessly. NICE PRODUCT AND A GREAT PRICE...AMAZON DELIVERS AGAIN..
Dennis
Just Bought my 4th of these... Only one problem.......2007-12-29
This is a very nice, very simple, very stable product. I just bought my fourth of these... a testimony to my happiness with the item. One problem: I had one of these take a tumble to the floor from a 30-inch work surface while operating. It sort-of worked, but was not reliable afterwards.
Questionable reliability.......2007-12-28
I purchased this hard drive to store and back-up music and video files. In the first 4 months, it worked fine but copying larger files was very slooow. One day after 4 months, I started the computer and got a message that the hard drive needed to be reformated. After working with tech support, I needed to reformat the drive, losing all the files stored there. The files were "recoverable" but at an additional cost. NOT TRUSTWORTHY!
Works great!.......2007-12-28
No complaints with this product. Amazon prime is great for the 2-day shipping alone. Timely delivery by Amazon. Plug and play....because I'm using it with a Mac, not sure how it works on a PC machine.
Product Description
This elegant external hard drive, reminiscent of a book, is the perfect storage solution. It takes no more space than a paperback book. Collect two or more and they nest neatly together like volumes on a shelf. Installation is a snap because you don't really install this drive, you just plug it in and it's ready to use. A USB 2.0 simple connection offers convenience and compatibility among multiple computers. Dimensions - Height 6.5 x Length 5.4 x Width 2.1 Weight - 2.5 Pounds
Customer Reviews:
Works very well with Dish Network DVR.......2007-11-15
My only planned usage of this external hard disk drive (HDD) is attached to my Dish Network ViP622 DVR. The set up was very easy, following directions to connect the drive with the supplied cables to power and to the Dish DVR USB connection. I kept thinking that the cable needed to be able to push farther into the back of the DVR, but trying it anyway, it has been working fine.
After hooking the HDD up to the DVR, I navigated to the DVR menu to Manage USB Device and it displayed an error dialog box with the Dish phone number I needed to call to activate this service ($39.99 fee). I called the number and went through a series of recorded message menus to activate the service, never talked to a real person. I did have a phone line hooked into my DVR, and within a minute or two of hanging up, I was able to continue on and let the DVR format the drive.
A big advantage to me was the design of the My Book HDD's, they automatically stop the HDD after a period of time unused. When you go to use the drive, there may be a delay for the drive to start up, but this is acceptable to me knowing that in the long run this should make the drive last longer for my type of usage. I do not have to worry about separately turning on and off the HDD.
I read reviews of older models of My Book, some people had issues that sounded to be related to overheating, so I avoided doing too much data transfer at one time. I had hundreds of Gb's to transfer in programs on my DVR, but did the transfer in smaller chunks. It takes a long time to transfer a large amount of data, and you can not use what is on the HDD while the transfer is happening, so I would suggest this method.
The HDD has been working well for my intended purpose. The DISH DVR does a reasonable job of using the USB Device feature. It is a separate area of the menu system to get to the USB device recorded programs, which is a small pain, but worth the effort. If you find yourself wanting more room to record addtional DVR programs, this is a very good option to consider.
V2.0 Of The My Book Series Is Out - Will It Be More Reliable Than V1.0?.......2007-11-10
Western Digital has released v2.0 of the My Book Essential external hard drive series, redesigned for late 2007.
The Essential series is the value line from Western Digital's external hard drive product line. Featuring a USB-only connection, the drive is targeted to price-conscious users who need lots of extra storage space, but don't need multiple connectivity options (USB, eSATA, Firewire).
Slightly reduced in thickness from its predecessor, v2.0 is about the size of an epic paperback novel only a few inches deeper. It weighs in around two pounds.
Gone is the green lighted circle which used to represent the power switch on older v1.0 drives - v2.0 uses a blue-lighted vertical drive activity indicator which alternates on and off when the drive is being accessed.
But also gone is the power switch itself. The latest generation of external drives from a variety of manufacturers including Western Digital and Seagate are now omitting them as a cost-saving measure. The My Book powers up upon plugging in the power and/or the USB connector. The drive is configured to power down after 10 minutes of inactivity or sensing the computer has been turned off.
Another substantial change is also becoming common with external drive models - doing away with the standard USB cable and replacing it with a USB-mini. The included cable, around three feet in length, may be too short for some applications, and be prepared to have some longer USB mini connector cables on hand if you want to extend the reach. Seagate has gone the same way.
Setting the drive up takes well under five minutes, from removing the shrink wrap on the box to actually seeing the drive on your desktop. The box comes with a very brief manual, a power cord (with a horizontally aligned transformer which may or may not be a good thing depending on where you plug it in), a USB cable, and the unit itself, wrapped in a protective plastic sheet.
The drive is pre-formatted using the FAT system, which creates a single partition of 465 gigabytes. The FAT file system assures the drive will function on multiple platforms. The drive will prompt you to install some minor diagnostic software and some Google tools you likely already have considered - Google Toolbar, Picasa, and Google Desktop (which indexes your hard drive and uses the Google search engine to help you find files.) For the latter, consider Copernic Desktop Search 2, which is free and offers superior search performance and better tools.
Most Windows and XP users will want to reformat the drive to the NTFS file system, which will support those 4+ gigabyte files FAT will not. You can easily reformat the drive under XP by clicking your way through Control Panel ("->" means you should click on this option) -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management. It takes at least an hour to complete the reformat, and be aware the tools included on the drive will be erased so consider backing them up somewhere else if you care about them.
V2.0's redesign features a very shiny, smooth surfaced external case. I fear it will readily show fingerprints and scratches, so be extra careful when handling it.
As with the earlier model, no internal fan is apparent and heat dissipation is absolutely critical to the longevity of any hard drive. Some manufacturers have skimped on this, such as Seagate with their FreeAgent series which has had a high failure rate, but v1.0 Western Digital My Book drives have also historically not fared well either. Consumers want these devices to be nearly silent, and the tradeoff is product design that omits what is often the single most important component to guarantee a longer drive life - a cooling fan.
Although both series of drives seemed to get equally warm to the touch (but not uncomfortably hot), the single most important concern I have about Western Digital's entire My Book product line is drive longevity and data integrity. The last version of this product had scores of complaints about drive failures, almost always resulting in partial or total loss of your data. Most seemed to either fail during the first week of use or right around the first anniversary of purchase.
Different hard drives, depending on design, can generate more or less heat. It's not possible to tell precisely what model hard drive is being used in v2.0 (and whether it's an upgrade in quality from the earlier model), but perhaps Western Digital will have noticed the relatively high number of drive failures from its earlier product line and has used a different model for v2.0. Time will tell.
Both versions of the My Book series seem to offer adequate ventilation on the top, back, and bottom of the unit. Airflow will be very important to allow the heat from the hard drive to dissipate. In any external case without a fan to move air through the unit, or a heat sink to collect and bleed off the heat from the drive, the temperature inside the case will easily exceed 120 degrees, if not much higher if you reduce or block any of the ventilation holes. The higher the temperature, the sooner your drive will fail.
As with all USB external drives, the time spent transferring files back and forth will be much longer than experienced using an internal hard drive. The My Book series is best suited as a backup method to store copies of your important data in case one of your primary hard drives should fail. When powered down (which happens when the drive has not been accessed for around ten minutes), there will be an additional delay when attempting to access files from it, because the drive will need to spin-up (allow around 5-10 seconds for this).
As to the product's quality and longevity, as this is a new product line there is no easy way to guarantee whether this will prove a completely reliable product. But historically, external drives of all kinds tend to live shorter lives than internal drives, and Western Digital's warranty for this model remains one year. For $25 you can extend the warranty for two additional years from Western Digital's website.
But remember, it doesn't matter how long the warranty lasts if your data is gone because of a drive failure. No warranty will cover the costs to recover data from a failed drive (which can easily exceed $1000 with no guarantee of success). Do not rely on any hard drive to protect your most precious files alone. Every hard drive fails eventually. Instead, consider using the My Book Essential as a hard drive backup of your primary drives. Or if you need to rely on an external drive for day to day use, consider purchasing a second unit and using that to backup the first in case catastrophe strikes.
You can also prolong the life of your drive yourself by keeping it cool. I have a small inexpensive desk fan set on low blowing across my stack of external drives which does a good job. I also keep papers off of the drive, away from the sun or any heat vents.
Also pay attention to the sound your drive makes - it can be an early indicator of imminent failure. A whining or grinding sound (like a power saw off in the distance) is a clear danger sign. Loud clicking sounds when the drive is accessing data should sound a red alert that your drive is about to die. And should you encounter "delayed write failures" or other errors increasing in frequency as the drive ages, you should begin planning its replacement. Unfortunately, sometimes drives suddenly fail with no warning, so please create a backup strategy today before you lose up to 465 gigabytes of your files tomorrow.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that Western Digital has corrected the flaws from the first version of this product line. It's too bad the power switch is gone and they've switched to the less common USB-mini connectors, but as long as it keeps my data safe and secure, I can live with the changes.
Customer Reviews:
nice simplistic device-- works well, no frills, good price.......2007-07-10
When setting up a Windows Home Server for my growing media collection (funny how quickly your collection grows when you start archiving DVR content!) I decided to use external USB drives. After a bit of research, I decided on the MyBook Essential 500 gig unit for a couple reasons:
1.) Reasonable price, no features that I didn't need
2.) Attractive, minimalist design
3.) stacks easily
I have since bought 4 of them, and plan to buy a few more. I'm very pleased... the drives have been 100% reliable despite a year of constant heavy use, and are quieter than any of the other external hard drives I own. They also generate less heat. (The other drives are Maxtor OneTouch and LaCie enclosures.)
Do your research.......2007-06-14
I just ordered this product on sale from Dell. Ive been reading the reviews on Amazon.UK
there are 6 or 7 saying that the drive stops being recognized after a while and data is inaccessable. Im worried about reliability. My files are important to me, but I dont want to have 3 or 4 backups of everything.
The following is a review I found written on another websight about this issue.
The drive worked initially, but then suddenly and seemingly without reason stopped working. XP would only recognize a "USB Device" and then launch the driver wizard. XP SP2 had no driver for it, and neither did WD's site (that I could find). I did an internet search and found a posting where someone had my exact problem, called WD and was told to plug it into the wall directly. BINGO! As soon as I did that it was recognized again; and come to think of it I *had* plugged more stuff into that power strip when the drive quit working. I experimented a bit, and I could reproduce the problem by plugging it into a power strip with lots of other devices, and the problem went away as soon as I plugged it in by itself or on a less crowded power strip. I hope the other reviewers that had this problem had a chance to try this before returning a perfectly good drive.
All you could wish for ..........2007-01-06
I bought this edition because my 3 firewire portals were in use already -- and USB2 is a bit faster than firewire anyway. My pc recognized the new hard drive immediately and I was off and runnning, using it to backup a couple of thousand classical CDs. In fact, it worked so flawlessly that I went out and bought a second one! Both are a bit over half full of WMA music files now. The only drive that can work any faster is the new Seagate "perpendicular" -- so watch the sales!
Product Description
Small simple elegant and very easy to use. Just plug it in and you've got plenty of room to back up and save your valuable data music photos and movies.
Cheap Consumer Electronics:
- Western Digital WDG1U7500N My Book Essential Edition 750 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive
- Western Digital WDXMS1200TN Passport 120 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive
- WiebeTech ToughTech mini - Hard drive - 250 GB - external - 2.5" - FireWire 800 / Hi-Speed USB / eSATA - 5400 rpm
- Zio Corporation dm-23000 Hi Speed Xd/sm Reader/writer
- 120GB Diskgo 2.5" Backup Drive
- 12x High-Speed Rewritable CD-RW Spindle
- 1GB Traveldrive Id
- 20/40GB INT DAT DR-CARBON
- 20/40GB TR7 INTERNAL IDE TAPE
- 2GB Jumpdrive Firefly (Retail Package)
Cheap Consumer Electronics List
Cheap Consumer Electronics
External Hard Drives
|
Hard Drives
|
Drives & Storage
|
Computer Add-Ons
|
Computers & Add-Ons
|
Categories
|
Electronics
|
FireWire
|
USB 1.1
|
USB 2.0
Western Digital WDG1C5000N My Book Premium Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/Firewire External Hard Drive
Belkin A3L791-S 7-Foot RJ45 CAT 5e Snagless Molded Patch Cable (Gray)
Western Digital 160GB 2.5-inch Passport USB Portable Hard Drive
Western Digital WDXMS1200TN Passport 120 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive
D-Link DUB-H7 High Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Hub
![Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate FULL VERSION [DVD]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000HCTYTE.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate FULL VERSION [DVD]
![Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit for System Builders [DVD]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000MFFIBO.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit for System Builders [DVD]
![Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit for System Builders [DVD]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000MFDJ1A.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit for System Builders [DVD]
![Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium FULL VERSION [DVD]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000HCZ9AW.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium FULL VERSION [DVD]
![Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit for System Builders [DVD]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000MFIPDC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit for System Builders [DVD]
