Computers are able to store more and more information these days and this might not do it all anymore. For me, my laptop holds about 750 GB of storage so this hard drive (book) is perfect for that and also for storing any information that I might not want accessible to just anyone at any time. You can lock it, but from what I remember about locking, if you forget your credentials to unlock it you've basically broke it cause there is no way back in. I would recommend to anyone who wants to backup their files and doesn't trust online backup sites, or don't want to pay the fees to do so, The book isn't extremely big so moving it from place to place isn't too difficult, though I would recommend getting a USB jump drive if you're just looking to keep smaller files on person going from place to place. A down side to the hard drive is it has to run off of it's own power source to the wall, unfortunately it can't just be plugged into the computer which can be a big hassle if you have overcrowded power sources or you aren't near one to begin with.

todayshero

USA

The Western Digital My Book Home Edition is great if youre running out of hard drive space and have a collection of documents that you need to archive or a huge collection of digital photos or music that you need to switch off of your internal hard drive to make space.  Anything of a non-processing nature it can handle.  It is PC and Mac compatible, holds a huge amount of information, and is extremely easy to get started with because there's really no set up to it; you just plug it in and you're on your way!  It's really small; about the size of a hardback book that's been cut in half so it fits just about anywhere and if you have more than one they nest together very neatly. The only drawback that we've found, if you can really call it that is that you can't store and run games from this hard drive.  It's for non-processing files only, so it really didn't help us as much as we had hoped.  We have a LOT of games on our computer! So don't get this thinking you're going to use it to run games off of, it won't.  We found that out the hard way!

Kelyn

Jacksonville, AL

I'm not sure about all the minor differences in the versions of My Book or any other type of external hard drives, but my main advice would be to keep on the look out for sale and deals on major brands for the size of storage you want. This way you can't go to wrong, its continually getting cheaper if you can wait. I use my My Book probably several times a day, every day. I use it mainly for transfering things from my computer to watch on my TV through my PS3. I've only used the USB port and I've never had a problem connecting to my computer. However sometime my PS3 doesn't read it when I power on the PS3 with the usb plugged in, but all I have to do is re-plug the usb and its fine. I've never lost anything when transferring filesand It makes for a great back up to my computer and my PS3 hard drive. My one little gripes that aren't a problem is that the light is distracting when watching movies in the dark and the usb connection is loose in the back probably because i've stepped on the cord and ripped it out a few times. Also I've surprisingly filled it up already.

Revolution627

Cleveland, OH

As someone who has moved around a lot in the past few years, this hard drive is an absolute must.  I have three of them currently.  I've had them sicne I was at college hooked up to my laptop.  I would have all of my files on them, and then when the semester would end, I would simply being everything home and hook it all up to my desktop with a seemless transition.  Then this past year I upgraded to a new computer.  Rather than having to deal with the pain of transferring tons of files over.  All I had to back up were a few document files from my hard drive onto one of the My Book Drives, and the transition was that much easier.  I just plugged the drives into my new computer and my files were there waiting for me.  They load fast, transfer with no issues whatsoever, and never overheat.  In comparison to other externals that I've owned, these are much more superior in terms of quality and price.

GkPowers

Glassboro, NJ

I have had several different Western Digital external hard drives over the last 5 years. I have had that many not because there were problems with the other ones, but rather that I just ran out of space. This 1 TB hard drive is perfect because it holds a lot of the information that I want to haul around with me as I go from deployment to deployment. As it sits right now I have hundreds of hours of videos to watch and even more music to listen too. One of the reasons that I went with an external hard drive is because it allows me to detach the hard drive from one computer and take it with me to where ever I am going. The firewire ports on the back of the hard drive make it convenient to hook up this hard drive to my desktop when I am at home and run it through my network so that I can access it on all of my computers. This hard drive also comes with a eSATA port on the back that allows for even faster file transfers. Overall there isn't too much I can say about a hard drive to make it sound great. When I bought this hard drive it was at a good price for the amount of storage that it offers and I have never had any problems with it. It runs quietly and as long as you don't block the sides it stays fairly cool. If you are looking for a great hard drive that has more space than most people will ever need then this is a good drive for you.

joferder

Lacey, WA

*Western Digital* is one of the premiere retail hard drive makers and offers a wide range of drives in varying capacities. On such product is the **Western Digital My Book Home Edition 1 TB **** USB/Firewire/eSATA Hard Drive,** a product our community of computer-savvy reviewers has nothing but accolades for. All are in agreement that the sleek brushed black hard drive with the one-button backup utility is *"stylish," reliable, and highly transportable."* The **Western Digital My Book Home Edition 1 TB**** USB/Firewire/eSATA Hard Drive** can be connected via (high data rate) USB 2.0 or 1394 Firewire and has a rated storage capacity of 1000GB. And the drive can be used with either a PC or MAC. Our reviewers highly recommend this portable high capacity hard drive because of its reliability, performance, versatility, and affordable price-point.

onewanda

Honolulu, HI

This is really a good book b/c it can enrich your knowledge. The two expressed their support for those affected by the storm when they spoke to the Louisiana delegation to the convention Monday morning, just hours after Hurricane Gustav came ashore. "America stands with you during this trying time," said Cindy McCain, wife of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain. "And from all of us here, as you know, we have gathered together, and ... we committed ourselves to making sure that we raise funds, we raise goods, anything else that will be needed on behalf of those people that are affected so desperately by this tragedy."

mary20008

Columbus, OH

my husband finaly talked me into buying this external hard drive. it is the best move we ever made we keep our movies and music on the device and it keeps our computer space free and clear to do many other things on the computer without being slow. i would recomend this product because it frees up so much space for all the big files and allows you to do so much more on the computer. i just should have purchased it sooner .

myv8pony1

Collinwood, TN

My drive works flawlessly. It's plugged to an Mac Mini through FW. It was recognized immediately but I had to do a quick re-format to HPFS since it comes formated for Windows. The drive is surprisingly quiet and has a great performance.

Honolulu

Aiea, HI