Western Digital My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB Hard Drive Review

To the Point

When my computer started acting up and I couldn't defragment I was told I needed to get some files off. I have a flash drive but I needed something heavy duty. I bought Western Digital My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB Hard Drive.

What I got

This is a portable hard drive. It is not a flash drive. It came with a USB 2.0 cable, a Quick Install Guide (very quick - luckily this is a cinch to use), an AC adapter, and 500GB Hard Drive Capacity.

About th Western Digital My Book Home Edition 500 GB USB Hard Drive

I didn't have to install this. I just put two plugs into My Book and one in my computer. I plugged it in the couple of times I have used it. I could keep it plugged into my computer but since I also have a flash drive I use that as a daily back up. When I backed up my material on two different occasions I could see the progress.

What is nice though is that My Book Home Edition is automatic versus my flash drive which I have to save to each time I save a document. 

From the website

"Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.
Illuminated capacity gauge - See at a glance how much space is available on your drive.
USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility among multiple computers.

Power miser - My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower TechnologyTM lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer.

Planet friendly - We designed a small retail box from recycled materials to minimize waste. We encourage you to recycle it.

Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs - if you're a Mac user, check out our Mac version of this product."

My experiences

Although the My Book is not small enough to put in my pocket it is portable measuring 6 1/2 " high by 5.3" long by 1.9" wide. It weighs 2.6 pounds. It fits perfectly on the shelf behind me just like a small book.

500 GB is a lot! When I was working with the Dell technician he told me that everything on my computer was 22 GB so this will last me for a long, long time. I paid $140.00 for it at Staples. Amazon has it for $99.99 which is a great buy! There is shipping but it is still a good buy.

My one complaint is that the transfer is slow and I had to sit while it transferred  data. Once my computer was all backed up then the back up is instant. What happens during the back up is that I was told that xxx document might make my computer not work right. At that point I thought I was going to have to wipe out my hard drive so I kept saying ok. Even when I clicked "OK to all" I was still asked so I couldn't go out and let it copy my hard drive. So plan on spending some time if you are going to copy all your contents.

Jo's Viewpoints

I like it!