Western Digital WDG1U5000 My Book Essential Edition 500 GB Hard Drive

Average customer rating: 4.0

excellent!.. price and value!
Nice Hard Drive
WD My Book 500GB USB 2.0 - a GREAT BUY!
4 and a half stars.
Just stoped working.

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Western Digital WDG1U5000 My Book Essential Edition 500 GB Hard Drive

Manufacturer: Western Digital
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000EXRSVM

Related Categories:

External Hard Drives

External Hard Drives

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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.

<table align=left width=175 cellpadding=10> <tr> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/mybookess-1-sm.jpg" border=0 align=top>
Save and back up all your digital assets with the My Book Essential Edition Hard Drive. View larger. </td></tr></table> <table align=right width=150 cellpadding=10> <tr> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/mybookess-3-lg.jpg" border=0 align=top>
Simple, easy-to-use design.</td></tr> <tr> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/mybookess-5-sm.jpg" border=0 align=top>
Connects to your computer via USB 2.0 interface. View larger.</td></tr> <tr> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/mybookess-4-lg.jpg" border=1 align=top>

The elegant case takes up very little space.</td></tr> </table> 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:
<ul>

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 </ul> 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.

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)

Customer Reviews:

excellent!.. price and value!.......2007-06-11

Look no further, if you need up to 200G, buy this one, you'll get 500G for less, from the best brand!

Nice Hard Drive.......2007-06-11

I am very happy with the 500 GB My book Essential Edition Hard Drive. It works smooth and easy. The purchase was simple and fast. THANKS!

WD My Book 500GB USB 2.0 - a GREAT BUY!.......2007-05-31

I own five WD External drives and have not had any issues with any of them (the oldest is over 5 years old, is connected 24x7x365, and it's still working fine). My most recent two purchases have been a:

"Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive - 7200rpm"

and a

"Western Digital My Book 500GB Premium ES Edition Hard Drive - 7200rpm USB 2.0 & eSATA Dual Interface External Hard Drive"

The "WD My Book Essential 500GB USB 2.0 Ext HD" - just has a UDB 2.0 connector (no eSATA or Firewire) but it works great and if you shop the sales, the price for 500 GB can be close to $100-140 (summer 2007).

The "WD My Book 500GB Premium ES Edition HD" has both a USB 2.0 & eSATA connector on the back (use either one). Note, not many PCs today (2007) have an eSATA port on them. ESATA is faster than USB 2.0, but if you don't have a connector for that externally on your PC, then don't pay extra for it. (You can get after market external eSATA ports for a PC but there are different kinds, and depending on your PC, you need to get the 'right kind' for your PC, assuming you even have room in your PC to add one).

Both of these drives came with easy to install instructions - just plug in the power, and then connect them to your PC, and away you go. Both came with USB 2.0 cables. The Premium ES Edition with eSATA did 'NOT' come with an eSATA cable. Both came with their own power cords - nice long ones too.

Neither of these two can be connected directly to a network, but if your PCs are part of a home network, or small business type network, as mine are, then I just plug them into one of the main PCs and I put a "share" on the drive so that any PC on my network can access it.

If you have important information on your PC, back it up! And if you are like me, previously my backups were stored right next to my PC (not good!) So, now, I use one of these 500 GB drives as the primary backup drive for my PCs, and I keep that right next to one of my PCs. But then weekly, I use the other 500 GB drive to backup the backup drive - and then I keep that one in a fireproof / waterproof safe. You can get these for $30-100, depending on their size, at office stores or online. I like the Sentry line of products.

4 and a half stars........2007-05-30

I also have the Western Digital My Book Premium Drive 500gb and when it was time to add more space I decided that I didn't need Firewire/400 and backup software. Even though they look like the same drive physically, the "Essential" drive looks cheaper. Probably because of the lack of Firewire port, the essential is slightly smaller in volume. The Premium edition had nice a nice hard feel and rubber footing around the edges of the top, back and bottom of the unit. However, with the essential, there's only 2 rubber footing on the bottom, thus it just feels cheaper than the premium.

With that in mind, I think it's still a better value than the premium, since you're getting the same storage, you save 40-50 bucks by not having Firewire and backup software.

Performance-wise, my 2 mybooks have been performing just dandy. I've only had the essential for a couple of weeks, the premium one I've had for I think about 8 months. I use it to backup all my video, music and photos and it's a solid performer. I transport them back and forth and only turn on the unit when I save data off my main powerhouse windows computer, then I use the drives to access my files off my Apple laptop at my loft.

They do come with small power bricks, but overall I like the black design, it goes nice with my PC but doesn't look that great next to my powerbook.

Just stoped working........2007-05-29

I have 450Gb of irreplaceable pictures and personal stuff on this drive. I was pulling a few last bits from a shared drive when i got these error messages on all of the files, i canceled the files tried to access the drive and i get a message something like "a USB device is connected" but i can't see the HDD. I tried several different pc's, powered on and off a dozen times, and pretty much every combination of plugging/unplugging you can imagine many times over. It was never dropped or mishandled in anyway and i get a repetitious buzzing sound for about 45 seconds then nothing. Hopefully the small tech store down the road can access or repair the drive and rescue my data. It was a great drive until 8 days of ownership and it stopped working. I would send it back to WD but then my personal info is everybody's info. Kind of a catch 22 on HDD repairs/returns, no money back, your data is lost, but no one else can see what you have either. I guess if i can't have it then no one will.

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