| Reviews : Western Digital WD Elements 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU5000EBK-NESN |
Western Digital WD Elements 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU5000EBK-NESN Product By Western Digital Available From 3 Sellers |
Technical Details
- Simply affordable
- Easy to use
- USB 2.0
Product Description
Designed with the same commitment to quality that made WD external drives the number one drives in the world, Western Digital's WD Elements USB 2.0 external hard drives are the right answer for simply affordable add-on storage. Just plug it in to a USB port and start saving your photos, music, video, and files. Kit contains; USB 2.0 external hard drive, USB cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.Similar Products
Customer Reviews
By trebe
I had an Iomega 1.5T external hard drive on my wish list, but when this drive became available as a Black Friday deal for $99.95, I went for it, primarily based on price. The Elements drive is nicely compact, measuring 7" x 4.5"x 1.35" high. It is designed to have a rectangular footprint. There is no stand to hold the drive upright.
Power and USB cords are included. Once the drive is connected to your computer, it is ready for immediate use. The unit has no power switch, but has a tiny white LED light on the rear, near the power cord jack, that indicates that power is on. When data is being transferred, the LED blinks. The drive is designed to go into energy savings mode, when your computer shuts down, which reduces wear and tear to the drive.
Actual usable memory will vary, mine drive shows 1.36TB available. The unit runs fairly quiet. It gets a little warm at the bottom, but doesn't seem to get very hot. Transfer speed is limited to USB 2.0 capacity, and it can easily take several hours to transfer larger amounts of data. As my last WD drive died suddenly, I hope for better luck with this one, or it will probably be the last WD drive for me. Based on performance and the Black Friday pricing, this is a solid four star product, with the potential for five stars if it lasts.
By Finance Mom (Los Angeles)
This hard drive is very easy to set up and use because of its simple design. No extra software to bog down my computer. Humongous capacity as of today for a great price. What more could you ask for?
By ScottW (Northwest Washington)
I purchased the 1tb Elements (WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN) for use with a Dish DVR 622.
Installation was was truly "plug and play". I simply took it out of the box, plugged it in, and it was immediately recognized by the DVR. I have since transferred about 200gb of content to/from it, and have watched content directly from the drive. So far, it is working perfectly. It automatically spins down after a few minutes of non-use, as well as when the DVR is powered off. It also spins back up automatically (less than 10 seconds) when the DVR accesses it.
One thing some people might not like: The case is designed to sit flat (as pictured), not on its side. There are four small non-skid pads on the bottom corners, but none on either side. There is no indication on the box, in the documentation, or on Western Digital's web site as to whether the drive will work properly on edge. As a general rule, WD drives are designed to operate sideways or even upside down (any X,Y,Z orientation), so this one probably will too -- but you'll need to provide your own non-skid pads.
Several similar Western Digital drives, such as the late model "My Book" series, now include a firmware-based CD-partition that is difficult to remove, and can cause compatibility issues with some devices. That partition contains backup software and utilities that are of questionable value in any case, and of absolutely no value when using the drive with a non-computer device (like the Dish DVR). The Elements -- at least at time of this review -- doesn't include any of that junk. (Note: WD does have a downloadable utility to remove the partition from the other drives, but if you don't want that junk then save yourself the time/trouble and just buy the Elements drive.)
By Ryan Lim (Baltimore, MD)
I was originally going to purchase the Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (model WDE1UBK10000N). My sister in-law has that model and it truly is built like a tank. Metal case, rubber protectors on each end. It really looks like it could take few bumps. I picked up this particular model because I saw it on sale for $60 at the store that has a red bullseye for a logo. For that price I'd be silly not to snag it up.
As others mentioned it has a plastic case which is ok. Metal would've been nicer. And it is completely silent. Other than seeing the white light in the back blinking when transferring files, I cannot tell that it is actually working. But it is working :). I transferred 149 gb of data from my old external drive to this one in about 3 hours. It's usb so I'm used to relatively slow transfers. The true test will be if it lasts as long as my iomega external hard drive which I've had for over 6 years. Even though it's old, it has a small fan, an on/off switch, a long power cord and it feels like it can take a bump. I just needed a back up in the event the old work horse died on me.
Good:
+ cheap - $60 for "1TB" of storage space
+ plug and play
+ no annoying preloaded software
+ very quiet
+ barely warm after extended use(my old drive would get noticeably warm even with its built-in fan)
Not so good:
- plastic case. probably good idea not to lug this around too much.
- edges are shiny and attracts finger prints (this really didn't matter to me, but I thought I'd mention it
- short power cord ~6'4" (old drive's power cord is over 11'), though usb cord is a bit longer than my old drive (4'3" vs. 3'5"). It would've been better to add length on the power cord and shorten the usb.
- no fan
Price was the determining factor in choosing this drive over the "tank". If this can last as long as my old external hard drive then it will be $60 well spent.
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UPDATE (11/29/09):
- actual storage space of 931 gb is a bit confusing at first. Per comments and some google searching 931gb is correct. Don't be alarmed when you first see the available space on your external hard drive.
By P. Savage (Silicon Valley, CA United States)
I am glad Amazon is listing this device. From what others have written, WD provides a better set up for NTFS (Windows) users. Unfortunately, Target had a black friday and saturday on this 1 TeraByte item for $59. Not a deal to take lightly.
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