Product Description

Small, simple, elegant, and very easy to use. Just plug this drive in, and you've got plenty of room to back up and save your valuable data, music, photos, and movies.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5495 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Western Digital
• Model: WDG1U5000N
• Dimensions: 4.70" h x 8.00" w x 11.60" l, 4.80 pounds
• Hard Disk: 500GB

Features

• Store and back up your music, photos, videos and important documents with this external hard drive
• Easy to set up and use with built-in installation software
• Simple user interface features USB 2.0 connectivity
• Device holds up to 500 GB of data
• Measures 5.55 x 2.25 x 6.71 inches (WxHxD)

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.

From the manufacturer
You can't measure memories in gigabytes. But you can use those gigabytes to preserve the stuff that really matters – the photos, music, movies and documents that you never want to lose, never want to forget. My Book is full of life--your life.

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.

Features

• Easy to set up, easy to use -- This drive is all about simplicity. Plug it into your computer’s USB 2.0 port and start saving.
• Intelligent drive management features — The My Book drive turns itself on and off with your computer
• Smart design — The elegant case, iconic of a book, takes up less space on your desk, stacks horizontally, and allows two or more drives to stand neatly together like volumes on a shelf.
• High quality hard drive — Inside the case is an exceptionally fast, ultra quiet, cool-running hard drive from Western Digital.
• Free Google software — Search your drive, manage your photos, and simplify Web searches with included Google software.

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

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Customer Reviews

Drive wiped self clean after 8 months and dies after 1 year
My review is similiar to the multiple horror stories that other owners have told.

Bought one of these drives, running on Windows XP, to provide a safe storage for vacation photos. Drive was used moderately and never moved or dropped. Thankfully I had my pictures backed up elsewhere, as after 8 months the drive wiped itself clean. After owning the drive for a year, the drive sounded the "3 clicks of death" swan song and was unusable.

Bottom line, don't rely on this drive for safe storage of data, as this product is not reliable.

Started off well, then died.
I had this hard drive for about a year in a half. It had pretty much all my stuff on it. Sadly I didn't back most of my stuff up, and next thing you know, it died. It started making 3 clicking noises, then 3 more clicking noises. It would be recognized by my computer but basically the drive couldn't be read. I'm not sure if the data is still there but I would have to pay $1700 to send it out to drive savers which is not worth the money as of right now.

When this drive worked for me, it was really good, but I have to give it 1 star because of how quickly it failed after buying it.

Moral of the story, only buy this if you plan on rarely using it for backups and other things, because this drive WILL fail in a certain amount of time.

Works great
I use this device to backup both my laptops and have never had any problems with it. I've had it for around two years now (I don't like to write reviews until I've had some experience with a product.)

I like that the drive can be easily disconnected from the power and data cables. Size and form-factor are great for my needs. The unit stays in a sleep-state when it is powered but not connected to a PC. It wakes up instantly when a data connection is sensed / plugged in.

The only thing I haven't been able to do reliably is connect it directly to my router for wireless access but that isn't a big deal to me because I worry about the security of using it that way (even though I keep my wireless network secure, there will always be a hacker smarter than me...).