Customer Reviews for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
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Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Model: WDH1U5000N
SKU: 8475063
UPC: 718037120805
This easy-to-use hard drive features 500GB of storage space for your digital photos, music, movies and more. Take a product tour.
Average Customer Rating:
3.8
out of 5
(147 Reviews) 147
Rating Snapshot 147 reviews
5 stars
71
4 stars
38
3 stars
2
2 stars
11
1 star
25
74% of customers would recommend this product to a friend
(
109 out of
147)
Customer Reviews for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Review 1 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Fragile drive - wouldn't recommend
Customer Rating
2.0
Posted by: Amy211
from Madison
on 08/15/2009
Value for Price
3.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Performance
1.0
Ease of Installation
4.0
I bought this as a backup drive for my more crucial files. Then, I started using it for storing older files that I wanted to keep, but that I didn't need all the time, freeing up my internal space.
Too bad, all that old data is now lost, because the disk failed 13 months after purchase. I never took it anywhere; it has always been on my desk. It spins, but neither my desktop nor my laptop can recognize it. Took to a local guru who cracked the case and tried accessing it as an internal drive, he said it was trashed.
WD will replace it, but I don't want another one... I won't by Western Digital again. Their quality isn't what is once was.
What's great about it: Cute
What's not so great: Failed after 13 months, all data lost
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 2 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Dependable and great value
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Rob819
from Madison
on 07/27/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
I bought this drive when my desktop began to act weird. Sure enough, it went out and I had to recover everything to my new PC. This external drive saved me! It took about 3 hours, but everything copied from this drive back to my new PC and I was up and running in about 4 hours, including re-installing software.
The Mameo(sp?) software is a little suspect. When I had to recover the PC, they did provide me with my keys, but I've had to go behind the synch software and make sure it's moving everything correctly.
The drive itself is flawless. I'm considering buying another so I can off-site one copy of my data.
What's great about it: It works as advertised.
What's not so great: The included software may be a little squirrely.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 3 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Bad Operational Software
Customer Rating
1.0
Posted by: carose
from Glendale, CA
on 07/25/2009
Value for Price
1.0
Ease of Use
1.0
Performance
1.0
Ease of Installation
1.0
Drive requires operating software that is is problematic and put out by a non-responsive company. When I bought the drive about 1 year ago, a trial version of the software was included, but I had to purchase a subscription from the software company to keep the drive operational. Started having problems backing up upon purchasing the software subscription. Ongoing problems with being able to back up my files (esp w/ music files). Tried to download an update about 2 weeks ago (per the company's notification to subscribers), but keep on getting an error message that prevents operation of the drive. Now have no means of backing up files. The software company is nonresponsive to my requests for help. Drive is of little value when the operating software is non-operational and the company apparently diinterested. Recommend Best Buy look at stocking back-up drives that are from a different manufacturer and supporting software company.
What's not so great: Software and software updates have problems. The Memeo Company is non-responsive.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 4 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Simple and reliable drive
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
I have four of these drives at home. I use two for alternating backups of my laptop, and two for alternating backups of my desktop. I use Acronis True Image for backing up, and always do a complete image of the drive - so each backup typically consumes 50 - 80 GB, each week for each machine. None of these drives have failed me, and my backups have saved me immense pain on several occasions. I have been using Western Digital hard drives exclusively for the past ten years, and have never had one fail on me. These are good drives.
What's great about it: Simple and reliable
What's not so great: Nothing
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 5 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Excellent product
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: rgomez
on 07/19/2009
I love this product! I've had mine for a few months now and I haven't had any problems with it. I use it to back up all of my important work. The drive is fast, dependable, and comes at a very fair price. On top of that, it's a Western Digital drive, which are incredibly tough. I have literally knocked this drive off of my desk and onto the floor- and it still worked perfectly! Definitely a good buy!!
What's great about it: Price, dependability
What's not so great: Nothing
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 6 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
It does what you need it to do
Customer Rating
4.0
Posted by: ablt92
from Maine
on 07/10/2009
Value for Price
4.0
Ease of Use
3.0
Performance
4.0
Ease of Installation
3.0
The setup was kind of confusing. The instructions consisted of 4 very basic pictures with no words. It gives you potions to install software, I didn't and it works fine. It is a plug and play HDD. Besides that everything else about it is fine. I bought it to back up my Playstation 3 and it did the job.
What's great about it: 500GB
What's not so great: Confusing Setup
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 7 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Great backup
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: rhettb
from Utah
on 07/07/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
This is a great external HD for backing up important files.
What's great about it: Easy to set up and reliable
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 8 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Worked for a couple months...
Customer Rating
3.0
Posted by: Rise
from Illinois
on 06/30/2009
Value for Price
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Performance
2.0
Ease of Installation
4.0
I got one of these a couple years ago and it worked for a couple days then it just crashed and everything i had on it was lost. So I didn't get another one for about a year, hoping they fixed the problem, but then this one lasted only a couple moths before I started running into massive software issues. Not the best product.
What's great about it: fast, lots of storage, cool blue light thing
What's not so great: reliability, life expectancy
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 9 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Western Digital My Book 500gb
Customer Rating
1.0
Posted by: Rich78
from California
on 06/10/2009
Value for Price
1.0
Ease of Use
1.0
Performance
1.0
Ease of Installation
1.0
I bought this thing, hoping to be able to free up space on my hard drive. Didnt do a thing for me. I tried everything, maybe I'm not computer savy. But I went to the website to find answers, but that didnt help. All I wanted to do is trasfer things like Quicktime, Adobe, Java, Itunes and other programs, but didnt work. After 3 hours on the darn thing I gave up. Waste of time and money for to go buy it and return it.
What's great about it: nothing
What's not so great: everything
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 10 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Great Value!
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
Plug it in out of the box and it's immediately easy to use. No problems with over a year of ownership. Own one from another vendor which overheats -- not this one! Will probably buy another one for my DVR at home.
What's great about it: Cost per GB and reliability combo hard to beat.
What's not so great: None!
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 11 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Pay backup software!! Not good!!
Customer Rating
2.0
Posted by: Jim1990
from Port Byron, IL
on 05/12/2009
Value for Price
4.0
Ease of Use
3.0
Performance
4.0
Ease of Installation
3.0
This drive is ok but the thing that turned me away and made me return this drive is that it does not come with FREE backup softare. Seagate external harddrives come with free backup software. If you are not looking for software then this drive will work. If you want the drive to automaticly back up your information DO NOT get this drive unless you want to pay for something that should be free. Hope this helps...
What's great about it: Ease of use
What's not so great: You have to pay for the backup software
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 12 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Great Hard Drive
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
This is a very good hard drive. It is easy to use and can hold a lot of data. Haven't had any problems with it since I got it last fall.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 13 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Surprised at the bad reviews
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Steeltownrose
from Pittburgh
on 04/24/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
I am in the marked for a new external hard drive and was happy to find this model, at a reduced price over what I paid two years ago. I purchased the WD to begin the habit of backing up my data. Before I had transferred my data over, my house was struck by an enormous power surge that wiped out my PC, electric cooktop, garage doors, microwave and other electronics all over the house. The PC was totally fried but the external hard drive, to which it was connected at the time, was undamaged. Believe it or not, two years later my home was hit by another power surge and while it took out my new PC (the surge protectors caught fire in this surge!) the WD external hard drive was undamaged and still had all my data on it. It continues to work well and runs well.
These reviews remind me of my old car. For the model & year of the Volvo I owned, you either got a lemon or a car with 5 star customer satisfaction. I got the lemon with that purchase, but the WD has been 5 stars for me.
What's great about it: no problems so far
What's not so great: nothing so far; works the way I'd want it to
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 14 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Great Hard drive
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Wes20
from Claremore, Ok
on 04/18/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
I own 2 other WD hard drives and owned 2 more before the 3 i own now (my best friend broke my first which is now an internal hard drive and i gave away my 2nd when buying this) I have never had a problem with anything on a WD hard drive. They all work great. My only complaint would be that this plugs into a wall but i new that before purchasing it (my WD passport has spoiled me) so no big. This hard drive works lightning fast and never has issues
What's great about it: Everything
What's not so great: Plugs into wall
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 15 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
BEST EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE EVER...
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
4.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
I purchased my 500G nearly 2 years ago, and it has been a reliable tank for me. I DJ, so I'm in smokey conditions all the time and this thing has never, ever failed me. I just bought the WD 1TB last month and I remembered that I didn't review the 500G when I bought it. When it comes to external storage, the couple of extra dollars that you'll spend for a Western Digital is completely worth it. It's all about piece of mind, and WD delivers. I hear horror stories about how people have lost YEARS worth of music, data, memories due to their externals failing. I've never heard of a WD doing so. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it has happened, but nearly as frequently as it has with other brands. DON'T BE CHEAP!! BUY WESTERN DIGITAL!!!
What's great about it: The most reliable EHD I ever owned.
What's not so great: Everything about the WD Externals are great.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 16 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Western Digital, Nevermore
Customer Rating
1.0
Posted by: cyberorbiter
from Bath, PA
on 04/14/2009
Value for Price
1.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Performance
1.0
Ease of Installation
4.0
This is my second WD external hard drive to fail in less than one year. While it worked, its functionality was great, but for no apparent reason it failed after only eight months of use. Just like its WD predecessor. Now I'm shopping for a different brand, and am forced to shell out money for the third time in less than two years. Western Digital. Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'
What's great about it: Easy to use
What's not so great: Failed in less than a year
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 17 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Broken again
Customer Rating
1.0
Posted by: JCinNY
from New York, Ny
on 03/31/2009
I've had enough with WD and their poorly constructed products with 3 month warranty. I've had 2 drives break out of 5 and am going to try another brand. Just ordered a Seagate 1.0 Tera with a 5 year warranty.
What's great about it: It worked will for a few months
What's not so great: It broke again right after the three-month waranty
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Review 18 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
So much to do, such a small price!
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: Tsui
from Manalapan, NJ
on 03/21/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
5.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
Images for this Review
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I can't believe it either! The price is so low, yet I'm getting a lot of capacity on this device! I backed up my entire user folder in such low time and it's got lots of data in it! I expected that to take 30 minutes or so. It took about 5 minutes to do it! It's so easy to use, it just takes one or two plug-ins! Also, I treasure my world. This device turns off when inactive, saving the world one step at a time.
I recommend this to people who use Windows Vista Ultimate (and in the future, Windows 7 Ultimate) to take full advantage of the Windows Complete Backup pre-loaded on every Windows Vista/7 Ultimate PC.
What's great about it: Large capacity, Energy Efficient, Speed, Ease of use, Pricing, Design
What's not so great: Size: The device, along with its peripherals (USB Cable & AC Adaptor Cable) won't fit in any pants' pockets.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 19 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
I like it
Customer Rating
5.0
Posted by: nyoung56
from Boston, MA
on 03/08/2009
Value for Price
5.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Performance
4.0
Ease of Installation
5.0
I've been using this drive for about a year to back up music, photos and videos. I usually leave it plugged into my computer and the drive powers up when i turn my computer on and is immediately available in My Computer. The speeds are slow using USB 2.0 and even getting the thumbnail previews of photos and videos on the drive. Overall, it is a great product for backup of large files that you really don't need access to on a daily basis.
What's great about it: Price, installation, plug and play
What's not so great: Speed
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Review 20 for Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Great Hard Drve
Customer Rating
5.0
Value for Price
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Performance
4.0
Ease of Installation
4.0
Got to use for time machine on my new imac since apple's time capsule is so expensive. Has been working great and hasnt lost a thing.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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