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Western Digital 500 GB My Book Studio Edition External Hard Drive

Western Digital 500 GB My Book Studio Edition External Hard Drive


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Brand: Western Digital
Category: CE

List Price: $174.99
Buy New: $144.99
You Save: $30.00 (17%)



Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 43 reviews
Sales Rank: 904

Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Hard Drive Size: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 2.1 x 6.5
nv:Capacity (GB): 500
Interface: USB 2.0/eSATA/FireWire
Spindle Speed (RPM): 7200
Buffer Memory: 8MB
Data Transfer Rate on USB 2.0: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Data Transfer Rate on FireWire: Up to 800 Mb/sec
Data Transfer Rate on Serial ATA: Up to 3000 Mb/sec
Temperature, Operating (C): 5 to 35
Temperature, Nonoperating (C): -20 to 65
Type: Retail
Warranty: 5 years warranty

MPN: WDH1Q5000N
Model: WDH1Q5000N
UPC: 718037121383
EAN: 0718037121383
ASIN: B000WGJZ44

Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Promotion: Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout. Terms and Conditions
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Features:
  • Plug-and-play setup for easy installation
  • Automatically backs up important data, synchronizes files to keep them current
  • Compatible with USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and 800, and eSATA
  • Formatted for Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later, can be reformatted for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista
  • Turns itself on and off with your computer and Safe Shutdown prevents the drive from being powered down until all your data has been written

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Speed is what you need when for video editing, big design projects, or managing photo shoots and thats what this drive delivers with FireWire 800 and eSATA connectivity. With our automatic backup capability your creative masterpieces will be backed up the minute you save them.


Customer Reviews:   Read 20 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars Easy on MAC....easy on PC   October 4, 2008
Nano
Its create, at home we have both MAC an PC, and it works create for both with out making partitions or give new format to the drive. How? We connected to our wireless network (Airport Extreme Base Station) via USB and it can be written for both systems.


3 out of 5 stars Silent drive   September 25, 2008
Izabela
Unlike some of the other My Books and despite saying on the box that it's XP/2000/vista ready, the studio is only plug and play on the Mac. Plug it directly in to a PC and it will not show up as a drive - but it will show in your hardware device listing perfectly fine. All you need to do is reformat it for 2000 or XP or NTFS or whathave you. This is really my only complaint as it takes a bit of time to format a 500 GB (real world 465.76 GB) drive.

Pros: Really silent and free of any vibrations. Not expensive.
Cons: The time required to reformat for PC.
Other Cons: This isn't about the drive but it's an annoyance: The WD web site- if you search for the KB 1550 article it gives you every INSTRUCTIONAL pdf which references the KB article but doesn't give you the KB article itself. (This KB article explains how to get the drive working on a PC.)
Here's a tip to save some time: go to the Knowledge Base, click on your product family, click on your product (in this case the studio edition) and THEN search for article 1550.



4 out of 5 stars One of the Lucky Ones   September 19, 2008
Honey
Not sure if they've improved on their hardware since terrible reviews, but mine works great. Make sure you look over the directions and properly eject the hardware.. Try not to shake it when or when not in use. This probably wasn't the problem for the techies but maybe for the less knowledgeable. I unplug the HD from my laptop all the time and haven't had a problem getting it to turn on again. I even travel with it frequently. I still keep my faith in WD products, so hopefully still works in a few months LOL.


5 out of 5 stars Excellent Choice for Macintosh Time Machine   September 11, 2008
M. R. West (Spokane, WA)
I bought the Western Digital to replace a LaCie 500gb drive that's been shipped back twice in 8 months for repair. The Western Digital's auto on/off feature and the fact it's already formatted for my newer iMac were big selling points. I no longer have to listen to my idle harddrive spin endlessly while the computer is sleeping. The firmware updates were already installed to accommodate Leopard 10.5.4. It has performed perfectly so far, and I expect it to continue doing so as this drive comes with a 5 year warranty.


4 out of 5 stars It's been a great drive   September 10, 2008
Cassandra Ingles (MARYLAND)
I know Western Digital hasn't been known for their drives' reliability. However, I own two WD drives, this being one of them, and I haven't had any problems. I've owned each for months and use them regularly. I use this one via eSATA with my MacBook Pro for Time Machine. All has gone well. The design is very sleek, too. I am giving it four stars instead of five because there is a rare occasion when the drive doesn't mount when I plug in the ExpressCard, which could technically be something with the ExpressCard or the drive. Each turn on. I like how this drive turns off when unplugged from the computer. I haven't used it much via FireWire or USB, but the eSATA has been great, as is the price of this drive!

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