Introduction
Most of us prefer external hard drives to their internal counterparts due to their ease of functionality, instant backup feature, less (or almost no) installation hassles, portability, lack of space in the cabinet, frequent change in the hardware n so forth.The 500GB external hard drives are becoming more popular akin to the 250GB and 320GB single platter internal hard drives due to the lower cost/GB and better sustained data transfer rates.
Some of them prefer buying an internal hard drive and housing it in an external enclosure, although there wont be any significant performance advantage nor any savings offered by this method, since most external hard drives are priced very decently nowadays and they’re housed in an aesthetic enclosure with effective vibration dampening.
Now, I shall be guiding you through a short and crisp review of the WD MyBook Home Edition 500GB external storage hard drive that I’d received shortly from Saiyan. Pics galore; so stay tuned and have fun!!!
[BREAK=The Packaging and the contents]
The Packaging and the contents
Contents of the package:
1. The external hard drive.
2. The USB cable.
3. The Firewire 400 cable.
4. 12v DC power adapter.
5. AC cord.
6. Quick installation guide.
7. Warranty policy.
The Mybook arrived in a beautiful blue box. The box dimensions were 211mmx145mmx175mm (LxBxH). Pretty compact as I found it.
The MyBook concealed in a polythene wrap was housed in a black foldable plastic inside the box.
I was expecting the drive to be shipped within a styrofoam packaging but this move from WD is thoughtful indeed since it eliminates any additional space for packing the power adapter and the supplied cables.
[BREAK=Aesthetics Department]
Aesthetics Department!!!
From the external appearance, the drive resembles a dictionary or a paperback book in a matte black finished enclosure. 2 or 3 of these well stacked in a bookshelf would easily blend mean looks and aesthetics minus the wires and connectors at the back of it!
The WD logo is clearly visible at the either sides of the enclosure.
Intelligently WD has coupled the power LED, the hard drive activity LED and the capacity gauge into one thin strip at the front of the drive that lights up in bright white. As the drive’s filled with data, the gauge lights up accordingly from bottom to top indicating its rough capacity- a very thoughtful innovation indeed!!!
Vents have been provided at the top, bottom and at the back of the enclosure to ensure the effective removal of heat being developed. Rubber feet has also found its place at the bottom of the enclosure which implies that the drive’s to be ideally placed vertically although horizontal placement should not affect the performance. Besides I rather found that the horizontal placement was better for ideal heat dissipation. The power button which did not make it to the WD MyBook Essential Edition 500GB has found its place in the Home Edition at the back of the enclosure near the connectors.
The Kensington Security Lock is also present at the back of the enclosure just in case you wish to secure the drive with a Kensington cable.
On the connectivity front, WD doesn’t disappoint. It offers a wide range of connectivity through USB, 2xFirewire (Yes, 2!!) and even an eSata port. Wondering why 2 Firewire ports!?!?! This is because if the drive is connected to the computer via one of them, any other peripheral (another MyBook anyone??) can be connected through the other since Firewire ports are usually limited to 3 in most computers.
The drive however, did not ship with an eSata cable.
A disappointment considering the fact that it did ship with the other 2 cables and that most high-end motherboards ship with an eSata port or 2 (and even some of the newer cabinets like the Coolermaster CM690, the Antec 1200 etc.) Sourcing an eSata cable seems to be an even tougher job, not to mention the higher price of the cable compared to USB and Firewire counterparts. [BREAK=Performance & Benchmarks]
Performance & Benchmarks
Upon connecting the drive to the computer, it was instantly recognized. In order to roughly measure the performance of the drive, I ran a few tests.
The test bed:
Processor: Celeron 420 @ 1.6GHz
Motherboard: Asus P5K Deluxe; BIOS version 0705
RAM: 2x1GB G.Skill GBHZ PC6400 @ 800MHz
HDD: Seagate 250GB 7200.10 ST3250820SV
GPU: XFX 8800GTX; stock speed
PSU: Corsair HX620
OS: Windows XP + SP2
The following tests were performed using 2 different modes of connectivity viz. USB & Firewire:
1. HD Tach Quick Bench.
Firewire:
USB:
2. HD Tach Long Bench.
Firewire:
USB:
Note: Since I could not source an e-Sata cable, these tests could not be performed by this mode of connectivity.
As evident from the results, the drive has a better data transfer rate in the Firewire mode compared to the USB mode by 7-8Mbps. However, the best mode of connectivity is unarguably via the e-Sata port. Expected sustained data transfer rates should be around the 65Mbps mark when the drive is linked through the e-Sata port.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
Pros:
1. Low cost/GB.
2. Enclosure aesthetics.
3. Loads of connectivity options.
4. Capacity gauge.
Cons:
1. No e-Sata cable bundled.
2. Lower data transfer rates through USB connectivity.
Final Score: 7.5/10
If you're looking for a reliable backup solution for all those HD content, photos, documents, music n so forth, look no further. It’s a great drive that comes at a good price and decent data transfer rates. Availability is not an issue since most computer dealers’re aware of the brand and WD offers a comprehensive 3yr warranty for the drive. In an unfortunate case that the drive fails during this period, WD offers a door-step replacement for the drive.
Comments:
I’d like to thank Saiyan for sourcing this drive to me.
Pics were taken using the Sony DSC-W35 and Olympus E-500 and resized.
I’d also like to thank Venki and Karthikeyan for lending the cam.
Thanx to all of you who read the review.
Since this’s my first comprehensive review, any suggestions and comments for the improvement with this regard would be highly appreciated so that further reviews shall be made better.
Regards,
Gannu for TE.
