Western Digital 500 GB My Book Studio Edition External Hard Drive

List Price: $229.99 Discount Price: Too low to display

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

Accessories:

Case Logic Medium External HD Case Black

Customer Reviews:

Pretty but faulty [Posted on 2008-04-07]
I use other wd mybook drives and they have been problem-free, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it would frequently (several times daily) unmount itself in the midst of heavy drive access. I suspect it was due to the firewire 800-to-400 conversion cable/interface that came bundled with the drive. There is no native 400 jack, which is annoying on its own, but since the drive had no problems using the USB interface, I have to think it was actually not truly meant to be used as fw400.

Sent it back, got another drive with fw400 (iomeya) and have had no issues

Two out of Four Arrived Nonfunctional [Posted on 2008-04-18]
I am guessing manufacturing quality on these was really bad and retailers are dumping them cheaply through discount avenues. You are likely to need to get a replacement through Western Digital's warranty program. You can probably argue for free shipping, and will not be out any cost, but the hassle of replacing is just not worth whatever discount you are getting for this drive compared to others.
Once you have a drive that works, they seem to be fine.

Works great [Posted on 2008-05-02]
I'm using this drive via the FW800 port on a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5 Leopard, and the first thing I did was download and install Western Digital's updated firmware.

I've been running Time Machine regularly, and also have large iTunes and iMovie libraries stored externally. The drive is quick, quiet, and hasn't given me any of the problems described by others. For the features and price I'm very satisfied. I really hope the updated firmware was the solution.

Good for storage, but not for editing video [Posted on 2008-05-07]
Great price for a quad-interface drive. Drive appears to have some sort of shock-mount inside the case, which is nice. There are mixed reviews for the WD software, so I opted not to install it, which means that the capacity indicator doesn't work for me, but I'm okay with that. I use Chronosync for backup as well, so I can't speak to the quality of the included WD backup software.

There is a firmware update out that may be needed for your drive, so check the WD support site. Firmware installation was very easy.

This drive is not fast enough to deliver HD video via FW800 for smooth playback; 720p works okay, but definitely a no-go for 1080p. eSata connection might work, but I haven't tried that. Look into some flavor of G-Drive for editing.

Don't do it!! - More than one reason [Posted on 2008-05-10]
Phew! Thank god you clicked here before buying this hunk o junk. Not only would you have been buying an inferior product, but their inferior technical support. I received my new drive hoping to finally organize and store all my videos, pictures and more importantly...my wifes music. After the first RMA and the offer of a second...I realized this product was going to continue to forever go offline, disappear from my computer...or worse, lose my data. The interface that installs to allow access changes to the drive is pretty bad...and unecessary. The support was a couple of guys in Bangalore, sitting in their garage hoping the big red phone didn't ring. I think that when the phone rang they were instructed to replace the hard drive and hang up quickly in case the phone rang again. Seriously...the support and product were that bad.

Click here for more details and discount information...