The Best of Both Phone, and TabletWestern Digital My Book Premium Edition 160GB External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp. Part number: WDG1C1600N
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- If write speed isn't a top priority, the Western Digital MyBook is a good deal at around $300 for a 500GB drive. It'll look good on your desk or bookshelf, too.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SanWork.com | Not yet rated | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 05/22/2012 Refurbished |
CNET editors' review
Western Digital My Book Premium Edition 160GB External Hard Drive price range: $542.95
- Reviewed by: Dong Van Ngo
- Edited by: Felisa Yang
- Reviewed on: 06/15/2006
- Released on: 03/08/2006
The good: The MyBook Premium edition is compact, employs an innovative design, has an external capacity gauge, comes with backup software, and is a speedy data reader.
The bad: The MyBook Premium edition is slow to write data, over both USB 2.0 and FireWire 400.
The bottom line: If write speed isn't a top priority, the Western Digital MyBook is a good deal at around $300 for a 500GB drive. It'll look good on your desk or bookshelf, too.
- Drive type: external hard disk drive
- Available capacities: 160GB; 250GB; 320GB; 400GB; 500GB--all drives have a 7,200rpm hard disk drive
- Capacity of test unit: 500GB
- Cache: 16MB for the 400GB and 500GB drives; 8MB for the rest
- Dimension: 6.8 x 5.6 x 2.2 (HLD in inches); 2.6 pounds
- Notable design features: backup button; book-like design
- Connection options: FireWire 400, USB 2.0
- OSs supported: Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/XP or, Mac OS X 10.2.8+
- Software included: EMC Retrospect Express Backup and System Recovery Software (on drive)
- Additional features: capacity gauge: the backup button features an LED that indicates how much space is available on your drive; the drive turns itself off when not in use
- Service/support: one-year warranty; toll-free phone support: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT on Saturday; e-mail support via an online form; Web site has a searchable knowledge base, FAQs, downloadable drivers, and software.
On CNET Labs' test bench, the 500GB MyBook was very sluggish when writing, via both FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connections. The drive took almost 36 minutes to write our 10GB test folder, about three times slower than other hard drives with the same specs. On the other hand, in the read test, the MyBook drive took slightly less than 10 minutes to get the job done, which was the fastest among all of the external hard drives we've tested.
The Western Digital MyBook comes in a very sleek design that is shaped like a medium-size book and weighs about the same. It features a button in front that activates the bundled Retrospect backup software. The coolest thing about the MyBook drive is that the button has a round, blue LED ring around it that indicates the amount of space available on the hard drive.
User reviews
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Problems you should know about
by MikeLyons500 on October 24, 2006
Pros: Nice when it works
Cons: Doesn't work reliably and its a known issue
Summary: Well, the Western Digital My Book looks cool. Backing up to a USB/Firewire drive sounds like a good idea and it is too. The problem with these is, they ...
Summary: Well, the Western Digital My Book looks cool. Backing up to a USB/Firewire drive sounds like a good idea and it is too. The problem with these is, they are known to have problems shutting off unexpectly, even during data copying which renders them unreliable and worse than useless. Take a tour of the Western Digital support forums and see for yourself. There are many users reporting that USB connected My Books do not operate reliably. I own the 160 GB drive and sure enough, I can't even backup my iTunes folder with a simply file copy operation in Windows XP because the drive shuts itself off before the copy (about 10 gigabytes worth) can complete. I tried searching the WD KB for ways to fix this. I tried turning off Legacy USB support. I made sure delayed writes were off (smart idea with these lemons) and no joy. The only cure now is going to be breaking open the case, removing the enclosed IDE drive and actually putting it into my system. So much for external backup drive. I thought you should know this if you are shopping for these. I now trust none of them. At least go and visit the support forums for hardware you plan to spend your hard earned money on, because those forums will tell you the ugly, not just the good and bad many reviews do. And in this case, the ugly is mighty ugly. I've used WD internal drives for many years and never had a problem until I bought this book which might as well be a book since its no hard drive that I can use as of now. And if you go to the support forums you will see, there IS NO FIX for this that WD offers. Be careful out there.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I Wish I had Read the Reviews on This Thing
by jrbandjcb on February 19, 2008
Pros: Stylish and accessible
Cons: Slow to perform, reading and writing, stopped after warranty expired...
Summary: I wish I had read the previous two reviews... they were spot on regarding this product! I bought the 160GB model specifically for photo storage, and talk about slow! Also, ...
Summary: I wish I had read the previous two reviews... they were spot on regarding this product! I bought the 160GB model specifically for photo storage, and talk about slow! Also, it sat by my monitor and never moved, it was never handled... and it stopped working at 13 months... with a warranty of 12 months. Nothing but clicking, the apparent sign of a defective drive. Interesting though, it was purchased in Dec 2006, yet WDC stated that the warranty expired in April 2007. What? Also interesting that at both Best Buy and Staples I was warned to stay away from WDC products. Now I know why. I will never purchase another WDC product (knowingly) again.
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Buyer beware
by ielzco on June 15, 2007
Pros: it's pretty
Cons: not reliable
Summary: Read MikeLyons500 as he speaks truth. I'm on my third My Book replacement with no hope of a refund. The first I sent back within a month of purchase ...
Summary: Read MikeLyons500 as he speaks truth. I'm on my third My Book replacement with no hope of a refund. The first I sent back within a month of purchase for replacement (bad sectors diagnosed), the second two weeks after that (bad sectors, plus shutting down for no reason). WD upgraded my third replacement with a 400GB model, which is currently exhibiting the same intermittent shutdown problems. I will chalk this one up to experience and eat the $125 I spent, and avoid Western Digital. Buyer beware.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
- Part number: WDG1C1600N
- Description: They're your photos... your music... your videos... your important files. Make extra room for them, back them up, and keep them safe on WD's My Book Premium. This reliable, easy-to-use external hard drive is the perfect storage solution for all your precious digital assets.
General
- Capacity 160 GB
- Buffer Size 8 MB
- Width 2.2 in
- Depth 5.6 in
- Height 6.8 in
- Weight 2.9 lbs
Performance
- Interface Transfer Rate 400 Mbps (FireWire) / 480 Mbps (Hi-Speed USB)
- Seek Time 8.9 ms (average)
- Track-to-Track Seek Time 2 ms
- Average Latency 4.2 ms
- Spindle Speed 7200 rpm
Expansion & Connectivity
- Compatible Bays None
Power
- Power Device Power adapter
- Voltage Required AC 120/230 V ( 50 - 60 Hz )
Software & System Requirements
- Software Included Google Desktop,
Google Picasa,
Google Toolbar - OS Required Microsoft Windows 2000 ,
Apple MacOS X 10.2.8 or later ,
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition ,
Microsoft Windows XP ,
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1 x IEEE 1394 cable - FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) - External - 6 ft,
1 x USB cable - USB Type A to B - External - 6 ft - Microsoft Certifications Works with Windows Vista
- Compliant Standards RoHS
- Package Type Retail
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 41 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 95 °F
Product series
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Western Digital My Book Premium Edition 250GB External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
Specs: 250 GB,
External hard drive,
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB,
8 MB,
8.9 ms,
7200 rpm -
Western Digital My Book Premium Edition 320GB External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
Specs: 320 GB,
External hard drive,
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB,
8 MB,
8.9 ms,
7200 rpm -
Western Digital My Book Premium Edition 400GB External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
Specs: 400 GB,
External hard drive,
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB,
16 MB,
8.9 ms,
7200 rpm -
Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition 500GB External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
Specs: 500 GB,
External hard drive,
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB,
16 MB,
8.9 ms,
7200 rpm -
Western Digital My Book Premium Edition 160GB External Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
Specs: 160 GB,
External hard drive,
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) / Hi-Speed USB,
8 MB,
8.9 ms,
7200 rpm
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Western Digital Corp. products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Western Digital Corp.
- Address:
20511 Lake Forest Drive, Lake Forest, CA 92630-7741
