There are a few good sales on MyBook external HDs (250GB-$70, 400GB-$100) on Black Friday this year. I really need at least one to store all my movies on so I was wondering if MyBooks are any good. All I will be using it for is to store movies and transfer them to and from my computer so that I can put all my movies on my computer.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Are MyBook external HDs any good?
- Thread starter DwightSchrute
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
WD Gets it Right Everytime For Me
I've been using one for a good two months or so now. Purchased the 500 GB myBook from BestBuy for $199 and thought it was steal. And it still is. I'm amazed I got this much for so little!
I use it to Backup all of my TV Shows (Leno episodes were eating my space on my boot drive BIG TIME!), Movies from iTunes store and also Photoshop archival as my other external HDs were quickly getting down to that critical 20 GB left of space.
I have nothing but praise for Western Digital products. I also have the 160 GB Media Center drive, though I think that the media card reader is permanently damaged due to me inserting a friends corrupted Secure Digital card. I haven't been able to get that working but the drive is fine.
I was relunctant to purchase this drive due to an extremely bad experience with a LaCie Porsche drive I had about two years ago. I started moving a bunch of important project documents I was working on at the time and the drive failed several times, erasing all of that valuable info. That almost put me out of business.
Not so with the WD myBook -- It's a trooper.
WHEN you purchase this drive, you won't regret it.
I've been using one for a good two months or so now. Purchased the 500 GB myBook from BestBuy for $199 and thought it was steal. And it still is. I'm amazed I got this much for so little!
I use it to Backup all of my TV Shows (Leno episodes were eating my space on my boot drive BIG TIME!), Movies from iTunes store and also Photoshop archival as my other external HDs were quickly getting down to that critical 20 GB left of space.
I have nothing but praise for Western Digital products. I also have the 160 GB Media Center drive, though I think that the media card reader is permanently damaged due to me inserting a friends corrupted Secure Digital card. I haven't been able to get that working but the drive is fine.
I was relunctant to purchase this drive due to an extremely bad experience with a LaCie Porsche drive I had about two years ago. I started moving a bunch of important project documents I was working on at the time and the drive failed several times, erasing all of that valuable info. That almost put me out of business.
Not so with the WD myBook -- It's a trooper.
WHEN you purchase this drive, you won't regret it.
I looked at them and they look like a good deal.
The indicator (shows several things, including free space) needs a "driver" installed. It can be used with out the software, but then you don't get the fancy gauge. I personally didn't like the idea of needing special software for a harddrive (tho, I'm sure the overhead isn't significant). If I wasn't going to be using the indicator, it seemed better to get something else. I ended up building my own with a FW800 (coolGear's fanless design) enclosure and a Seagate 500GB drive.
The indicator (shows several things, including free space) needs a "driver" installed. It can be used with out the software, but then you don't get the fancy gauge. I personally didn't like the idea of needing special software for a harddrive (tho, I'm sure the overhead isn't significant). If I wasn't going to be using the indicator, it seemed better to get something else. I ended up building my own with a FW800 (coolGear's fanless design) enclosure and a Seagate 500GB drive.
Thanks utilizer, I'll probably be getting one.
gr8tfly, I've heard seagate drives are the best but I don't have a lot of money so I need something cheap. And I don't care about the extra software. Thanks for the input.
gr8tfly, I've heard seagate drives are the best but I don't have a lot of money so I need something cheap. And I don't care about the extra software. Thanks for the input.
Curious to know where these prices you saw will be. Also is it for the basic editions or the premium editions (ie firewire)
Kevin
Kevin
I have a 320 MyBook Premium Edition (has FW400). I have had it for 1 month now and it is running fine. It is less noisier than the dishwasher that is the LaCie D2 Extreme I have. The Matte finish of the enclosure is PERFECT. I would like to point out though that the non-premium-edition finish is not the same.
The 250GB for $70 is going to be at Best Buy. The 400GB for $100 (after rebate) is going to be at Staples. As you can see from the picture it looks like they are not the premium versions. By the way that site that I linked to is bfads.net and they have most of the major Black Friday ads already and will likely have all of them in the near future. It's a great site.
BTW Dwight, how are you liking your MacBook? I plan on getting one coming up this Friday. I have a decent system right now with the PowerMac G5 2.0 Ghz, but in the mobile department, I'm in serious need for an upgrade. Currently I have the PowerBook Pismo upgraded with DayStar's G4 550 mhz. I couldn't have used it this long without the extra boost!
I especially like the fact that the MacBook comes in a black color, like my Pismo. Saw one in CompUSA but didn't test the browsing capabilities very extensively so I came away fairly unimpressed with just using iTunes and Pages. TIA
I especially like the fact that the MacBook comes in a black color, like my Pismo. Saw one in CompUSA but didn't test the browsing capabilities very extensively so I came away fairly unimpressed with just using iTunes and Pages. TIA
I love it utilizer. I don't do anything too processor intensive on it but I haven't had any problems with it. It's by far the best computer I've ever had (also the only Mac so there isn't much competition).
I have no complaints with my 160GB I got for $50 a month ago. I decided to hack into it in case I wanted to change the HDs later but use the same case/controller, and it was a challenge but it is possible!
Good stuff
I picked up the 500GB premium from BestBuy ($299) and am very happy with it. I use it mainly for backing up my stuff and the auto-backup program works great. Schedule it to run once a week to either re-backup my all my stuff or only back-up the new stuff. The backups aren't compressed, which I prefer, so files can be copied from it if needed. IMO the firewire is a must for doing photo/video work directly from it.
On a side note, the blue light on the front is ALWAYS on, a little annoying since it lights up half my bedroom.
I picked up the 500GB premium from BestBuy ($299) and am very happy with it. I use it mainly for backing up my stuff and the auto-backup program works great. Schedule it to run once a week to either re-backup my all my stuff or only back-up the new stuff. The backups aren't compressed, which I prefer, so files can be copied from it if needed. IMO the firewire is a must for doing photo/video work directly from it.
On a side note, the blue light on the front is ALWAYS on, a little annoying since it lights up half my bedroom.
Converting My Book 400gb essential
Does anyone know if its possible to convert a My Book 400gb Essential Edition over to a Premiun additon? I read that they use the exact same hardrives.. I want to connect it to my pc using firewire instead of the slow usb. Any help thanks?
Does anyone know if its possible to convert a My Book 400gb Essential Edition over to a Premiun additon? I read that they use the exact same hardrives.. I want to connect it to my pc using firewire instead of the slow usb. Any help thanks?
